Tag Archives: mist

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

Almost Without Form

March 9, 2015 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Winter storm clouds, mist, and snow obscure the upper rim of Yosemite Valley

I have an idea that one kind of better photograph is a photograph that is as minimal as possible, perhaps so minimal that the viewer has to guess at and perhaps fill in details that are implied but not literally present in the image. I’m also intrigued by subjects that are on the edge of being (or not being) visible — how little can be present in the image and still have it be an image of something. And I’m also fascinated by luminous atmosphere — clouds and fog and mist made to glow softly by sunlight.

Near the end of February we were in Yosemite Valley for a few days in connection with the opening of the 30th Yosemite Renaissance exhibition. We were hoping for a real snow storm, and early encouraging predictions suggested snow all the way to the Valley floor. The way things have gone this year, it was little surprise when that did not happen — but there were beautiful clouds drifting around the upper reaches of the Valley’s cliffs and pinnacles, and snow did fall at higher elevations. Partially because we were with a person who had never been to the Valley before we stopped more than once at some of the popular and iconic spots — and this photograph, though it does not show the famous iconic view, was made at one of the best known as think clouds and light snow passed across the upper rim of the Valley, nearly rendering granite towers and solitary trees invisible.

Text, photographs, and other media are © Copyright G Dan Mitchell (or others when indicated) and are not in the public domain and may not be used on websites, blogs, or in other media without advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Owens Valley

Long Valley Ranch Building

January 8, 2015 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

This is the same ranch that is pictured in the photograph I posted yesterday, though this photograph was made two years earlier. The ranch is out on the less-traveled back roads of Long Valley, not far from the resort town of Mammoth Lakes. That said, there isn’t anything remotely resort-like about this place, which gives every appearance of being a working ranch with cattle and horses and run-down outbuildings.

I love this area in the fall when the temperatures drop and the steam from the geothermal sources of hot water can rise into the morning light. In the right conditions, small columns of mist rise all over the valley. This particular spot has a lot of water, most notably nearby Hot Creek, which is, uh, hot. As I do so often, here I chose to photograph almost directly into the morning sun, which creates and extremely bright and luminous quality in the mist and which places the shaded side of the building toward the camera in the lower part of the frame.

Leave a comment or question using the form. (Click the title to see the full article and to comment if you are viewing it on the home page.)

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

All media © Copyright G Dan Mitchell and others.

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Owens Valley

Ranch, Fence, Morning Mist

January 7, 2015 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Morning mist rises above Long Valley ranch land

This is a favorite photography area for me. It isn’t far from the crowded eastern Sierra ski and resort town of Mammoth Lakes by the map, but it every other way it is pretty much a completely different world. In the fall, when conditions are right and mists rise out in these flatlands, I like to leave the Sierra behind and drive out here and explore.

The Long Valley area is the caldera of an ancient volcano, which erupted quite violently many hundreds of thousands of years ago, and which has been active at times since then. Today the visual evidence remains in the form of the large caldera itself (which becomes quite obvious after you look for it) and the many hot springs and even a hot creek out in the valley. On cold mornings fogs form out here, and mist and steam rise from the many sources of hot water. This was one of those foggy mornings, and looking over this ranch and directly into the sun, I saw a beautiful series of receding layers: foreground pasture and several steaming waterways, a fence, more fog beyond, more mist, and then a series of higher and higher hills and mountains.

Photographs: Central California, Photographs: Northern California

Mountains, Lake, Peninsula

November 24, 2014 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

A peninsula at San Luis Reservoir, with distant hills and autumn clouds

I often pass this location on my way to and from other places — the Sierra, Southern California, the deserts, the Southwest, bird photography locations — but I almost never stop, despite the fact that this can be a place of huge spaces and beautiful light and atmosphere. The reasons for passing it by are perhaps many: I’ve been by it many times over a period of many decades, it isn’t easy to find a place to pull over and stop, it is a manmade reservoir, and I’m usually more focused on getting to or coming back from one of those other places.

Recently I made my first trip of the season out to the migratory bird areas of the Central Valley where I like to do a lot of photography in the late-fall through winter months. This visit was perhaps a bit early for real bird photography, but it gave me a chance to get back to that area that I enjoy so much… and it was a foggy day! (The fog and hazy atmosphere of the Central Valley are major attractions for me.) The bird photography out there was merely OK on this visit and, as planned, I only stayed there for the morning before returning home. As I climbed past the huge earthen dam of this reservoir I was struck by the hazy sunlight on brown hills and the brilliantly bright clouds to the south across the expanse of the water. At first I kept going, but I soon came to my senses, found a place to turn around, and headed back to an overlook where I made a few photographs of this landscape.

G Dan Mitchell Photography

Tag Archives: mist

Almost Without Form

Long Valley Ranch Building

Ranch, Fence, Morning Mist

Mountains, Lake, Peninsula

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