Tag Archives: mist

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

Clouds Rest and Quarter Dome, Winter

August 4, 2014 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Early evening light breaks through winter mists shrouding the snow-covered summits of Clouds Rest and Quarter Dome, Yosemite National Park

In Yosemite Valley in late winter for the opening of the Yosemite Renaissance exhibit, I had several days of photographing in and around the Valley in winter conditions — or what passed for winter in this year of California drought. There had been snow a few days earlier, to the surrounding peaks and upper Valley walls were coated with white. As late afternoon arrived it was time to go photograph, but it seemed that the clouds were likely to kill the light in the Valley, so we headed higher.

From this elevated overlook there is, of course, a famous view of the stupendous panorama of Yosemite Valley. However, I’ve taken to mostly photographing smaller bits of the scene rather than continuing to photograph the whole darned thing — most of the time, though there are exceptions. As we watched, there were a lot of clouds. Some floated across high landmarks at the far end of the Valley. Others drifted upwards along closer rocky faces. Fog began to collect in spots along the valley floor. Clouds to the west of the Valley mostly blocked direct sunlight, which can be a good thing when it softens the light, but is much trickier and occasionally disappointing when it blocks it entirely. Shooting with a very long focal length I was able to focus on this small scene at the far end of the Valley, where drifting clouds parted enough to reveal a partially obscured view of sunlight on the snowy slopes of Clouds Rest and Quarter Dome.

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

Swirling Clouds, Winter

June 12, 2014 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Winter evening clouds swirl around Yosemite Valley

I have had this photograph sitting here for a few months now, and I just “rediscovered” it while skimming through a collection of photographs from earlier this year. This was not a year with much of a winter in California and the Sierra, but during a brief window late in the season we did get some weather that felt seasonal. We were in Yosemite Valley near the beginning of March and had some time to wander around. I love winter fog in The Valley, so we were unable to resist going and photographing it.

The photograph is, of course, from the famous and iconic Tunnel View overlook. As I recall it now, a few months later, we had made a more or less snap decision in the evening about where to go, and when we saw the conditions that could bring the common winter Valley fog we headed up to this obvious location. When this fog drifts in the Valley it can be almost endlessly entertaining… if you are into such things, and I am. The fog can appear spontaneously as the temperature of the damp air drops. Or clouds may begin to drift up the valley and through the trees. Or perhaps a giant fog cloud sort of sloshes back and forth across the Valley in slow motion, occasionally seeming to rise up along the sides of the cliffs and peaks. At one point on this evening the fog quickly moved in our direction, and instead of looking off through the clear air to see it in the distance, within moments it silently came over us and hid the view of the Valley.

Photographs: Death Valley, Photographs: Desert, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Southern California

Rain, Cottonwood Mountains

April 14, 2014 G Dan Mitchell 2 Comments

Afternoon showers from a clearing storm fall on receding ridges of the Cottonwood Mountains, Death Valley National Park

This had been a “weather day,” with several hours of snowfall high up in the Panamint Range, where we had photographed sunrise—such as it was— and wildflowers and, of course, snow. We spent the morning and half the afternoon kicking around up high in these mountains, enjoying the late-season surprise cold weather, finding tons of wildflowers, and visiting various historical remnants of the mining days in Death Valley National Park. My typical shooting day in a situation like this starts well before dawn, includes a midday break, and then moves on to late afternoon and evening shooting until it is dark. But it was well past mid-afternoon when we finally descended from the Panamints.

There was no time for a real break, so we headed right on out to find an evening subject. We had not yet photographed in the Mesquite Dunes, and my initial thought was to photograph there in late afternoon and evening light. In the right conditions there can be wonderful light late in the day, especially during the final few minutes before the sun leaves the dunes. But there were still clouds floating around, especially to the west, and I wasn’t at all sure that we would see the good light out among the dunes. So I decided that it might make more sense to go to a higher spot where the wider panorama would let me pick out various areas of the Valley and surrounding mountains as the light changed. Arriving at “the spot,” I looked west and saw that showers were still falling over the Cottonwood Mountains and glowing with backlight from the late afternoon sun, so I put on the long lens and made some photographs of portions of the range where the falling rain masked the details and turned the mountains into abstract shapes.

Commentary, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Northern California, Photographs: San Francisco

Dawn, San Francisco Bay

April 6, 2014 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Dawn light, fog, and high clouds over the northern shoreline of San Francisco Bay

This early morning late-winter view of San Francisco Bay looks back to the east from the Marin Headlands. The morning had started with somewhat murky conditions—high clouds above, atmospheric haze over the bay, and for along the San Francisco waterfront and across the bay toward Oakland. I was hoping for color, but the moment of sunrise was a bit disappointing in that regard. The probably was some color, but it was muted by the high clouds and haze and it happened mostly behind that fog bank floating above the East Bay.

But soon the high clouds began to pick up some color, and this pinkish glow reflected down towards the water, the fog, and the haze, gently coloring the scene. I thought that I might break up the many horizontal layers of light and color by including a it of the foreground land, and I experimented with several compositions: one that centered Angel Island in the scene, one that caught a bit of the edge of Angel Island and a bit of the Tiburon shoreline, and then this one which just included a bit of the north bay shoreline instead. Having watched so many sunrises, I still am struck by how this visual beauty arrives without a sound.

G Dan Mitchell Photography

Tag Archives: mist

Clouds Rest and Quarter Dome, Winter

Swirling Clouds, Winter

Rain, Cottonwood Mountains

Dawn, San Francisco Bay

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