Tag Archives: lichen

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Sierra Nevada

Autumn Aspens and Cliff Face

November 9, 2011 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Two aspen trees with a few remaining autumn leaves grow against a cliff near North Lake, California.

I photographed this little scene on my first real morning of aspen photography this season in early October. I arrived quite early at North Lake, driving up the snowed in gravel road right after it had apparently been reopened. It was unplowed but other vehicles had clearly been up there, I have four-wheel drive, and I wanted to see what I would find before too many others arrived later in the day. There were few people there when I arrived, which was a bit unusual since this area is often crawling with photographers, individually and in workshops, at this time of the year. But the fact that the road was still snow-covered and that the storms had affected the aspens seemed to keep people away.

I parked before arriving at the lake, shouldered my gear, and walked up to the lake. I bypassed the popular spot near the outlet stream – been there, done that! – and keep walking along the road that skirts the right side of the lake. Everything was still frozen and it was very cold – and I regretted not bringing my winter boots along! The aspen photography was not quite what I had hoped, but there were other subjects, among them the fresh snow – an unusual sight for early October!

In looking for subjects other than the “regular” views of North Lake – which can be spectacular and well worth photographing, too – I often walk slowly along the lake-side road and keep my eyes open along the rocky cliffs that line it. Because the direct sunlight doesn’t hit this spot until later in the day, it is often possible to find softer morning light and even some light reflected from across the lake. On this morning I found that many of the aspen leaves had fallen or turned brown as a result of the storm, but a few were left and the stark white trunks of the trees against the rocks seemed like an interesting subject.

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Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Northern California, Photographs: Sierra Nevada, Photographs: Yosemite

Small Trees and Plants, Granite Slabs

September 25, 2011 G Dan Mitchell 4 Comments

Small trees and plants grow in a thin crack among stained granite slabs, Yosemite National Park.

Just over a small hill from the campsite on the first nights of my recent Yosemite back-country photography trip, the Tuolumne River cuts down through rocky terrain and past large granite slabs marked by intrusions of red rock. As is often the case in the Sierra, any tiny crack or weakness in the rock is enough for plants to get started. This very think crack supports a “grove” of very small trees, along with some other plants.

The previous week had been a rainy one, including the night before, when I arrived just in time to set up my tent before the rain began. As a result, water had been draining across this granite slope and highlighting the natural seepage lines on the rock and the colors of various deposits from the more colorful rock above and embedded in the granite slabs. I made this photograph in the very soft early morning light before the sun had risen high enough to send direct light down into the canyon.

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Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Northern California, Photographs: Sierra Nevada, Photographs: Yosemite

Juniper Tree Trunk, Detail

August 13, 2011 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

The heavily weathered and contorted trunk of juniper trees near Olmsted Point, Yosemite National Park.

These Sierra juniper trees grow in the most improbable places – on top of granite domes and slabs, with roots somehow finding sustenance in cracks and bits of gravel, and no doubt exposed to the full force of mountain storms. This is actually a group of trees that take advantage of the same crack in the otherwise solid granite, and which have grown together into what almost appears to be one very wide tree at first.

Because of their toughness, the way they grow almost into the rock, and the fact that the trees continue to live even when portions have died, it sometimes seems to me that these trees can have a character that is closer to that of the rock itself than just about any other living thing in the Sierra. The oldest branches and roots grow into the rock and have been shaped so much by their relationship to it that they can almost take on a rock-like character themselves.

These particular specimens happen to be growing part way up a dome-like granite slab above Tioga Pass Road as it passes through Yosemite’s high country. It appears that part of the treed may have been affected by fire, and dead sections have been worn and eroded by the tough sub-alpine environment. The only obvious signs of life in this close up image are the bits of moss or lichen growing in a few cracks in the wood.

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Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Northern California, Photographs: Sierra Nevada, Photographs: Yosemite

Morning Reflections, Unnamed Lake

August 2, 2011 G Dan Mitchell 2 Comments

The still early morning surface of an unnamed subalpine lake reflects the boulders and trees along its rocky shoreline, Yosemite National Park.

This is yet another of those little places in Yosemite that is both surprisingly accessible and surprisingly neglected. Since keeping it that way may be a good thing, I’ll refrain from locating it more specifically than to say that it is along the Tioga Pass Road through the park.

I have photographed here before, and I am intrigued by the good-sized granite boulders along the shoreline and out into the water of this shallow lake surrounded by forest. Because of the surrounding terrain, morning light does not reach down to th lake right away, so I was able to shoot in this soft and indirect light and include both some details in the shadows of the forest and their beautifully blurred reflections in the still surface of the water.

The photograph includes one indication of what an unusual year this has been in the high country. The horizontal white area beyond the shoreline trees at the left side of the frame is a melting snow bank. Normally that might not be a big deal, but this photograph was made near the very end of July. It is a very unusual year when we can still find snow at this elevation near the beginning of August!

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