Tag Archives: mono

Commentary, Photographs: Desert, Photographs: Mono Lake Basin, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Northern California, Photographs: Sierra Nevada, Photographs: Structures and Objects, Photographs: Yosemite

Abandoned Buildings, Eastern Sierra

August 8, 2010 G Dan Mitchell 8 Comments

Blood-red dawn light illuminates eastern Sierra Nevada peaks of Yosemite National Park and morning clouds above abandoned high desert cabins in the sage brush along highway 395.

Many who travel the eastern Sierra on highway 395 have no doubt seen these two abandoned buildings along the highway not far from Lee Vining, set against the background of the Sierra’s eastern escarpment along the border of Yosemite National Park. I’ve noticed them for years and have tried to photograph them a few times in the past.

On this late-July morning I had gotten up very early at my Tuolumne Meadows camp site and decided that there might be enough interesting clouds to warrant a trip down to the South Tufa area of Mono Lake for a sunrise shoot. However, I apparently didn’t get up quite early enough (actually, I miscalculated the time of dawn) since the sun began to rise above the horizon just before I turned east from 395 onto 120 to get to the lake. For a moment I vacillated – should I hurry on to get to Mono as soon after sunrise as possible (since the light gets there a few minutes later) or shoot whatever I could see right then and there? The intense red light made the decision for me and I quickly pulled over near these buildings and made a few exposures as the saturated and very red morning light hit the mountains and the clouds.

This photograph is not in the public domain and may not be used on websites, blogs, or in other media without advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

keywords: blood, red, dawn, morning, sunrise, clouds, sky, virga, eastern, sierra, nevada, mountain, range, yosemite, high, coiuntry, parker, pass, snow, eastern, escarpment, forest, sagebrush, high, desert, red, pink, abandoned, dilapidated, cabin, ranch, sagebrush, highway, 395, lee, vining, mono, lake, county, roadside, fence, barbed, wire, landscape, travel, scenic, stock

Photographs: Desert, Photographs: Mono Lake Basin, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Northern California

Morning Virga, Mono Lake

August 6, 2010 G Dan Mitchell 2 Comments

Isolated Mono Lake tufa towers stand in the morning light below clouds dropping morning virga.

Early in the morning, Mono Lake is often a very still and quiet place and the sense of empty space and the scale of the landscape are palpable. Down close to the water the only sound comes from the gulls and the water is often nearly glass-smooth. (For a while – later in the day the wind often rises and the things become more agitated.)

I had spent an hour or more photographing at the shoreline in and around tufa towers and had finished for the morning. I had packed everything up and loaded the car and was actually starting to drive away when I saw this scene composed almost entirely of blue tones, with the clouds dropping virga (rain that doesn’t reach the ground) above the distant mountains, and a few isolated tufas offshore.

This photograph is not in the public domain and may not be used on websites, blogs, or in other media without advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

keywords: mono, lake, county, clouds, morning, virga, tufa, towers, silhouette, mountains, outline, haze, blue, sky, water, high, desert, california, usa, north america, nature, landscape, scenic, travel, stock

Photographs: Desert, Photographs: Mono Lake Basin, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Northern California, Photographs: Sierra Nevada

Morning Squall, South Tufa

August 1, 2010 G Dan Mitchell 3 Comments

The shoreline of Mono Lake as a morning squall drops rain over the Sierra Crest near Lee Vining, California.

This photograph is, in a number of ways, a sort of happy accident. I had been camped in the Tuolumne Meadows area for several days, doing photography in that area of the Yosemite National Park Sierra Nevada high country. On the previous day I had been caught out on a hike in a surprise thunderstorm without rain gear, so I was very conscious of the weather. That evening it occurred to me that given the approach of some monsoonal moisture and the already wet weather, that it was possible that interesting clouds might form in the Mono Lake area the next morning. (Mono at dawn is a spectacular place, but since I’ve photographed there quite a few times I don’t necessarily shoot there at dawn every time I’m in the area unless there is a chance of special conditions.)

That night I peered out of my tent from time to time to see if any clouds were interrupting the light of the full moon, thinking that this might be enough to get me to change my plans for morning photography and make the drive to Mono Lake. At one point a few clouds did dim the moon light, and a bit later a few showers came through. At this point I was pretty certain that the cloud potential would be there in the morning so I decided to get up a bit earlier and drive to South Tufa.

I thought I was up early enough. However, as I drove down highway 395 south of Lee Vining I realized that I had miscalculated and that the sun was already hitting the clouds! I experienced the photographer’s conundrum – shoot what I see here now, or race on hoping to shoot the planned thing. I decided to stop and shoot the very first light on the Sierra crest from 395 before heading on, but now my original plan for a pre-dawn visit to Mono was out the window. Soon I headed on down the road, turned off onto eastbound 120 and made my way to South Tufa just as the first sun was striking the lake shore. I quickly made it out to the tufa area and saw (how could anyone miss it!?) this giant cloud cell blowing up over the Sierra crest just north of Lee Vining.

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: Desert, Photographs: Mono Lake Basin, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Northern California

Virga Above Mono Lake, Dawn

July 8, 2010 G Dan Mitchell 2 Comments

Black and white photograph of dawn virga above mountains ringing Mono Lake.

Before dawn clouds formed by tropical moisture streaming up from the south had formed to the east of the Mono Basin and virga (rain that doesn’t make it all the way to the ground) was falling from them as the sky began to lighten. As I photographed alone from a high vantage point above the lake I was struck – how could you not be! – but the vast scale and the immense stillness and quiet of this landscape.

This photograph is not in the public domain and may not be used on websites, blogs, or in other media without advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

Technical Data:
Canon EOS 5D Mark II
Canon EF 70-200mm f/4 L USM at 200mm
ISO 100, f/8, 1/15 second

keywords: mono, lake, county, california, usa, north america, virga, rain, clouds, morning, dawn, reflection, mountains, ridge, hills, shore, line, tufa, towers, still, landscape, nature, eastern, sierra, nevada, desert, high, black and white, monochrome, stock

G Dan Mitchell Photography

Tag Archives: mono

Abandoned Buildings, Eastern Sierra

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Morning Virga, Mono Lake

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Virga Above Mono Lake, Dawn

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

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