Tag Archives: landscape

Photographs: Sierra Nevada

North Lake and Piute Peak, Autumn Snow

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North Lake and Piute Peak, Autumn Snow

North Lake and Piute Peak, Autumn Snow. Sierra Nevada, California. October 4, 2008. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

An autumn snow squall moves across the upper reaches of Piute Peak with fall colors around North Lake in the foreground. The snow is still falling on the peaks in this photograph, and the high winds have created some choppy lake water. Yes, although you probably can’t tell from this photograph, it was COLD when I shot this!

Photographed on a very cold October morning right after an early season weather front had passed through, dusting Piute Peak with a bit of snow. The post front weather was very windy, as evidenced by the chop on the surface of this small lake.

keywords: piute, peak, north lake, autumn, fall, snow, squall, shower, cloud, blue, sky, mountain, ridge, morning, light, sun, aspen, tree, forest, grove, orange, yellow, green, gold, water, ripple, wave, grass, shore, shoreline, snag, grass, meadow, brush, sierra, nevada, california, range, usa, scenic, travel, season, landscape, stock

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Sierra Nevada

Aspens and Early Snow, North Lake

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Aspens and Early Snow, North Lake

Aspens and Early Snow, North Lake. Sierra Nevada, California. October 4, 2008. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

An early autumn snow fall dusts the ridge above the aspen groves at North Lake, Sierra Nevada, California.

Another photograph from my early October 2008 visit to the Bishop Creek area. On the first morning I left Bishop very early, waiting only long enough for the local Starbucks to open. (There I admired a couple of Vern Clevenger photos hanging on the wall – his gallery is next door – and saw a few other bleary-eyed photographers getting some much-needed coffee.) Although the weather was clear in Bishop, it began to cloud up as I drove up toward North Lake. When I arrived before sunrise it was cloudy there, but it looked the conditions might be good for some early morning aspen photography.

But not for long. Almost as soon as I took my gear out of the car the wind came up, the temperature dropped and it began to rain and then snow. I quickly holed up in my car to wait it out, and an hour later the sun began to emerge in between the light snow showers. This well known grove of aspens on the far side of the lake climbs a valley toward the ridge. Although many leaves came down quickly in the wind as the front passed, there was still a lot of color in the grove. Here there is still light snow falling on the ridge, even as sunlight slants in from the right.

keywords: early, autumn, fall, snow, snowfall, squall, weather, cloud, sky, mountain, ridge, aspen, grove, tree, color, orange, yellow, gold, brush, bush, north lake, sierra, nevada, range, eastern, scenic, landscape, travel, nature, stock, meadow, grass

Photographs: Sierra Nevada

Corral, McGee Canyon

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Corral, McGee Canyon

Corral, McGee Canyon. Sierra Nevada, California. October 5, 2008. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Stock corral in afternoon autumn light, McGee Canyon, Sierra Nevada.

After shooting for two days in the Bishop Creek area I headed down to Bishop for coffee and an internet connection, after which I began my long drive back to the Bay Area. Between Bishop and Mammoth Lakes I took the short lateral road up into McGee Canyon. After stopping at the road end I started back down, stopping along the road just below the stock corral to make this photograph of the fall colors in the canyon and the high peaks with a dusting of autumn snowfall beyond.

keywords: stock, corral, fence, ranch, mcgee, creek, canyon, mountain, valley, forest, grove, aspen, yellow, green, gold, ridge, snow, eastern, sierra, nevada, range, california, usa, fall, autumn, landscape, travel, scenic, alpine, sage, stock, fence

Photographs: Sierra Nevada, Photographs: Yosemite

Rocks and Reflections, Merced River

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Rocks and Reflections, Merced River

Rocks and Reflections, Merced River. Yosemite Valley, California. February 16, 2008. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Rocks and reflections from sunlit cliffs in the Merced River, Yosemite Valley, Callifornia.

This is a major re-working of a photograph I made last winter on a very cold morning in the Valley. I had been photographing nearer to the upper end of the Valley and as the sun rose higher I decided to head down toward Bridalveil fall to shoot in the border between sun and shadow. I was almost to Bridalveil and driving along a shaded section of the road (Southside Drive, which is normally not open to traffic headed this direction) when I saw an area of exposed rocks in a deeply shaded area with the surface of the river illuminated by the brilliant golden reflection from the fully sunlit cliffs above on the north side of the Valley. I found a marginal parking space alongside the road and set up with a long lens and looked for interesting compositions among the rocks.

There is a funny story to add to this. As I was shooting, as often happens when one sets up near a roadway with a "pro-looking" gear (hey, all it really seems to take is a tripod), other visitors began to pull over to see what the photographer was shooting, jumping out of their cars with cameras in hand. This in a very dark section of the canyon. With me using a very long lens. Pointed straight down at some boring rocks in the river. Waiting. For something. Quite a few of them just shook their heads, looked at me like I was nuts, got back in their cars, and drove on. :-)

keywords: California, Landscape, National Park, Place, Season, Travel, Winter, valley, merced, river, reflections, swirls, rocks, boulders, current, california, usa, travel, scenic, landscape, water, stock