Tag Archives: meadow

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

Snow-Covered Trees, Cliff

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Snow-Covered Trees, Cliff
Spring snow blankets trees in front of a Yosemite Valley granite cliff face

Snow-Covered Trees, Cliff. © Copyright 2018 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Spring snow blankets trees in front of a Yosemite Valley granite cliff face

This past few days has been pretty busy, as I work on making prints for an exhibit that opens on June 2. It looks like the prints are now all made — but the work of trimming, matting, framing, and otherwise preparing them continues over the next few days. The exhibit is “Transitions: Winter Into Spring — Photographs by G Dan Mitchell and Friends.” It features photographs that I made during this year’s winter and spring Yosemite Renaissance artist-in-residency in the park, and photographs by a group of talented photographers and friends including Jerry Bosworth, Franka Mlikota Gabler, Charlotte Hamilton Gibb, David Hoffman, Vidya Kane, and Kerby Smith. The show opens at Gallery 5 in Oakhurst, just outside the park, on June 2 and runs through the end of the month. There is a public reception at the gallery on June 9. If you are in the area, please come and visit!

This photograph is not in the show, but it was made during the project. As the “Winter Into Spring” title of the show suggests, I was in the park frequently from February through the April, working in conditions that ranged from freezing cold and wintry right on through warm and sunny. This photograph came from an early spring day when one of the last snow storms of the season passed through the valley and dropped a few inches of snow — just enough to frost the trees and turn the meadows white. It didn’t last long – most of it melted by the following day, and when I returned a week later I photographed in warm spring sunshine.

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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” 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, Photographs: Yosemite

Forest, Granite, And Spring Snow

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Forest, Granite, And Spring Snow
Gentle spring snow flurries on Yosemite Valley meadows and forest

Forest, Granite, And Spring Snow. © Copyright 2018 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Gentle spring snow flurries on Yosemite Valley meadows and forest

Now that we are well into spring and it feels more like summer here in California, it is fun to take a final look back at winter in the photographic rear-view mirror. It is hard to believe that it was only weeks ago that I was photographing in falling snow in the Valley! When I returned there one week after making this photograph, virtually all traces of the snow had melted and it felt more like late spring or summer.

The storm that came through the Valley during this visit wasn’t a big one. Typical of most “shoulder season” storms in the Sierra, it only dropped an inch or two of snow, and it passed quickly. But for a moment all of the sensory elements of winter made one final stand — the blue-gray color of the scene, the distant cliffs disappearing into falling snow and clouds, and the colors muted to an almost monochrome quality. What the photograph cannot capture, but may possibly suggest, are things like the cool dampness and the changes to sound on these days — a quiet stillness where the sound-space seems larger somehow.

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, Photographs: Yosemite

Waterfall and Trees, Spring Evening

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Waterfall and Trees, Spring Evening
Evening light on Yosemite Falls and meadow trees

Waterfall and Trees, Spring Evening. © Copyright 2018 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Evening light on Yosemite Falls and meadow trees

I have had my eyes on this composition for some time. The photograph is, in many ways, a pretty straightforward thing, and it certainly doesn’t require any logistical difficulty or long hikes. However, there are a few variables in play that are not entirely under the photographer’s control, and timing is critical — as to the season, the time of day, and the momentary conditions. The green of that group of trees is briefly at its most intense for a period in the spring. As in so many photographs, the momentary effect of light is critical and ephemeral. Two days earlier I had photographed this same scene, with results I liked but not as much as what happened here.

Speaking of that earlier photograph of the same subject, I had not made a firm decision to re-photograph the scene on the evening when I made this version. I was thinking about several potential subjects on this final evening in the Valley for this trip, but it was the infamous Yosemite Valley traffic that put me here at the right moment. I had parked in a day use lot while I went on an afternoon hike, returning to my vehicle in time to finalize my evening plans. The traffic was completely stopped due to the combination of large numbers of spring visitor and construction work to the west. So I headed across the Valley and back to the east, looping around towards this spot. Some distance away the traffic stopped completely once again, so I simply pulled to the side, loaded my equipment on my back abandoned (temporarily!) my vehicle, and started walking. I could see good light ahead through the trees, but as I arrived some clouds blocked it. But since I wasn’t going to have much luck trying to drive elsewhere I simply decided to stick around and watch. Eventually there was a short break in the clouds, and a brief moment of lovely light illuminated these trees. And then the show was over.

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, Photographs: Yosemite

Snow Begins

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Snow Begins
Snow begins to fall on trees alongside a Yosemite Valley meadow

Snow Begins. © Copyright 2018 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Snow begins to fall on trees alongside a Yosemite Valley meadow

Yes, another photograph of Yosemite Valley on a winter day. I made this photograph on an afternoon when snow flurries were beginning to affect the Valley. It was an extremely cold day, and I was resuming my photography after a mid-day break. The light was “challenging” as the clouds moved in, muting colors, lowering the light levels, and producing a rather gray affect. But that is what it looks like when snow is coming!

If I recall correctly, I passed by this well-known meadow on my way to another objective, and paused long enough to walk about a bit and make a few photographs before moving on. At this point it was only snowing lightly. It is perhaps hard to see the falling snow in the meadow, at least in the small online version of the photograph, and it was still possible to see through the flurries to the surrounding cliffs.

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 | Google+ | LinkedIn | Email

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