Tag Archives: light

Photographs: Central California, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Northern California

Boat, San Luis Reservoir

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Boat, San Luis Reservoir
Boat, San Luis Reservoir

Boat, San Luis Reservoir. California Hills. November 21, 2014. © Copyright 2014 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Two fisherman in a very small boat on the very large surface of the San Luis Reservoir on a cloudy and hazy autumn day

Returning from my first Central Valley winter bird photography excursion of the new season, I passed by San Luis Reservoir in the middle of the day when soft clouds hung above the mountains across the water and the sun made the hazy atmosphere glow. I usually just drive right past this place — which isn’t easy to access, even though the road runs right next to it — but I decided to figure out how and where to stop and make some photographs.

I found a high overlook at the visitor center that stands at the north end of the huge earthen dam, and from here there was a panoramic view of the surface of the lake and the surrounding California hills, which are mostly golden at this point in the early winter season. (Before long, after the first real rains, they will turn “impossibly green.”) As I photographed landscape subjects I noticed one very small fishing boat on the otherwise-empty surface of the huge reservoir.

G Dan Mitchell is a California photographer and visual opportunist whose subjects include the Pacific coast, redwood forests, central California oak/grasslands, the Sierra Nevada, California deserts, urban landscapes, night photography, and more.
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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: The Southwest, Photographs: Utah

Highlands, Autumn Light

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Highlands, Autumn Light
Highlands, Autumn Light

Highlands, Autumn Light. Zion National Park, Utah. October 28, 2014. © Copyright 2014 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

High country of Zion National Park in evening light

On this visit to Zion National Park we did not stay in the usual place, the park boundary town of Springdale, with its hotels and restaurants. Instead we stayed at a place a bit more off the beaten path, up a quiet road quite a few miles away from this town, where we had a home to stay in for a few days.

In the past I have visited many of the more popular areas of the park, since I’m still new to Utah and its national parks and feeling my way into a better understanding of these places. By the time of this trip some elements of the experience were beginning to feel familiar, and we were beginning to look at places we had not visited before. This is one of those areas, and we headed up into it late in the day, when others mostly seemed to be heading down. We weren’t really quite certain what we would find, but we figured that we would at least get up high. On the return trip we came to an area of open terrain with peaks to one side as the sun was setting, and driving past this spot I was stopped short by the light. We stopped, I got out, and I made this photograph more or less from the roadside.

G Dan Mitchell is a California photographer and visual opportunist whose subjects include the Pacific coast, redwood forests, central California oak/grasslands, the Sierra Nevada, California deserts, urban landscapes, night photography, and more.
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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: Sequoia-Kings Canyon, Photographs: Sierra Nevada

Lake and Pinnacles, Evening

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Lake and Pinnacles, Evening
Lake and Pinnacles, Evening

Lake and Pinnacles, Evening. Kings Canyon National Park. July 30, 2010. © Copyright 2010 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Evening light reflects surrounding pinnacles in the surface of a subalpine Sierra Nevada lake

This photograph takes me back to a long southern Sierra backpacking trip I took with friends back in 2010 — a trip from which I have recently shared a few other photographs. We entered the backcountry of Kings Canyon National Park from the east over one of the high Sierra crest passes, a few days later crossed another even higher pass to enter the upper Kern River drainage, spent a few days in a very remote portion of this area, and then exited back to the east over the crest by way of one of the more notorious east side passes — not the most notorious one, but definitely on the short list of awful passes… in a wonderful way. ;-)

The lake in this photograph was the site of our first night camp, after we came over that first pass and dropped to this beautiful sub-alpine valley with its lakes, meadows, rocks, and small trees. We settled in to this first camp… and into the familiar and welcome patterns of a long trip into the backcountry. These include camaraderie among friends who have shared many backpacking experiences, purposefully purposeless wandering around the wilderness neighborhood, sitting on rocks and staring, and watching the day transition to evening and then night.

G Dan Mitchell is a California photographer and visual opportunist whose subjects include the Pacific coast, redwood forests, central California oak/grasslands, the Sierra Nevada, California deserts, urban landscapes, night photography, and more.
Blog | About | Flickr | Twitter | Facebook | Google+ | 500px.com | LinkedIn | Email

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: The Southwest, Photographs: Utah

Kolob Terraces Area, Sunset

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Kolob Terraces Area, Sunset
Kolob Terraces Area, Sunset

Kolob Terraces Area, Sunset. Zion National Park, Utah. October 28, 2014. © Copyright 2014 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Sunset on the valleys, ridges, and cliffs of the Kolob Terraces area of Zion National Park

The photographs in the series from which this image comes were my last of the day. We had explored this high and slightly less crowded area of Zion National Park in the afternoon (after exploring another less busy area in the morning) and started heading back down in the early evening. With red rock, fall colors (there were still a few aspens and other trees with autumn colors), open and well-lit terrain, and lots of beautiful red rock, there was plenty to see as the light color warmed.

We had just made a stop that I suspected would be the last of the day, pausing there to photograph evening light on a meadow. We loaded the equipment back up and started down the road, planning to head out, but we soon came around a bend and saw this wild and beautifully lit scene of valleys and cliffs and peaks laid out in front of us. We stopped right there and, if I recall correctly, I pretty much set up my camera and tripod right in the roadway, working quickly before the light disappeared completely from the lower slopes and the valley.

G Dan Mitchell is a California photographer and visual opportunist whose subjects include the Pacific coast, redwood forests, central California oak/grasslands, the Sierra Nevada, California deserts, urban landscapes, night photography, and more.
Blog | About | Flickr | Twitter | Facebook | Google+ | 500px.com | LinkedIn | Email

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.