Tag Archives: light

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Sierra Nevada, Photographs: Yosemite

Morning Light, After Snow

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Morning Light, After Snow
Light snow on forest trees and granite faces, following winter snow

Morning Light, After Snow. © Copyright 2018 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Light snow on forest trees and granite faces, following winter snow

On most days I’m convinced that there is no season more beautiful in Yosemite Valley than winter, and no day in the Valley more beautiful than one following snowfall, when the sun comes out again, snow blankets the trees, and a bit of remaining mist floats among the spires. (OK, on an autumn day I may give more credit to fall colors, and on a spring day I may acknowledge new growth and wildflowers. But still.)

I was fortunate that it snowed on several days during my recent artist-in-residence stint in the Valley. (Thank you, Yosemite Renaissance.) It did not snow a lot, but it was unusually cold and snow fell all the way to the valley floor, with an accumulation in some spots of a few inches. Because it was so cold the snow did not immediately melt (as it often does at this elevation) or fall from the trees. In this photograph, across the open space of a meadow, you can still see snow in the trees, and it gets thicker as the trees ascend the south side of 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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All media © Copyright G Dan Mitchell and others as indicated. Any use requires advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Sierra Nevada, Photographs: Yosemite

Riverbank Trees, Winter Light

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Riverbank Trees, Winter Light
Bare winter trees along the Merced River, Yosemite Valley

Riverbank Trees, Winter Light. © Copyright 2018 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Bare winter trees along the Merced River, Yosemite Valley

There are many interesting things in Yosemite Valley. (“Duh!,” right?) The big, iconic features are well-known, but wander away from those a bit and you are bound to find more things worth exploring — trails, bends in the river, groves of trees, meadows, boulders, views of less-known cliffs, hidden seasonal waterfalls, and even historical human structures. Wander in the right directions at the right times and you may even find something approaching solitude in this busy place. (You’ll increase the odds if you do your wandering at times other than the summer tourist season.)

This photograph only required a small bit of wandering, since the walk to this spot is quite short. One of may photography habits in the Valley is to seek out “edges” — where shadow and light meet. These places produce all kinds of wonderful effects, including the possibility of somewhat subdued light and the opportunity to place brightly lit subjects against darker backgrounds. These trees provided such an opportunity, as the long shadows of cliffs along the north side of the Valley were growing across the Valley floor, leaving the riverside trees in low, late-afternoon sun while the background subjects had already fallen into shadows. The stark winter light, nearly devoid of color, produced an almost monochromatic scene with only subtle hints of color.

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, Photographs: Yosemite

Meadow, Forest, Evening Light

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Meadow, Forest, Evening Light
Soft evening light and haze illuminate a meadow clearing with silhouetted trees

Meadow, Forest, Evening Light. © Copyright 2018 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Soft evening light and haze illuminate a meadow clearing with silhouetted trees

It was late on a clear winter day, and I found myself in Yosemite Valley, in an area of trees and meadows. My first objective was group of riverside trees that were catching the early evening light coming up the Valley from the west. Soon the cliffs along the north side of the Valley cast shadows across these trees, so I moved on, following the shadow-sun line to the southwest as I crossed meadows.

Ahead a row of trees cut across the meadow along the route of a trail. A management fire was burned a bit to the west — incinerating trees that died in the drought of the past few years — and the smoke drifted, producing a gentle haze in the evening light. I found a break in the trees, with a meadow and back-lit trees on the far side, and above more trees fading into the haze toward faint cliff silhouettes. I made a quick series of exposures, and then then light was gone.

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.
Blog | About | Flickr | Twitter | Facebook | Google+ | LinkedIn | 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, Photographs: Yosemite

Granite Cliffs, Last Light

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Granite Cliffs, Last Light
The line of last sunset light crosses rugged granite cliffs in Yosemite National Park

Granite Cliffs, Last Light. © Copyright 2018 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

The line of last sunset light crosses rugged granite cliffs in Yosemite National Park

Late last month I had the good fortune to spend a week in Yosemite, thanks to the Yosemite Renaissance artist-in-residence program. Their generosity provided me with a warm place to stay in the park and, most important, with time to chase photographs in the Valley and elsewhere. (With the onset — finally! — of winter weather in the park, it also gave me lots of opportunities to practice my winter driving skills!)

The Valley is, of course, filled with wonderful and well-known icons. Like virtually everyone, I photograph those, too, particularly when special conditions bring the possibility of special and different light and atmosphere to those familiar subjects. However, over time I have become more interested in other little bits of visual interest that don’t necessarily reflect the best-known features. On this evening I was at one of the most famous locations — with the promise of light snow, drifting clouds, and evening light breaking through. I make a habit of scanning the entire 360 panorama around me, even when the most obvious subject is in a 45 degree vector straight in front, and near the very end of the day a beam of sunset light passed across a rocky outcropping to my left, producing intense light on the rocks while the evening’s blue and purple colors began to fill the canyons.

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.
Blog | About | Flickr | Twitter | Facebook | Google+ | LinkedIn | Email

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