Tag Archives: lakes

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Sequoia-Kings Canyon, Photographs: Sierra Nevada

Rainbow and Afternoon Shower

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Rainbow and Afternoon Shower
A rainbow and afternoon showers in the Kings Canyon National Park high country.

Rainbow and Afternoon Shower. © Copyright 2013 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A rainbow and afternoon showers in the Kings Canyon National Park high country.

This photograph is a somewhat different “take” on a scene and subject that I shared in another photograph a few weeks ago. A group of us had been camped near this little tarn (and dozens of other nearby lakes) for over a week as we photographed the heck out of the area. This spot was perhaps a ten minute walk from our base camp, so we visited often and photographed the area in a variety fo conditions — morning and evening, sun and rain.

Being established in one backcountry location for a lengthy period of time has all kinds of advantages for photography. While you might not see as large a swath of the range, you do see the smaller area in much more detail. Speaking for myself, my mental attitude toward the landscape changes in these circumstances and instead of always looking for the big thing I start to look more for the unseen thing or the unanticipated way of seeing it.

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: Sequoia-Kings Canyon, Photographs: Sierra Nevada

Alpine Lake, Storm, and Rainbow

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Alpine Lake, Storm, and Rainbow
A trail crosses a rise beyond an alpine lake as rain begins and a rainbow appears against stormy skies, Kings Canyon National Park.

Alpine Lake, Storm, and Rainbow. © Copyright 2013 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A trail crosses a rise beyond an alpine lake as rain begins and a rainbow appears against stormy skies, Kings Canyon National Park.

This photograph comes from a wonderful trip into the Kings Canyon backcountry seven summers ago. A group of five photographers who have been doing such things for almost twenty years (I’ve been going along for a decade) packed in to a remote location at 12,000′ and set up a basecamp. We spent a week there photographing the heck out of the nearby landscape of granite, lakes, and peaks — and enjoying the camaraderie that comes from working together in the wilderness.

By the time I made this photograph I had settled thoroughly into the routines of living and photographing in such a place. I’ve often photographed while hiking through the Sierra, but working from a base-camp gives me time to explore more carefully, to get to know the character of a place, and to experience it in a variety of conditions. Although it was the tail-end of a drought season, we had rain from time to time, and on this afternoon I photographed an area full of lakes as the afternoon showers arrived.

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: Sequoia-Kings Canyon, Photographs: Sierra Nevada

Sierra Showers

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Sierra Showers
“Sierra Showers” — Afternoon thundershower clouds reflected in the surface of a raindrop-dappled alpine lake, Kings Canyon National Park.

As I was getting ready to post this photograph I was pondering, as usual, what to write about it. As I considered the focus of what I ended up writing here today it occurred to me that this one photograph could be the starting point for an entire book. (Don’t worry, I’ll keep this post considerably shorter than that.) It could naturally lead to subjects including my visits and return visits to certain locations in the Sierra, the experience of spending long periods in the backcountry, what and how to see there, the sensory experiences of things like afternoon rain, how non-iconic subjects evoke these things, my good fortune in photographing the backcountry in the company of good friends during the last decade, and much more…

But that’s far too much for this post, so I’ll just share a little background. A group of five of us isolated ourselves at a very high backcountry location for a week back in 2013. We photographed morning and evening every day, in very diverse conditions, and we hung out together through the slower midday hours. There were many lakes nearby, and on this afternoon I had walked the short distance to one of them and was photographing when the afternoon showers began. For me, this photograph conjures up all of the associations I have with that trip and with afternoons like this one.

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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


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Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Sierra Nevada

Trail of Boulders

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Trail of Boulders
Afternoon light on early autumn vegetation in the Eastern Sierra, and a trail of boulders crossing a meadow

Trail of Boulders. © Copyright 2018 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Afternoon light on early autumn vegetation in the Eastern Sierra, and a trail of boulders crossing a meadow

This became a familiar bit of terrain during our weeklong (plus a bit) photography visit to an Eastern Sierra backcountry area last September. Our routine is to establish a base camp, photograph in the immediate vicinity, and then start working outward to photograph areas a bit further away. The area through which this trail passed became a favorite, and we walked this route many times.

There is a lot to observe in this scene. Perhaps one of the first obvious features is the trail of boulders crossing the meadow. Sierra Nevada backcountry travels might be struck by something about this — most meadow trails are either deep ruts, dug out by many hikers and animals, or they have been moved out of the meadows and onto tougher terrain. The extensive use of boulders here is unusual. (I wonder if it a good thing for avoiding the scarring of the typical deeply grooved trail, or if it might have been better to re-route.) Note the open quality of the forested terrain here — it is typical of the high country not far below the tree line. The trail is heading off towards higher country and, in fact, the trail runs out only yards beyond this point. Above that is a headwall and huge talus slopes which can be climbed, but only by those willing to travel cross-country. Finally, the peaks that lie dead ahead are on the Sierra Nevada crest itself.

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