Tag Archives: lake

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Sierra Nevada

Talus And Reflecting Water

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Talus And Reflecting Water
Giant talus boulders above reflecting waters of an alpine lake

Talus And Reflecting Water. © Copyright 2018 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Giant talus boulders above reflecting waters of an alpine lake

This is another in a series of photographs I made this past summer that feature raw talus fields (possibly with a lake at the base) in blue early morning or evening shade. For some reason this subject seemed to catch my attention this summer on our almost-annual week in the Sierra backcountry — perhaps because this time our base camp was at a high lake situated at the base of a gigantic field of talus descending from the ridge right above us, and because one of the higher lakes I visited several times also featured impressive talus fields.

This photograph comes from that upper lake, which I had hiked to late in the day in order to photograph a different subject before the last light left the shoreline. Having completed that work — and having lost the direct sun — I turned by attention to the far side of this lake, and inhospitable looking landscape of shattered and tumbled rocks and boulders at the base of a cliff at the edge of the lake. At this time of day, in this light, the colors shift strongly toward blue, since the scene is mostly illuminated by the open blue sky plus a bit of light reflected from nearby peaks. The scene evokes for me a whole series of associations and memories based on decades of travel in the high country — the hollow, clattering sound of foot travel on the loose rocks, the sensation of the rocks shifting beneath my feet, the cold air, and the near complete lack of vegetation other than a bit of lichen.

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G Dan Mitchell is a California photographer and visual opportunist. His book, “California’s Fall Color: A Photographer’s Guide to Autumn in the Sierra” is available from Heyday Books and Amazon.
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Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Sierra Nevada

Talus, Reflection

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Talus, Reflection
A talus field of large boulders meets the shoreline of an alpine lake

Talus, Reflection. © Copyright 2018 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A talus field of large boulders meets the shoreline of an alpine lake

And, yes, another “going with the blue” photograph of talus boulders. It is, I admit, turning into a bit of a theme among my photographs from the September backcountry Eastern Sierra photography week. If you follow my posts you probably already know the following, but for anyone who hasn’t read the previous text… we were camped at a lake in a deep north-south oriented valley with very high peaks on either side. Immediately to the east of our camp, across a nearby lake, was a huge talus slope, full of randomly arranged boulders from top to bottom.

Because of the north-south trend of the canyon, early morning and evening direct light was blocked, and we had long periods of “blue hour” shaded light to work with every day. Yes, the light actually is very blue. It comes from having only the blue sky — a sort of giant natural light panel — as the light sources. The question in post is always how blue to let the scene be, since the actual blue can be shocking to viewers. (Our complex sensory system sees this as less blue — the mental process subconsciously says, essentially, “Yes, this is blue, but I know the actual color of rocks, so I’ll pretend I don’t see the blue!”) The photographer gets to make the subjective call on how blue things should be. At times I’ve gone so far as to completely neutrally the blue tones, and if I did so here you would probably feel that it looked natural. On the other hand, it is interesting to me to “go with the blue” and think about the real color of light and the effect that it has on our perceptions. (To be honest, I have actually reduced the amount of blue in the scene!

See top of this page for Articles, Sales and Licensing, my Sierra Nevada Fall Color book, Contact Information and more.

G Dan Mitchell is a California photographer and visual opportunist. His book, “California’s Fall Color: A Photographer’s Guide to Autumn in the Sierra” is available from Heyday Books and Amazon.
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All media © Copyright G Dan Mitchell and others as indicated. Any use requires advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Sierra Nevada

Shoreline Meadow And Forest

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Shoreline Meadow And Forest
September light on forest and meadow lining the shore of a subalpine Sierra Nevada lake

Shoreline Meadow And Forest. © Copyright 2018 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

September light on forest and meadow lining the shore of a subalpine Sierra Nevada lake

Having set up a base camp nearby and remained there for slightly more than a week, I got to know this lake and its surroundings very well during my September 2018 visit. Because of the high ridges to the north and south, the length of time when the area was in the direct sun was shorter than is typical in such places at this time of year — we have a couple of hours at the start and end of the day when the lake fell into the shadow of these great ridges. But when that sun did come out the light was often glorious.

At this elevation, close to 11,000′, the eastern Sierra trees become quite short and their grow in an open manner that allows a lot of light to penetrate. (Hence, the “range of light!”) There was forest around this lake, but much of it was composed of these smaller, high elevation trees. Along the shoreline where I made this photograph, a meadow like area descended from the left to a narrow band of grasses lining the lake’s shore. Trees grew on the rocky rise along this side of the lake, perhaps an old moraine. When I made the photograph the light was coming through from the right at a low angle, and there was a bit of haze between my position and the high ridge in the distance.

See top of this page for Articles, Sales and Licensing, my Sierra Nevada Fall Color book, Contact Information and more.

G Dan Mitchell is a California photographer and visual opportunist. His book, “California’s Fall Color: A Photographer’s Guide to Autumn in the Sierra” is available from Heyday Books and Amazon.
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All media © Copyright G Dan Mitchell and others as indicated. Any use requires advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Sierra Nevada

Alpine Lake, Evening Reflections

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Alpine Lake, Evening Reflections
A rocky peninsula, an alpine lake, reflections of the headwall in evening light

Alpine Lake, Evening Reflections. © Copyright 2018 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A rocky peninsula, an alpine lake, reflections of the headwall in evening light

In high places like this, where cirque walls tower over alpine lakes and block the light early and late in the day, evening quiet can come early. I had been walking to this spot almost daily for several days to try to make a photograph of a particular group of trees that caught the last sunlight in the late afternoon. On this day my timing was (finally!) right, and after I made that photograph I turned my attention to the rest of the scene, which was now in shadow.

To my left a small rocky peninsula pushed out into the lake near its outlet stream and supported a few trees and small plants that could gain a foothold it its cracks. Across the lake piles of talus lay at the bottom of the solid rock face of the valley’s headwall, where one snow patch remained, reflected in the quiet surface of the lake. That surface also reflected the rest of the face, including parts so high that they are not in direct view. The entire scene was illuminated by the soft blue light coming from the open sky above and behind me.

See top of this page for Articles, Sales and Licensing, my Sierra Nevada Fall Color book, Contact Information and more.

G Dan Mitchell is a California photographer and visual opportunist. His book, “California’s Fall Color: A Photographer’s Guide to Autumn in the Sierra” is available from Heyday Books and Amazon.
Blog | About | Flickr | Facebook | Email

All media © Copyright G Dan Mitchell and others as indicated. Any use requires advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.