Tag Archives: morning

Photographs: Sierra Nevada, Photographs: Yosemite

El Capitan, Morning

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El Capitan, Morning

El Capitan, Morning. Yosemite Valley, California. May 10, 2009. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Morning light illuminates a small portion of the vertical face of El Capitan, Yosemite Valley. (black and white)

This is a black and white version of a photograph I posted earlier. Back in May I was photographing spring trees and meadow plants in El Capitan Meadow in Yosemite Valley. Since I happened to have the 400mm lens on the camera at one point I decided to do a few close shots of some sections of the face of the monolith. In the full size versions of this photograph I can make out a number of individual climbers and even see the ropes stretched between them.

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

keywords: national park, travel, yosemite, valley, national park, morning, spring, el capitan, cliff, face, mountain, rock, granite, climber, flake, crack, monolith, shadow, landscape, scenic, geology, big, wall, route, rope, haul sack, belay, lead, stock

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Sierra Nevada

Aspen Grove, Lee Vining Canyon, Spring

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Aspen Grove, Lee Vining Canyon, Spring

Aspen Grove, Lee Vining Canyon, Spring. Near Lee Vining, California. June 7, 2009. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

An aspen grove and grassy meadow in Lee Vining Canyon come to life in late spring.

I often visit this little aspen grove in Lee Vining Canyon when I head to the “east side” to photograph Sierra Nevada fall colors in early October. On this trip in early June I camped at nearby Aspen campground and rose very early to photograph dawn light at the South Tufa area of Mono Lake, after which I headed back into Lee Vining to grab a coffee at Latte Da before heading back up Lee Vining Canyon to break my camp. Just before the campground as I passed this spot I noticed the there was a diffused glowing light coming from across the canyon and that no direct sun was yet hitting the grove – and just before the sun rose over the canyon walls and lit up the scene I managed to make a few photographs of this spring version of the scene.

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

keywords: aspen, tree, grove, forest, leaf, green, trunk, white, brown, grass, sage, spring, season, lee vining, canyon, eastern, sierra, nevada, mountains, range, morning, landscape, nature, foliage, scenic, travel, national, stock

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

Late Season Dogwood Blossom, Rain

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Late Season Dogwood Blossom, Rain

Late Season Dogwood Blossom, Rain. Yosemite National Park, California. June 6, 2009. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A late season dogwood blossom along highway 120 after morning rain – Yosemite National Park, California.

As I entered Yosemite via the northern road on the first weekend in June I was certainly not expecting to still see dogwood blossoms – at least not more than a few brown stragglers – so I was very surprised and pleased to discover that one of my favorite groves along highway 120 was still full of bright white flowers. Even better, when I arrived everything was still wet from earlier rain, making the colors more intense and leaving some raindrops on flowers and leaves, and the overcast from the returning rain storm diffused the light nicely. This flower was photographed in a deeply shaded section of the forest.

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

keywords: dogwood, tree, leaf, flower, blossom, bloom, bract, forest, grove, rain, shower, spring, late, season, morning, yosemite, national park, california, usa, sierra, nevada, mountains, range, white, green, wet, drop, highway, 120, foliage, nature, scenic, travel, stock

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

Forest After Morning Rain

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Forest After Morning Rain

Forest After Morning Rain. Yosemite National Park, California. June 6, 2009. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Soft overcast light illuminates tall trees covered with moss following early morning rain in Yosemite Nataional Park, California.

I’ve had my eye on this little spot in the forest alongside the highway 120 route north entrance to the park – it is in the high section between the turn-off to Tuolumne Meadows and the beginning of the steeper descent toward the Valley through open terrain. I have a particular set of conditions in mind for the photograph I would eventually like to make at this location, and although those were not the conditions I found on this morning I stopped and made a few photographers here nonetheless.

The weather in early June of this year has been a bit unusual – at the time when thing usually shift over to the expected California weather pattern of long periods of clear blue skies and warm temperatures, instead we have had weeks of cloudy, cool, and often wet weather. (All in all, the latter tends to make for more interesting photography than the former!) As I drove into the park early on this morning the forest was still wet from the previous day’s rain and the overcast was already rebuilding towards another day of rain, and this made for intense and saturated forest color (especially the reddish-browns and greens of the moss and leaves) and wonderful diffused light.

As Yosemite subjects go, this one falls considerably short of “icon” status – but it is the sort of thing about the park that grows on me more and more.

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

keywords: forest, tree, trunk, moss, green, branch, bark, texture, vertical, litter, plant, leaf, rock, morning, overcast, light, grove, soft, filtered, light, travel, scenic, nature, landscape, spring, rain, cloudy, wet, yosemite, national park, california, north, highway, 120, dense, stock