Tag Archives: lichen

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

Boulders and Trees, Lower Young Lake

July 18, 2011 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Subalpine forest strewn with granite boulders in morning light, Lower Young Lake.

This photograph comes from late in last year’s backpacking season, on a mid-September trip to the Young Lakes Basin. As I have previously written, this area is a beautiful one to explore and is doubly beautiful for photographers since it is open to the western evening light. I made this photograph in the morning and not far from my campsite at the lower of the three Young Lakes. This sort of scene is no doubt familiar to anyone who has spent much time in the Sierra Nevada high country and has come to know these areas of mixed trees and meadows among fields of large granite boulders. I found this particular scene by leaving the trail behind and exploring more widely around the shoreline of the lake.

Text, photographs, and other media are © Copyright G Dan Mitchell (or others when indicated) and are not in the public domain and may not be used on websites, blogs, or in other media without advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

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

Spring Cascade, Tioga Pass Road

June 23, 2011 G Dan Mitchell 4 Comments

A seasonal stream cascades over a granite ledge along Tioga Pass Road, Yosemite National Park.

This small cascade is one of hundreds seen along Tioga Pass Road on June 18 this year, the day the park service opened the road for the season. The opening date was later than usual due to the heavy snowpack, and there was water everywhere as the snow melt accelerated in the late spring weather. It was almost embarrassingly easy to find and photograph these subjects – this one was right next to the roadway.

This is part of a larger cascade, out of view to the right, that flows off the top of a granite area and drops quickly across granite cliffs. Here the water strikes a slanting ledge and bits of spray explode almost like Fourth of July fireworks. Obviously, the somewhat unusually long shutter speed was selected with this effect in mind. The reddish plants to the left, just beginning to come back to life after the long winter, hint at the early date in the season.

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Text, photographs, and other media are © Copyright G Dan Mitchell (or others when indicated) and are not in the public domain and may not be used on websites, blogs, or in other media without advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

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

Oak, Laurel, and Granite

May 21, 2011 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

An oak tree and a laurel tree grow next to a granite face along the north side of Yosemite Valley, California.

I have visited this small, gnarled oak tree before. It grows right at the base of a granite face along the north side of Yosemite Valley, seems to face a pretty rugged life living beneath the shadow of the cliff and among fallen boulders. When I visited in early May the tree was just starting to get its new growth of leaves, though the laurel tree right next to it was already quite green.

The last time I photographed this tree it was autumn, and the leaves were also colorful then. It seems a bit odd that the leaves of this oak take on similar yellow and red colors at both the start and end of their season. (Though they do go more toward brown than yellow in the fall.)

The light was interesting on this day, which had started out clear. As the day wore on a weak Pacific weather front approached, and by evening things were pretty well socked in. But here, at perhaps 4:00 or 4:30, if I recall correctly, the incoming clouds were thing and broken enough to just soften the light without turning it completely gray.

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

Dead Branch, Glaciated Granite

February 11, 2011 G Dan Mitchell 2 Comments

A dead branch lies on glacially-polished granite in the Yosemite National Park back-country.

I made a promise to someone to not say where this photograph was made – I’ll just say it is in Yosemite National Park. But the exact location really doesn’t matter too much, as these large expanses of glaciated granite slab are a common feature throughout the park, and you could find similarly interesting geology in thousands of locations.

I was a little surprised to find this weathered branch in this location, since it was a good distance from any trees and also not near any flowing water. Besides its location, a few other things about it caught my attention. First, its curving shapes lined up in a way tht seems to tie in with the bit of glacially-polished granite that lies beneath it. (And, yes, this is exactly where the branch was when I found it.) In a way, the larger shape of the lighter area of granite winding across the photograph from side to side almost seems like a much thicker echo of the curving shape of the branch. In addition, the warm brown tones of the branch seem to stand out a bit – though perhaps more in a larger print – against the relatively drab color of the rock.

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Text, photographs, and other media are © Copyright G Dan Mitchell (or others when indicated) and are not in the public domain and may not be used on websites, blogs, or in other media without advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

Photographer and visual opportunist. Daily photos since 2005, plus articles, reviews, news, and ideas.