Tag Archives: meadow

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Sequoia-Kings Canyon, Photographs: Sierra Nevada

Tree, Lake, Reflected Mountains

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Tree, Lake, Reflected Mountains
A solitary tree, subalpine meadows, lake, and reflection of Sierra Nevada peaks

Tree, Lake, Reflected Mountains. © Copyright 2018 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A solitary tree, subalpine meadows, lake, and reflection of Sierra Nevada peaks

For this photograph I again travel back almost a full year, to a late summer photographic adventure into the High Sierra with a group of friends. We had much of our bulky and heavy equipment packed into this remote spot, though we carried our photographic equipment in on our backs. We remained here for about a week, with lots of time to explore and photograph the surrounding landscape.

The closest feature of interest was the meadow holding this subalpine lake. (We camped behind my camera position and on a rise that kept us out of the meadow. ) Early and late in the day the light around this lake could be beautiful, and I made this photograph in the morning while the water was still and the light slanted in from the east and left dramatic shadows on the landscape.

See top of this page for Articles, Sales and Licensing, my Sierra Nevada Fall Color book, Contact Information and more.

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

Alpine Lake, Cloud Shadows, Reflection

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Alpine Lake, Cloud Shadows, Reflection
The talus slopes on a Sierra crest ridge, mottled with cloud shadows, is reflected in the surface of an alpine lake.

This is an interesting place. I’ve visited quite a few times in the past, and in varying conditions of light, season, and weather. My first visit was many years ago, when a friend an I backpacked into the area very late in the season, experiencing cold temperatures and early snowfall. When I visited last year it was early in the season following a year of record-setting precipitation, and at almost the same point in the season it was difficult to cross the snowfields along the route. Once I got there I could not cross the rushing torrent of the outlet stream. This year the hike was less challenging, and I encountered no snow at all.

This lake lies at the end of my planned hike on this visit. It is a moderate-sized subalpine lake that is surrounded mostly by rocky meadows and high, talus-covered mountain slopes. The first clouds of what would be afternoon thunderstorms were arriving, and the wind propelled their shadows across the landscape. I made several exposures as the light changed, enjoying the kaleidoscope-like effect produced by the reflection in the surface of the lake.

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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(All media © Copyright G Dan Mitchell and others.)

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Sierra Nevada

Lake, Forest, Alpine Ridge

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Lake, Forest, Alpine Ridge
A rugged alpine ridge rises across the valley from a subalpine lake and surrounding forest

Lake, Forest, Alpine Ridge. © Copyright 2018 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A rugged alpine ridge rises across the valley from a subalpine lake and surrounding forest

I have backpacked the Sierra Nevada for decades, and for much of that time I regarded the activity as primarily one about moving through the landscape. Days were spent walking through and past glorious scenery, often getting to camp in time to embark on the activities of finding a campsite, setting up a tent, figuring out food storage, filtering water, fixing and eating dinner, cleaning up… and sleeping. There was time to sit and look, but only when the other tasks were finished. Sometime later in my backpacking career I began to understand the value of sitting in one place and soaking it in, and eventually I even managed to convince myself to camp in one spot for more than one night, allowing me to slow down to match the natural rhythms of the place.

On some of the backcountry photography expeditions I’ve done more recently we have tended to set up a base camp and stay in one place for as long as a week. The experience has been surprising and remarkable. On early trips of this sort I would worry at first about how I could possibly find enough to do in one spot for a week. Invariably, by the final day of the visit I discovered that it had not been enough time! This photograph comes from one of these trips, where we camped in one location for a week, spending each day exploring near and far, and getting to know the landscape and light intimately. This photograph was made less than five minutes from camp, at a time of day when a Serious Backpacker would already by on the trail… and perhaps missing such quiet morning moments.

See top of this page for Articles, Sales and Licensing, my Sierra Nevada Fall Color book, Contact Information and more.

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.
Blog | About | Flickr | Twitter | Facebook | LinkedIn | Email

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

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Sierra Nevada

Inlet Stream, Subalpine Lake

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Inlet Stream, Subalpine Lake
Sierra Nevada ridge, forest, and lake viewed from the meadowy inlet stream

Inlet Stream, Subalpine Lake. © Copyright 2018 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Sierra Nevada ridge, forest, and lake viewed from the meadowy inlet stream

I made this photograph on a lovely late-summer morning at a Sierra Nevada backcountry location where we camped for about a week a while ago. Camped nearby, hidden among trees and boulders on a small glacial moraine, we woke each morning, emerged from tents, and were immediately in a target-rich photographic environment. We had choices — wander the nearby meadow and lake, head up the hill to bigger meadows, or embark on a longer hike above timberline.

The lake is more or less a Sierra classic. It sits on a bench above a deeper canyon, with low hill at the outlet end suggesting that the terrain was scooped out by glaciation. Above (and behind my camera position) the valley continues, rising well above treelike and culminating at a ring of high peaks. A river drains to the west in the valley between the lake and the more distant ridge. I made the photograph in the morning as the first direct light hit the meadow and the distant mountains were still in shadow.

See top of this page for Articles, Sales and Licensing, my Sierra Nevada Fall Color book, Contact Information and more.

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.
Blog | About | Flickr | Twitter | Facebook | LinkedIn | Email

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