Tag Archives: light

Photographs: Mono Lake Basin, Photographs: Nature

Mono Basin, Morning

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Mono Basin, Morning
A view of Mono Lake, Mono Basin, and surrounding peaks from the base of the Sierra Nevada.

Mono Basin, Morning. © Copyright 2021 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A view of Mono Lake, Mono Basin, and surrounding peaks from the base of the Sierra Nevada.

This photograph is another long view of Mono Basin and Mono Lake, with Paoha Island centered in the frame. Paoha Island is, like its companion Negit Island, the product of volcanic activity where a long string of volcanic sites intersects the lake. You can find lots of other volcanic cones on this like both north and south of Mono, including the much taller and older Mono Craters just to the south.

When I first came to Mono Lake and photographed it many years ago, I typically tried to get very close to the edge of the lake, for example photographing tufa formations along its edge. But over the years I’ve become more fascinated by the longer views that take in the vast space in and above the Mono Basin. To really see this it helps to find an elevated location, and there are plenty of them to see if you poke around a bit in and around the Basin. This photograph was made near the base of the eastern escarpment of the Sierra Nevada, and it looks across the lake and beyond to eastern mountains that belong to Nevada’s basin and range terrain.

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

Wilderness Lake, Late Season Light

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Wilderness Lake, Late Season Light
Hazy, late-season light at a Yosemite backcountry lake showing signs of autumn color.

Wilderness Lake, Late Season Light. © Copyright 2021 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Hazy, late-season light at a Yosemite backcountry lake showing signs of autumn color.

On this first day of autumn I am queuing up this photograph to appear on my website a day later. (Some of you may see it on social media on the equinox.) The photograph provokes the question: When does fall actually start, anyway? It might seem like the objective answer would be obvious, but perhaps not as much as we would think. One definition — the most common one — says that fall, or autumn, beings on the date of the autumnal equinox when the sun is again directly overhead at the equator. However, I’m aware of at least two other ways of looking at this. One refers to so-called “meteorological fall,” which I understand to be the months of September, October, and November. (I’ve always felt that these were the months of autumn.) Another method, which also makes a lot of sense, starts and ends the seasons on so-called “cross quarter days,” the days midway between equinox and solstice.

This photograph falls into this gap and illustrates the conundrum. I made the photograph a few years ago when a group of use spent a few days photographing this backcountry Yosemite Lake and its surroundings… near the start of September. The astronomers will tell you it was still summer, but the meteorologists and backcountry travels will note that the scene had a distinctly autumnal quality, especially from the lovely red bilberry plants in the foreground. Whatever system you follow, there was no question that this was a day more full of the sensations of autumn than of summer.

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: Sierra Nevada, Photographs: Yosemite

Sierra Shoreline, Morning

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Sierra Shoreline, Morning
Reflections and soft morning light on on trees and boulders along the shoreline of a Yosemite wilderness lake.

Sierra Shoreline, Morning. © Copyright 2021 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Reflections and soft morning light on on trees and boulders along the shoreline of a Yosemite wilderness lake.

This photograph brings back a bunch of wonderful and somewhat wistful memories. I made it on a weeklong wilderness trip with a group of photographers with whom I’ve been heading into the Sierra backcountry almost every summer for more than a decade. (The “wistful” part of the memories is largely because the pandemic has prevented us from getting together again this summer.) We typically spend that time exploring some beautiful Sierra location, base-camped long enough to really get to know the place. Every morning we emerge from tents in darkness and head out to photograph for hours. We return to camp in the middle of the morning with stories to tell and chores to take care of. Late in the afternoon we head out into the field again, photographing until the light fades and we return to camp in darkness. The we do the same thing the next day.

This trip took us to a beautiful little forested lake in the Yosemite backcountry, a place I had not visited previously even though I had been in the general area quite a few times. The lake is up high, with expansive views from nearby ridges, and surrounded by forest. On most mornings I did a slow circuit around the lake as the light arrived. This lovely section of shoreline was more or less on the opposite side from our camp, and after photographing it more than once I figured out the light well enough that I was able to photograph it in the soft morning light just before the sun arrived, when the water was still smooth.

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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Photographs: New York City, Photographs: Night, Photographs: Urban/Street

Shadow and Wall

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Shadow and Wall
“Shadow and Wall” — The ephemeral shadow of a passing figure on a wall in Manhattan.

One evening in Manhattan, we were out for a walk along the high Line Park. As always, I was carrying a camera. (Yes, I think I drive my family crazy that way.) I’ve been there a number of times, and I’m usually intrigued by the buildings that line this park — their textures, their windows and rooftops, the glimpses of what goes on in them as the life of the park moves past. I think I was trying to think of a way to photograph the texture of this concrete wall when I came upon this bit of light coming across the walkway and casting shadows.

It is hard to recall too many more specifics of the scene, though I have a series of perhaps a half dozen or more photographs, made as various people moved through the lower part of the scene or, more accurately, their vague shadows moved through the scene. When people ask what sort of camera I carry to places like this, my answer is that it is usually a small camera equipped with small prime lenses. This photograph perhaps illustrates why that is. I can always have such a camera with me, I can use it quickly and without much fuss, and it even works in very low light.

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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

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