Tag Archives: mist

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

Young Tree, Meadow, and Forest

August 26, 2017 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

The last ground fog clears in the distance beyond a young Tuolumne Meadows tree.

In mid-July we were in the Tuolumne Meadows area for a single night, camping at the main campground. It was a little bit of a lazy trip — photography was on the agenda, but the main reason we were there was to field-test some new gear that we plan to make more substantial use of on an upcoming trip. Very heavy wildfire smoke also put a bit of a damper on photography on the first day and into the evening. So when I went to sleep that night I wasn’t really sure if the smoke would clear in the morning, and I entertained the possibility of sleeping in.

A half hour before dawn I awoke and peered outside. It was hard to see in the faint light, but it appeared that the smoke had pretty much cleared, so I unzipped my sleeping bag, quickly dressed warmly, grabbed camera gear, and was on my way to the nearby meadow. I arrived before the first sun arrived, a very quiet and peaceful time when few others are out and about. In fact, for an hour I had “my” section of the meadow and surrounding forest entirely to myself. Soon the first beams of sunlight arrived and the thin ground fog began to dissipate. I love shooting into the morning light, especially when there is a just a bit of haze in the atmosphere. If you look closely you may be able to see the last remnants of the ground fog on the far side of the meadow.

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

Bridal Veil, Ice and Mist

March 28, 2017 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Bridal Veil fall with winter ice and mist

Many photographic subjects in Yosemite Valley are quite dependent on time of day, season, weather conditions, and other variables, some of which are completely beyond the photographer’s control. You simply must, first of all, be there, and then you must try to predict (or know) when the odds are better, be attentive to special conditions, and sometimes be ready to act quickly.

This is not exactly the rarest of conditions, but several pieces had to occur together to produce this scene. First, it had to be winter and it had to be cold — and the latter is less a certainty in California during the past few years. Second, despite the cold, it had to be warm enough somewhere up above to melt sufficient snow to get Bridal Veil Creek flowing at a pretty high rate for this time of year. Third, the light had to come over the lip of the canyon at the top of the wall to illuminate the rising mist but not the fall itself. Finally, if you look closely, you might notice three (somewhat blurry) ravens flying between the trees.

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

Autumn Tree, Broken Branches, Ground Fog

January 19, 2017 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

A tree with autumn leaves, surrounded by broken branches, with thinning ground fog below

When we think of Yosemite Valley the first things that come to mind are likely to be towering cliffs, waterfalls, peaks, domes, and other monumental things. The Valley is a place built on a grand scale, but more subtle surprises await if you are there at the right time. Especially between late fall and early spring, when the conditions are right beautiful ground fog frequently appears in meadows, drifting back and forth and gradually thinning as the morning warms.

On this morning I intended to be in the Valley early, but other things distracted me on my way there from Oakhurst (including fog in another valley!), and I arrived in the Valley a bit later than planned. At that point I had more or less written off my plan to go fog-hunting, so I was thrilled to catch the very tail end of the morning fog in a few spots here and there. This tree, a somewhat well-known elm, was just out of the fog that still lay across the surface of the meadow beyond.

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

The Valley, Autumn Fog, Evening

January 5, 2017 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Fog fills Yosemite Valley at dusk following an autumn storm

OK, I confess that sometimes I still stop at Tunnel View, and sometimes I do take my camera out, and I may even make a photograph. ;-) On this late-autumn evening I had been in the Valley for just an afternoon, on a day that had begun with quite heavy rainfall as I drove to Oakhurst for a meeting. The rain turned to showers with some breaks of sunlight as I drove to the Valley in the afternoon for a few hours of photography.

I photographed well east in the Valley, working wit clouds that were brushing past pinnacles and faces high on the granite walls. As the sunlight left that subject I packed up and started to head out of the Valley and back toward Oakhurst. I passed Tunnel View, and as I always do, I did a quick visual check to see what was going on. I got out of the car and walked to the overlook — there were almost no photographers left by this point, as it was well into the dusk blue hour light. It was quite dark, actually, though there was still residual light on the furthest peaks and on higher portions of the clouds, Drifting low clouds and fog almost filled the Valley itself. The fog was intriguing, so I dashed back to my vehicle, grabbed the camera and a lens and tripod, rushed back, and set up to make a few exposures in the failing light.

G Dan Mitchell Photography

Tag Archives: mist

Young Tree, Meadow, and Forest

Bridal Veil, Ice and Mist

Autumn Tree, Broken Branches, Ground Fog

The Valley, Autumn Fog, Evening

Photographer and visual opportunist. Daily photos since 2005, plus articles, reviews, news, and ideas.