Tag Archives: lee vining

Photographs: Fall, Photographs: Fall Color, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Sierra Nevada, Photographs: Yosemite

Mountains, Forest, and Stream

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Mountains, Forest, and Stream
A stream curves past forest and towards Sierra Nevada crest peaks in late summer.

Mountains, Forest, and Stream. © Copyright 2023 G Dan Mitchell.

A stream curves past forest and towards Sierra Nevada crest peaks in late summer.

The question of how to categorize this photograph (as I do with all o them at my website) perplexed me a bit. Although I was set up outside of Yosemite National Park, the two prominent peaks are within its boundaries. And do I call this a “fall color photograph?” The trees don’t suggest doing so, but the slight yellow on the willows and the lovely golden brown on the hillside signal this season. Categorization questions aside, this was a beautiful late-summer Sierra day, one of sunshine and light – between two days of rain, hail, and even some snow.

It is hard to know how many times I have passed this location over the years — ok, over the decades. But I have typically been here while on the way to someplace else, and while I’ve noticed it in passing I don’t recall stopping to photograph it before. This time I wasn’t in a hurry, and I had no other destination in mind — so I went slow and pulled over a few times to make photographs along this creek.

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

Afternoon Light, Lee Vining Canyon

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Afternoon Light, Lee Vining Canyon
Clouds from a dissipating storm, afternoon haze and light, spring aspens and meadows in Lee Vining Canyon

Afternoon Light, Lee Vining Canyon. © Copyright 2018 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Clouds from a dissipating storm, afternoon haze and light, spring aspens and meadows in Lee Vining Canyon

This is another photograph from my marathon one-day trip from the San Francisco Bay Area over Tioga Pass and back earlier this week. This was as close to Monday’s opening of Tioga Pass Road as I could make it. In some ways it may have turned out for the best to not go on the actual opening day. I suspect that there were more people up there that day, and it was fairly deserted a couple of days later. I think that the weather was probably a bit more cooperative when I went, too — it was mostly fair, but with some interesting clouds and even a couple of drops of rain.

By mid-afternoon I had crossed the pass and dropped down to Lee Vining. The midday light isn’t generally my favorite for photography, so I went for a hike near Mono Lake before swinging back to Lee Vining to grab an early dinner before starting my return trip. The plan was to start back up through Lee Vining Canyon as the light was starting to become interesting, giving my as much as a couple of hours of potential photography time along Tioga Pass Road. It was somewhat hazy — a slightly thick atmosphere left behind in the wake of a weather front. This can produce dramatic lighting sometimes, but it can also lower contrast, mute colors, and generally make photography a bit tricky. (One option is to shoot for black and white!) As I started the climb up into Lee Vining Canyon, some beams of light came down from dissipating clouds and began to light the new growth of meadows and aspen trees at the bottom of the canyon.

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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.

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Sierra Nevada

Eastern Sierra Valley, Afternoon Light

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Eastern Sierra Valley, Afternoon Light
Afternoon light coming over the Sierra crest illuminates a subalpine eastern Sierra valley

Eastern Sierra Valley, Afternoon Light. Sierra Nevada, California. July 17, 2015. © Copyright 2015 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Afternoon light coming over the Sierra crest illuminates a subalpine eastern Sierra valley

This little spot is not far from the boundary of Yosemite. It is a place that people often stop, but from what I’ve seen they usually stop for reasons other than the view. (Recently I was there very early in the morning, and I found a bunch of impromptu campers there — probably folks who weren’t able to get a campsite inside the park.) Some years ago I “discovered” a couple of views from the spot that I’ve come to enjoy and return to — one looking towards a nearby tall peak from an angle different from the more familiar views, and the other looking westward up this high valley with meadows along the creek, forest leading up the lower slopes, and high and rocky terrain above.

This time I was there in the afternoon, and on a very hazy day. (This has been the Year of Haze in the Sierra, largely due to the dry condition and the consequent early and widespread wildfires.) I love haze, and in many ways I prefer hazy conditions over crystal clear air. so my first thoughts were of how I could use this hazy atmosphere in my photograph. As I stood at this spot with my tripod set up, clouds traversed the Sierra summit, sending shadows across the valley — alternately putting everything in shade and then revealing features and the light crept back across the landscape. So I began to watch the clouds and the approaching beams of light, trying to predict when I might see an ideal combination of the two. At the moment I made this exposure most of the scene was in sun, though a few shadows added relief to the darker areas of the forest across the valley.

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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Commentary, Locations

The Impossible Trip: Yosemite in Seven Hours?

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That was the question that someone posed today in a photography forum I read:

We will be visiting Yosemite for approximately 7-8 hours one day the 2nd week of October as part of a weeklong trip to Tahoe (we live on the East Coast). I have been to Yosemite before (many years ago), she has not. Although we know it would take much more time to truly experience Yosemite this is the maximum time we can spend so we are looking for the top spots so we can make the most of the short time we have there.

(There was a bit more that I haven’t included here – the poster also would be staying in Mariposa the night before, and needed to drive across Tioga Pass and be in Tahoe that evening… and wanted to do photography along the way!)

Having visited the park for decades, and for an amount of time perhaps totaling well over a year altogether, and still getting to know the place, my first reaction was to ignore the question or respond with a wise-crack one-liner. Frankly, I don’t think it is really possible to do real photography of “the park” during a seven-hour visit. (With careful planning it would be possible to photograph a subject or two perhaps, but that is a different issue.) In any case, I suppressed my instinct to respond along the lines of “are you kidding!?” and instead tried to provide a realistic outline of what this experience might entail. While I’m spoiled, living only hours from the park, I do understand that others may find themselves in the area and not want to miss at least having a brief experience with such a place. And perhaps the way-too-brief visit might be enough to encourage such visitors to find a way to return for a longer visit.

So, with all of that in mind, here is what I wrote, slightly modified for this post:

You are asking quite a lot here… for a seven hour visit that will include at least 3-4 hours of driving… from Mariposa, into and around the Valley, and then up and over Tioga Pass… plus leaving enough time for the remaining hours-long drive to Tahoe.

Too bad, I’m afraid.

To be honest, the odds that you’ll be able to do much beyond “record-my-quick-visit” photography in the park are slender given the amount of time you’ll be there, your tight schedule, and the fact that you’ll be there mostly during the “blah light” time of day. To some extent, I’m inclined to recommend that you not make photography your primary goal – one reason being that trying to “get those photographs” will distract you even more from you brief opportunity to actually see and experience the place a bit. I photograph in the park frequently, so I know where and how to shoot, and I would not try to do real photography under the conditions you describe.

Having said all of that, the broad outlines of your visit must be: Continue reading The Impossible Trip: Yosemite in Seven Hours? →