Tag Archives: light

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

Granite Ridge, Light And Shadow

August 27, 2017 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Early morning light illuminates a ridge in glaciated granite terrain

I camped outside the park on this visit to the Sierra, and before dawn I was on the road and over Tioga Pass, heading toward various potential photographic subjects back along Tioga Pass Road. (I often end up camping over the pass on the east side of the park — this time it was because no campgrounds were yet open along the entirety of Tioga Pass Road due to the heavy winter snowfall and delays in clearing the roadway.) I wasn’t positive where I would photograph, but I knew that I’d find light if I looked.

After stopping to photograph a few other subjects I ended up all the way past Tenaya Lake, and I stopped at a well-known overlook. My initial idea was to photograph back-lit trees on ridges to the east, so I went to work on that subject first. As I finished I noticed that the sun was high enough that it was beginning to strike some of the high points on the large previously shaded granite slopes nearby. Here the first light has stretched across the length of a rib of rock, and in the shadows you can see the shapes of trees on the ridge over which the sunlight was streaming.

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: Unclassified, Photographs: Yosemite

Young Tree, Meadow, and Forest

August 26, 2017 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

The last ground fog clears in the distance beyond a young Tuolumne Meadows tree.

In mid-July we were in the Tuolumne Meadows area for a single night, camping at the main campground. It was a little bit of a lazy trip — photography was on the agenda, but the main reason we were there was to field-test some new gear that we plan to make more substantial use of on an upcoming trip. Very heavy wildfire smoke also put a bit of a damper on photography on the first day and into the evening. So when I went to sleep that night I wasn’t really sure if the smoke would clear in the morning, and I entertained the possibility of sleeping in.

A half hour before dawn I awoke and peered outside. It was hard to see in the faint light, but it appeared that the smoke had pretty much cleared, so I unzipped my sleeping bag, quickly dressed warmly, grabbed camera gear, and was on my way to the nearby meadow. I arrived before the first sun arrived, a very quiet and peaceful time when few others are out and about. In fact, for an hour I had “my” section of the meadow and surrounding forest entirely to myself. Soon the first beams of sunlight arrived and the thin ground fog began to dissipate. I love shooting into the morning light, especially when there is a just a bit of haze in the atmosphere. If you look closely you may be able to see the last remnants of the ground fog on the far side of the meadow.

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, and Dome

August 23, 2017 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Morning light on Lembert Dome and the forest and grasses of Tuolumne Meadow

The prior day was one of thick wildfire smoke, coming mainly from a fire on the far side of the park near Wawona, but also with contributions from various others fires including some small, managed lightening fires. The effect was not good — the smoke here was as thick as I’ve ever seen it before, including during a late summer visit to Cathedral Lakes a few years back during the height of the drought, when at times it seemed like the entire Sierra was on fire. In any case, the evening before I made this photograph it was still very smokey, and I wondered what the next morning would bring.

As usual, I woke up before sunrise. I was tempted to stay in the warm sleeping bag a while longer, but I summoned the focus to look outside. Noting that I could see blue sky, I got up fairly quickly and left the tent, heading down to the meadow. There was still just a bit of residual smoke hanging around, and there was also a shallow layer of light ground fog. All of this produces some very interesting atmosphere and light as I wandered the meadow, walking between grassy areas and encroaching bits of forest. I paused here, positions myself so that the large trees at the right would block the direct sun, and I made a few photographs including all of the elements of this landscape except the river that passed by out of sight.

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Sierra Nevada

Two Trees, Golden Hour

August 21, 2017 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Two lake-side trees in evening light along the Sierra Nevada crest near the Yosemite boundary

After a day of challenging weather it was a relief to watch the skies clear above this High Sierra lake, leading to an absolutely lovely and benign evening. (The previous evening all of us had been trapped inside tents during a three-hour rain storm.) Our camp was set up, we had eaten dinner, it was quiet and calm, and it was one of those peaceful and quiet Sierra Nevada evenings.

After dinner, eaten on the rocky bench near the bottom of this photograph, I got my equipment and climbed a bit higher, to a point from which all of the lake and its surroundings were visible. To my right was the Sierra crest, and beyond the mountains and valleys of the Yosemite backcountry. Across the lake the trees of a low saddle were picking up the late evening light coming across the tops of those Yosemite ridges.

G Dan Mitchell Photography

Tag Archives: light

Granite Ridge, Light And Shadow

Young Tree, Meadow, and Forest

Meadow, Forest, and Dome

Two Trees, Golden Hour

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