Tag Archives: landscape

Photographs: Sierra Nevada, Photographs: Yosemite

Clouds Rest and Fog, Alpenglow

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Clouds Rest and Fog, Alpenglow

Clouds Rest and Fog, Alpenglow. Yosemite National Park, California. October 5, 2008. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Alpenglow illuminates fog in the valleys below Clouds Rest at twilight. Yosemite National Park.

Luck was with me on my drive back from Aspen hunting in the eastern Sierra during the first weekend of October 2008. Although I originally planned to return to the Bay Area via Monitor Pass, I made a somewhat spontaneous decision to instead return over Tioga Pass. After passing through Tuolumne Meadows a half hour before sunset, I continued on and near Tenaya Lake I noticed that fog was forming in the aftermath of the weather front that had come through a day before.

When I arrived at Olmsted Point and its famous view of Tenaya Lake and Half Dome, the fog had completely blocked the view. I wasn’t really planning on shooting here so I continued on. A few seconds later after rounding a bend in the road I saw that the fog was barely blocking the light of the setting sun, and that rocks and trees were being gently illuminated through the fog. I’ll post that photo later along with a bit more information about the scene.

In any case, I finally got back to my car and began what I thought would be a direct drive home, since the light was now fading quickly. I drove on for a few more minutes, came around a bend at the top of a rise, and saw this stunning scene of Clouds Rest rising above the valley fog and illuminated by alpenglow. Not willing to pass this up I stopped again and set up the tripod/camera and made a few exposures of this incredible and rare view.

keywords: clouds, rest, mountain, ridge, fog, mist, evening, twilight, alpenglow, forest, tree, cliff, snow, fall, autumn, tioga, road, yosemite, national park, california, usa, travel, scenic, landscape, night, sierra, nevada, stock

Photographs: Fall, Photographs: Fall Color, Photographs: Sierra Nevada

Aspen Grove, South Bishop Creek

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Aspen Grove, South Bishop Creek

Aspen Grove, South Bishop Creek. Sierra Nevada, California. October 4, 2008. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Aspen grove near South Bishop Creek in full autumn color.

Another aspen grove photograph from last weekend’s Epic Aspen Hunt in the eastern Sierra, this example from the south fork of Bishop Creek below South Lake. This specific spot was not one that would necessarily attract anyone – it was down a short and very inconspicuous dirt road paralleling the main paved roadway, and there was only one other photographer shooting in the area when I visited. I just drove into the grove on this little one-lane road, found a pull-out, and got out and shot right where I found myself; I spent at least a half hour exploring this one very small are of dense trees. The shaded grove provided an opportunity to see and photograph the brilliant colors and bright white trunks of these trees without having do deal with the harsh direct sunlight that can create a dynamic range that is almost impossible to capture.

For those hoping to photograph these aspen during the upcoming weekend, some advice. I think that these the trees in these higher areas up the roads to North Lake, South Lake, and Sabrina Lake are likely to have pretty much run their course by now. Reports I saw today seemed to say as much, but they did mention that the colors further down that canyons are looking pretty good. I’ll probably head back up on Saturday and Sunday, but I’m likely to shoot in lower-elevation areas including Lundy and Lee Vining Canyons – the latter often has good color a bit later in the season.

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.

G Dan Mitchell: Blog | Bluesky | Mastodon | Substack Notes | Flickr | Email


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

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Sierra Nevada

Aspen Grove, Bishop Creek

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Aspen Grove, Bishop Creek

Aspen Grove, Bishop Creek. Sierra Nevada, California. October 4, 2008. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Fall colors in an aspen grove near the south fork of Bishop Creek.

This photograph was made in a bit of an odd place. While driving up the road to South Lake along the south fork of Bishop Creek, I spotted an unmarked gravel side road and decided to check it out. The short road traveled parallel to the main roadway, but it went through a thick grove of small aspen trees – so I stopped and spent a half hour in the early evening photographing these trees close up.

keywords: fall, autumn, aspen, tree, forest, grove, color, gold, yellow, orange, white, trunk, branch, grass, landscape, nature, bishop, creek, california, usa, sierra, nevada, mountain, range, stock, foliage

Commentary, Photographs: Sierra Nevada

Autumn Snow Squall, North Lake and Piute Crags

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Autumn Snow Squall, North Lake and Piute Crags

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

Autumn snow falls on Piute Crags above the fall foliage at North Lake. Sierra Nevada, California.

This photo marks – knock on wood! – the return to more a regular schedule of posting new photographs.

As always, there is a bit of a story behind the photograph. Last weekend (the first October weekend of 2008) I managed to do one of my annual aspen chasing expeditions, timed to catch the trees as they change from green to golden, yellow, red, orange, and a thousand intermediate hues. I left the Bay Area on Friday afternoon and drove over Tioga Pass, stopping there for a moment to feel the force of the first incoming Pacific storm of the season. After dropping down from the pass and stopping for dinner at Whoa Nellie Deli I continued on to Bishop, where I checked into a motel at 9:30.

I wasn’t certain what the next morning would bring since the weather report called for the passage of the weather front and then some showery weather and dropping snow levels. When I left Bishop well before dawn the stars were out, so I was optimistic. As I drove west and up into the Bishop Creek drainage, however, the clouds increased, and by the time I arrived at North Lake before 7:00 a.m. it had clouded up completely. No problem, I thought, the air is still and I like shooting in overcast conditions, especially with the saturated colors of the aspens. I got out of the car, put my camera on the tripod, grabbed the rest of my gear, and started towards a spot with a good shot. Within moments the wind whipped up and it began to rain, very quickly turning to wet snow. I was quickly back in the car, hoping to wait it out and see what developed.

Before long there were breaks in the clouds, and although the cold wind was blowing like crazy and there was still some intermittent precipitation, I decided that the conditions were special enough that I’d better get out there and start shooting. (While I can imagine more comfortable conditions for photography, sometimes the most interesting conditions are not comfortable.)

Eventually I made a fairly extensive set of photographs from various areas along the shoreline of North Lake. This one was made near the outlet of the lake, looking back across the nearby grassy shoreline, and past wildly colored aspen trees to the more distant Piute Crags, where a snow squall was partly obscuring the summit.

keywords: fall, autumn, storm, squall, snow, piute, crags, north, lake, bishop, creek, aspen, grass, meadow, water, tree, forest, branches, cloud, scree, talus, landscape, scenic, stock, nature, wilderness, shore, shoreline