Tag Archives: mount

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Sierra Nevada

Shoreline and Reflected Ridge

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Shoreline and Reflected Ridge
“Shoreline and Reflected Ridge” — A Sierra Nevada ridge reflected in a subalpine wilderness lake.

If you are a Sierra Nevada backcountry traveler, you recognize this a a classic Range of Light scene. It was early morning, and I had been photographing since before sunrise. I walked the shoreline of this subalpine lake, following terrain like that in this photograph. The sun’s light angled across the high peaks and talus slopes as it rose above ridges to the east.

When I first backpacked many years ago, I was astonished by the mere existence of such places and the idea that I could wander through them. Eventually I slowed down and no longer thought of scenes like this as just staging for the higher peaks, but as important places on their own. These days I’m happy to linger with my camera gear, often pausing just to look.

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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: Sierra Nevada

Sierra Crest, Evening Light

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Sierra Crest, Evening Light
“Sierra Crest, Evening Light” — Early evening light on a copse of small trees, a bit of meadow, and peaks leading to the Sierra Nevada crest.

This photograph seems to me to have the “classic Sierra Nevada” backcountry “range of light” look. It is from my favorite terrain, those places just below timberline where the trees are short and rocky meadows abound, and where there are open views of alpine peaks. Even better, I made this photograph very late in the day as the evening light was beginning to warm the colors of the landscape.

It was a joy to spend a few days in this backcountry location with friends back in July. We did a low-key loop just outside of Yosemite, to the east of the park. The highest peaks in the photograph sit right on the crest of the Sierra Nevada, and the park is on the other side of that ridge.

Leave a comment or question using the form. (If you are reading this on the home page, click the article title to see the full article and the comment form.

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: Sierra Nevada, Photographs: Yosemite

Trees, Pond, and Morning Mist

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Trees, Pond, and Morning Mist
“Trees, Pond, and Morning Mist” — Late-Summer morning mist rises from a subalpine pond surrounded by dense forest.

I have driven past this lake for years — decades actually — but I’ve only stopped a few times and hardly ever tried to photograph it. Until this year. Earlier this summer I was there on a morning after rain, and the little basin was full of luminous fog. On this mid-September visit the weather was wet, foo, and I had to stop and photograph when I saw more fog.

There is a sort of classic view of this feature, and I did make some photographs from that perspective. But then I decided to wander along the side of the pond, reaching its end and then walking back through forest. From that perspective, the view through the trees caught my attention, so I positioned myself behind a few backlit shoreline trees to make this photograph.

Leave a comment or question using the form. (If you are reading this on the home page, click the article title to see the full article and the comment form.

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: Sierra Nevada, Photographs: Yosemite

Meadow and Mountains

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Meadow and Mountains
“Meadow and Mountains” — Morning haze and wildfire smoke on Mounts Dana and Gibbs above a late-summer Yosemite high country meadow.

In some places the Sierra Nevada crest can present the classic, rugged alpine scene — high, rocky peaks and ridges that almost appear to be inaccessible. But in other places the land rises a bit more gently, and you can look across open meadows and forests towards peaks that look as if you could just walk to their summits. (In fact, you could walk to the summits in this photograph, but you’d be exhausted, as the highest is over 13,000′ tall.

The water in the foreground belongs to the Dana Fork of the Tuolumne River. Early in the season the meadow here can be lushly green — and quite wet — but by the end of summer, like almost all Sierra meadows, it turns golden. On this day the atmosphere was complex — high clouds would lead to thunderstorms later on, and drifting wildfire smoke obscured distant subjects.

Leave a comment or question using the form. (If you are reading this on the home page, click the article title to see the full article and the comment form.

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.