Tag Archives: lake

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Sierra Nevada

Shoreline and Reflected Ridge

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Shoreline and Reflected Ridge
“Shoreline and Reflected Ridge” — A Sierra Nevada ridge reflected in a subalpine wilderness lake.

If you are a Sierra Nevada backcountry traveler, you recognize this a a classic Range of Light scene. It was early morning, and I had been photographing since before sunrise. I walked the shoreline of this subalpine lake, following terrain like that in this photograph. The sun’s light angled across the high peaks and talus slopes as it rose above ridges to the east.

When I first backpacked many years ago, I was astonished by the mere existence of such places and the idea that I could wander through them. Eventually I slowed down and no longer thought of scenes like this as just staging for the higher peaks, but as important places on their own. These days I’m happy to linger with my camera gear, often pausing just to look.

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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” (Heyday Books) is available directly from him. Blog | Bluesky | Mastodon | Substack Notes | Flickr | Email

All media © Copyright G Dan Mitchell and others.

Photographs: Death Valley, Photographs: Desert, Photographs: Nature

Telescope Peak, Lake Manly

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Telescope Peak, Lake Manly
“Telescope Peak, Lake Manly” — Panamint Range and Telescope Peak reflected in Lake Manly, Death Valley.

This photograph incorporates at least two elements that might surprise people unfamiliar with Death Valley National Park — a large lake and snow-dusted mountain peaks. Telescope Peak, the highest point on the Panamint Range summit ridge, rises just above 11,000′, putting its summit in the alpine zone. It is normal to see snow there during the winter months.

Lake Manly, the body of water reflecting the mountains, is a different matter. Its appearance is somewhat rare, occurring only in years of exceptional rainfall. Although this is now a dry winter in California, a big storm a year ago primed the pump, a monumental November storm re-formed the lake, and there was another storm around Christmas Eve Day. The broad but shallow lake forms on the playa of Badwater Basin, the lowest point in the continental United States.

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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” (Heyday Books) is available directly from him. Blog | Bluesky | Mastodon | Substack Notes | Flickr | Email

All media © Copyright G Dan Mitchell and others.

Photographs: Death Valley, Photographs: Desert, Photographs: Nature

Manley Lake, First Light

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“Manly Lake, First Light” — Early morning light on the Panamint Range reflected in Manly Lake, Death Valley.

Death Valley National Park is so large that it is often hard to fathom the its scale. Lake Manly, the temporary body of water occupying a section of the Valley near Badwater, is small by comparison to the valley as a whole. The mountains in this photograph are many tens of miles away. (A couple of roads reach that ridge, and it would take 1 1/2 or 2 hours of driving to reach their high points from the shore of Lake Manly.)

In the daytime most of this desert landscape is not particularly colorful. In fact, in flat light and haze it can sometimes seem almost monochromatic. But early in the morning and then again in the evening, the sunrise and sunset light paint the scenes with vivid colors that contrast with the hazy blues of the shadows.

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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” (Heyday Books) is available directly from him. Blog | Bluesky | Mastodon | Substack Notes | Flickr | Email

All media © Copyright G Dan Mitchell and others.

Photographs: Death Valley, Photographs: Desert, Photographs: Nature

Dawn Clouds, Death Valley

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Dawn Clouds, Death Valley
“Dawn Clouds, Death Valley” — Colorful dawn clouds above Death Valley and the Panamint Mountains.

The camera position for this photograph was a high point in the Panamint Range of Death Valley National Park. We arrived before sunrise, when the sky was just beginning to take on dawn colors, and the clouds were becoming blood red. There are few colors in nature that are as intense… and as difficult to photograph, at least if you want the photograph to suggest what you saw when you were there.

To my way of thinking, after a few decades of visiting and photographing the place, the most interesting locations in this park are not the most popular ones. They are off in odd, sometimes distant corners of the region. You may have to deal with a few adversities getting to them. (One winter I was turned back from this location by snow.) But the rewards are worth it.

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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” (Heyday Books) is available directly from him. Blog | Bluesky | Mastodon | Substack Notes | Flickr | Email

All media © Copyright G Dan Mitchell and others.