Tag Archives: landscape

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Sierra Nevada, Photographs: Yosemite

Afternoon Haze, Ridges

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Afternoon Haze, Ridges
Forested ridges, silhouetted in the afternoon Sierra haze, on opposite sides of the Tuolumne River Canyon.

Afternoon Haze, Ridges. © Copyright 2021 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Forested ridges, silhouetted in the afternoon Sierra haze, on opposite sides of the Tuolumne River Canyon.

A group of us were camped at a backcountry lake in Yosemite National Park for the better part of a week a few years back. Actually, we’ve done that a few times now that I think of it. This lake is a quiet and gentle place, surrounded by forest, but with a few nearby peaks and on one side a huge vista into and across a deep river canyon. Our little group photographed the heck out of this place, working the landscape morning and evening, and gradually working outwards to learn more of the surroundings.

On this evening I had hiked up from the lake through a narrow band of forest, then continued to ascend across granite slabs through more open country. Arriving at a high point I turned around and looked back over the basin holding “our” little lake and waited for the colorful evening light. Of course “waiting” doesn’t mean sitting and doing nothing — it means photographing other things, including this other tree-covered rocky ridge running down toward the lake and the further landscape whose details are muted by late-season haze. If you look very closely you might just make a sort of “Where’s Waldo” discovery in this scene….

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, Amazon, and directly from G Dan Mitchell.

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

Creosote and Dunes, Morning

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Creosote and Dunes, Morning
Morning light on blooming creosote in sand dunes, Death Valley National Park.

Creosote and Dunes, Morning. © Copyright 2021 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Morning light on blooming creosote in sand dunes, Death Valley National Park.

On my recent Death Valley National Park visit I had an evening and a morning to photograph these dunes — other than that I stayed mostly in remote parts of the park. My ritual for morning photography here is much the same as it has been for years. I wake up in the pre-dawn darkness, planning to arrive near the dunes as the sky begins to lighten just enough so that I can see my way. I typically depart from a point that is distinctly not the “usual place,” and as a consequence I often have my area of the dunes to myself. After a 20-30 minute walk I arrive at an interesting portion of the dunes before the first direct sun arrives, and I. begin to photograph, continue on past sunrise until the light becomes too harsh.

I made this photograph just moments after the first direct sunlight arrived, light that was somewhat muted by haze and high clouds. The effect was to create very soft and low-contrast light. We tend to think of dunes as being transitory, but they actually tend to change their shape only very slowly, and I’m pretty sure that I have photographed this same little cluster of creosote in the past.

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, Amazon, and directly from G Dan Mitchell.

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Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Sierra Nevada

Ledge Meets Lake

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Ledge Meets Lake
A ledge llittered with fractured rocks above the shorline of an alpine Sierra Nevada lake.

Ledge Meets Lake. © Copyright 2021 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A ledge llittered with fractured rocks above the shorline of an alpine Sierra Nevada lake.

This little conjunction of rock and water has fascinated me since I first saw it. The lake is in the eastern Sierra Nevada backcountry, above another lake where a group of us went to photograph for a week a couple of years ago. I have a long acquaintance with this upper lake, having first visited it perhaps a couple of decades ago. It is fascinating how my perception of the place changed over time. From that long-ago first visit I only remember that there wasn’t much in the way of obvious campsites here. On later visits I took in more of the alpine surrounds of this lake, which is set in a high bowl. Over several days of repeated visits on the more recent trip I became very familiar with the rocky terrain around the outlet of the lake.

While I’m not completely averse to photographing icons, I spend most of my photographic time in places like this looking for things that I would overlook without careful attention. Seen this way, there are photographic opportunities almost everywhere I look. In fact, I “saw” this little scene it at least four (and counting!) different ways, several of which attentive viewers may recall.

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, Amazon, and directly from G Dan Mitchell.

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Links to Articles, Sales and Licensing, my Sierra Nevada Fall Color book, Contact Information.

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

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

Lower Panamint Mountains

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Lower Panamint Mountains
The lower reaches of the Panamint Mountain Range at the edge of Death Valley.

Lower Panamint Mountains. © Copyright 2021 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

The lower reaches of the Panamint Mountain Range at the edge of Death Valley.

This photograph is my excuse to return to an old theme of my posts about Death Valley National Park. For a place with a reputation so connected to aridity and heat, the clear evidence of the role of water in the formation of this landscape is abundant. In fact, it is hard to locate any place in the park where water had not played an important role. (The repetitive pattern of dips and rises on any drive across “level” roads here is a fine reminder of the importance of flowing water.)

I made this photograph from a vantage point high in the Panamint Mountain Range, from which I could look down at the vast alluvial fans formed by material that was once above the present-day upper reaches of the range. These fans go on for miles, and the amount of material they contain is nearly incomprehensible. More durable material still sticks up above the surface of the material, and washes and gully cut across their surface nearly everywhere.

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, Amazon, and directly from G Dan Mitchell.

Blog | About | Flickr | Facebook | Email

Links to Articles, Sales and Licensing, my Sierra Nevada Fall Color book, Contact Information.

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