Tag Archives: light

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

Wildfire Smoke, Forest, Morning

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Wildfire Smoke, Forest, Morning
Morning smoke from the Empire fire settings among forest trees in morning light

Wildfire Smoke, Forest, Morning. Yosemite National Park, California. October 22, 2017. © Copyright 2017 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Morning smoke from the Empire fire settings among forest trees in morning light

In today’s post I’m likely to repeat some things that I have shared before, but I think they might provide some context for this photograph of a wildfire that was still burning through forest in the Yosemite National Park Sierra Nevada high country. I have gone through several phases regarding wildfires as a subject. Many years ago, having had my first backcountry experiences in less enlightened part of the Smokey The Bear era, I simply regarded all wildfires as unmitigated disasters. Later I came to understand the obvious: wildfires have always been a part of the natural ecology of forests, and they are necessary for forest health. But I still didn’t like them. After that I began to make an effort to see wildfires and their aftermath as possible subjects for photographs, and even as potential subjects for photographs of something beautiful. For a long time I failed at that, even though I tried. More recently, perhaps because I have been lucky to be in the right places at the right time, I think I have finally begun to understand how to photograph the subject and make it work. (A longer post on that broad subject may be coming before long!)

There have been quite a few wildfires in California this year. (And while I recognize their importance in the natural order of things, I am concerned that the number and extent of the fires is far enough out of the normal range to have some long-term negative effects.) I have had plenty of opportunities to photograph their effects. On this late October morning I was in Yosemite and heading out towards Glacier Point, thinking it might be my final opportunity to photograph there before winter snows close the road for the season. I was stopped in my tracks as I came around a large bend in the road and to a high, open overlook with views toward the Sierra crest. The smoke from the slow-burning late stages of this fire had settled into hollows and among the trees in the still air overnight, and it was just beginning to drift and rise in the early morning light, both softening the scene and emphasizing the varied contours of ridges and forest.

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

Autumn Snow, Last Light On Granite

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Autumn Snow, Last Light On Granite
Last evening light on glaciated granite dusted by autumn snow.

Autumn Snow, Last Light On Granite. Yosemite National Park, California. October 22, 2017. © Copyright 2017 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Last evening light on glaciated granite dusted by autumn snow.

The path to this photograph was a long and convoluted one, and it was certainly not what I was planning on when my day began. I had arrived in the Yosemite area the prior morning, planning to photograph autumn subjects in The Valley before heading over to Oakhurst for the opening reception for the final run of last year’s Yosemite Renaissance Exhibit. I arrived in Yosemite Valley to find it filled with smoke (and a surprising number of October visitors), but I found subjects that could work in this conditions and set about photographing. This is the time for fall color in The Valley, with lots of beautiful leaves on big leaf maple, dogwood, oak and other trees. In the evening I went over to Oakhurst in time to enjoy the reception, where I had an opportunity to see the 2017 version of the show one last time with friends and fellow artists.

I was up well before dawn the next morning with a general plan of heading to Glacier Point for sunrise. However, a beautiful, forested valley full of dogwood and other fall color intervened, and by the time I finished there it was clear that I wasn’t going to make my goal by dawn or even close to it. I did go on up to near Glacier Point, where I photographed wildfire smoke before deciding to go back to The Valley and photograph more trees. I did so, and I had some successes, but by mid-afternoon the crowds and smoke were becoming oppressive, to I decided to make what might be my final trip of the season up to Tioga Pass. Without stopping to photograph, I made it to the pass in the late afternoon. I soon started back down to begin my long drive back to the Bay Area. As I passed the closed-for-the-winter Tuolumne store I saw a familiar van and some tripods standing nearby, so I quickly stopped to see that a couple of friends were there. We talked for a long time — longer than I expected — but I finally tore myself away with little more than a half hour of daylight left. I started west, not sure if I would stop to photograph, but I soon saw that it was going to be a beautiful evening. The smoke was gone up here, the air was clear, and the warm colors of evening were on the peaks. I quickly stopped at a familiar place, but pointed my lens at a less-familiar subject — a series of retreating granite ridges marked by new snow and lit by the final light of the evening.

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

Morning Light On Wildfire Smoke

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Morning Light On Wildfire Smoke
“Morning Light On Wildfire Smoke” — Early morning light on wildfire smoke drifting among forest trees

For a day that I began with only a vague plan (photograph Glacier Point at dawn) that I managed to miss (distracted by dogwood trees), I ended up with quite a photographic haul before it was over. I have a very early morning photograph of a lovely forest scene with autumn colors, a series of photographs of beautiful and mysterious drifting smoke along Glacier Point Road, several photographs of the autumn scene in Yosemite Valley, and finally a small set of photographs of sunset light on snow-dusted granite along Tioga Pass Road. All told, it turned out to be a rather remarkable day!

The least expected subject also turned out to be the one that produced the largest number of photographs — the early morning wildfire smoke that had settled down in valleys and among the trees overnight. If I had arrived at Glacier Point when I originally planned I might have missed this in darkness. Yet again, I got lucky, and after a delay brought about by my inability to resist stopping to photograph another forest scene I arrived here at just the right moment. The air was still and the smoke was barely moving among the trees in this large valley below my location. I had a good long time to stand and take it in and then work the scene carefully, with photographs ranging from those including the full scene to others, like this one, that zeroed in on small elements of it. Several things attracted me about this particular scene: the beams of lighting the smoke drifting through the trees at the bottom of the frame, the zigzag pattern produced by forest and smoke, the tall and thin trees on the far ridge, and the bits of Yosemite granite domes barely visible in the distance through the smoke.

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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” (Heyday Books) is available directly from him. Blog | Bluesky | Mastodon | Substack Notes | Flickr | Email

All media © Copyright G Dan Mitchell and others.

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

Autumn Light, Trees and Meadow

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Autumn Light, Trees and Meadow
Autumn afternoon light falls on meadow and trees in Yosemite Valley

Autumn Light, Trees and Meadow. Yosemite Valley, California. October 21, 2017. © Copyright 2017 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Autumn afternoon light falls on meadow and trees in Yosemite Valley

These trees and I have become old friends. I have photographed the trees and the meadow in which they are located many times over the years. (I don’t generally name places, but I wouldn’t be surprised if a number of fellow Yosemite visitors recognize them.) I’ve been there in every season — summer (fighting crowds!), fall (with oaks turning golden brown), spring (with green meadows and new leaves the trees), and winter (when I hiked across closed roads to get here, and had the meadow to myself).

When photographing in Yosemite Valley I almost always pay close attention not only to my immediate subjects but also to the atmospheric conditions and the light. On this day smoke from wildfires filled the valley. At first that might seem rather unpleasant — and it certainly is not good for eyes or lungs! — but it also can create some beautiful atmospheric effects, from muting colors to glowing in the light. At this time of year the sun passes lower in the sky and the edges of shadows move across the Valley floor and create changing and beautiful conditions. At this location the first light arrives late and leaves early since there are very tall granite faces nearby that block the sun. I arrived here just at the moment before the shadow moved over these trees, but while a shaft of light came through a cleft in the upper cliff walls and fell on the trees.

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.