Tag Archives: light

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

Trees At The Meadow

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Forest, Meadow, and Cliffs
A line of old, tall trees next to a Yosemite Valley meadow.

Trees At The Meadow. © Copyright 2023 G Dan Mitchell.

A line of old, tall trees next to a Yosemite Valley meadow.

This comes from my one-day trip to Yosemite Valley and back — an ordeal I tolerate from time to time when something interesting is happening in the Valley and my schedule doesn’t permit a longer visit. This time I realized that the crowds of Memorial Day weekend and beyond were days away, and that I had not yet photographed the spring runoff. There are (obviously!) some downsides to driving 400 miles round-trip, starting around 3:00AM, photographing through the day, and not returning home until after midnight. One is that there are a lot of hours between the ideal early and late light.

I made this photograph during those midday hours. While these long trips require using some of this time for necessities such as napping and eating, I do wander and photograph a bit. Although it is harder of find photographs in this light, it isn’t impossible… and, for course, a bit of meandering on trails, even easy ones, can get me away from the worst of the congestion that is a feature of the Vally during the prime tourist season.

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, Amazon, and directly from G Dan Mitchell.

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

Forest and Tower, Afternoon

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Forest and Tower, Afternoon
Gentle afternoon haze and soft spring light on forest and granite towers, Yosemite Valley.

Forest and Tower, Afternoon. © Copyright 2023 G Dan Mitchell.

Gentle afternoon haze and soft spring light on forest and granite towers, Yosemite Valley.

The main visual aspect of Yosemite Valley, I think, is of massive, iconic formations in combinations that would be almost impossible to imagine: a dome sliced in half, waterfalls launching from the edges of cliffs thousands of feet above the valley, incomprehensibly massive expanses of granite, the u-shaped form with a carpet of trees at the bottom. But more subtle things characterize the place, too: the back-lit afternoon haze, cloud shadows moving ac ross the landscape, trees and meadows next to the river, and more.

The location is a bit west of the most popular parts of the Valley, wheres a beautiful small meadow provides more open views of the surroundings. The meadow that can be more of a lake in the snow melt season when the nearby Merced river rises. This spot was almost the final stop on my recent one-day visit to the Valley, and there I found multiple subjects to photograph.

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, Amazon, and directly from G Dan Mitchell.

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Links to Articles, Sales and Licensing, my Sierra Nevada Fall Color book, Contact Information.

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

First View

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First View
Morning view of Yosemite Valley’s El Capitan and Ribbon Fall on a spring morning.

First View. © Copyright 2023 G Dan Mitchell.

Morning view of Yosemite Valley’s El Capitan and Ribbon Fall on a spring morning.

There are several stories about how I came to this spot earlier this week. One starts decades ago, but I’ll begin with a shorter one. Up at 2:50AM and on the road minutes later, I began the drive from the San Francisco Bay Area to Yosemite Valley in darkness. I had considered a sunrise arrival, but that would have meant being on the road around 1:00AM — which wasn’t going to happen. So the sky began to lighten out in the Great Valley, and the sun rose while I was in Merced Canyon. This scene was in front of me when I finally stopped, shortly after turning onto Southside Drive in the Valley.

Of course, the full story of “how I got here” is much, much longer. It started decades ago when I was five years old and my parents relocated to California from the Midwest. Soon after our arrival we went to Yosemite — I don’t know the exact year, but it must have been not long after my fifth birthday. I’ve been to this place many times over those years, and I expanded my experience to the greater Sierra. On this visit I thought a lot about how my relationship to this Valley has changed, and I hope to write a bit more about that in the next few weeks.

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, Amazon, and directly from G Dan Mitchell.

Blog | About | Twitter | Flickr | Facebook | Email

Links to Articles, Sales and Licensing, my Sierra Nevada Fall Color book, Contact Information.

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

Photographs: Death Valley, Photographs: Desert, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Southern California

Shadows on Dunes

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Shadows on Dunes
Morning shadows lie across Death Valley sand dunes.

Shadows on Dunes. © Copyright 2023 G Dan Mitchell.

Morning shadows lie across Death Valley sand dunes.

Yes, I know. More dunes. As I wrote earlier, it is almost impossible to visit Death Valley National Park and not photograph sand dunes at least a little bit. To be sure, they comprise only a small portion of the park, and there is much more to see there. But they are a compelling subject, with infinite variations of light, texture, form, and color. I photographed these in the early morning just after sunrise when the shadows were still long.

While photographs often show the actual features and forms of the dunes, photographers “interpret” the subject, too. We seek out the most fascinating bits and pieces, the best light, and then we go to work to present them in the most interesting and appealing way. Here I wanted to show the directionality of the early light, but also maintain at least some details in the deep shadow areas.

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, Amazon, and directly from G Dan Mitchell.

Blog | About | Twitter | Flickr | Facebook | Email

Links to Articles, Sales and Licensing, my Sierra Nevada Fall Color book, Contact Information.

Scroll down to leave a comment or question. (Click this post’s title first if you are viewing on the home page.)

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