Tag Archives: mount

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Sierra Nevada

Autumn Flurries, Morning

October 26, 2013 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

An early autumn weather front drops morning snow flurries along the rugged Sierra Nevada crest near Mount Morrison

This is another photograph from the final morning of our September photographic trip to the eastern Sierra Nevada. We were surprised to find it snowing lightly when we work up in Mammoth that morning, since there had been no mention of such weather in the previous day’s forecast. We decided to stick with our plan of making a big loop out to the east of Mammoth Lakes and then north by a back route to Mono Lake and highway 395 for our return trip. So we headed down the road out of Mammoth Lakes in the pre-dawn near-darkness and then started out across Long Valley.

Out in the valley as dawn approached, it became clear that the atmosphere was doing some very interesting things along the eastern edge of the Sierra. At first we saw a very strong weather cell over Mammoth Lakes that appeared to be dropping quite a bit of rain or snow, even though where we were it was virtually clear overhead. So we stopped and set up to make some photographs of these conditions. We continued shooting after the first red dawn light and watched as the snow squall worked its way south along the Sierra crest. In this photograph there is light snow falling along the ridge near Mount Morrison, but since the clouds did not extend to the east, the early morning light is hitting the upper slopes of this line of peaks.

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, Photographs: Sierra Nevada

Mt. Humphreys, New Snow, Sunrise

October 18, 2013 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Sunrise light illuminates overnight snow on Mt. Humphreys and peaks of the Sierra Nevada crest above the Buttermilks

This was the morning after a day of October snowfall up and down the Sierra Nevada. The previous day we had photographed in snow almost the whole day as we traveled east over Carson Pass, then via Monitor Pass to highway 395, and continued south past Walker, Bridgeport, Lee Vining, and Mammoth (where the snow finally let up) and on to Bishop. Photographing aspen color in the snow was a special treat, since it combined the autumn ritual of aspen chasing with the clear indication that the cold season was on its way, a message delivered by snow.

That night I realized that the snow would certainly coat the peaks of the eastern Sierra the next morning, so instead of heading straight up to photograph aspens, I decided that we would instead go to a place in the sage country above Bishop from which a great section of the eastern Sierra is visible, to see if we might get dawn light on the snow-covered mountains. We arrived – of course! – before sunrise, and the jury was still out. There were clouds floating over the crest and, more importantly, there were clouds high up in the White Mountains to the east. Mornings like this have the potential to either be a complete bust if the clouds block the early light, or to bring especially beautiful conditions if the dawn light finds a way to shine through breaks in the clouds. We got our breaks, and on top of that the clouds above the crest began to break up just as the sunlight arrived. In this photograph, a fluffy cloud has been considerate enough to momentarily park its peak-shaped form above Mt. Humphreys, a bit of light hits the peaks, a band of light lower down illuminates the base of the snow-covered escarpment, and a bit of reddish light even hits the nearer and darker foreground peak.

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

Forest, Dome, and Distant Mountain

August 13, 2013 G Dan Mitchell 2 Comments

A last beam of sunset light illuminates the granite slabs of Lembert Dome and the distant slopes of Mount Dana above Tuolumne Meadows

This afternoon of a day when I was in the area of the Sierra crest near the Tioga Pass entrance to Yosemite National Park had turned murky, with a combination of wildfire smoke and high clouds that largely killed the interesting light as the “golden hour” approached. I decided to drive along Tioga Pass Road as the day came to an end, and look for whatever interesting light might appear. There is a lighting condition that can sometimes turn a “blah” evening into something amazing in the Sierra – though I wasn’t too optimistic on this evening. On an evening when clouds overhead obscure the late-day light, the clouds sometimes end a bit to the west of the high country, and as the sun drops below those clouds to the west there may be a last-minute glow that must be seen to be believed. You most certainly cannot count on this happening – sometimes the sun simply drops behind clouds and the light goes out. But if it is a possibility I will often go to great lengths to be ready for it.

Even knowing about this light, I was surprised on this evening – twice! In the first instance I had thought I saw a very subtle lightening and intensification of color on the shoulder of one distant ridge far up in the distant Rafferty Creek drainage, so I quickly found a place to turn around and return to a roadside pull-out where I thought I could photograph it. As I quickly worked to set up my tripod and camera… the glow faded and disappeared. I looked around for evidence that it might return – a bit of light elsewhere in the landscape – but seeing none I got back in the car. I had driven no more than 30 seconds down the road when the entire landscape to my south and east lit up with glorious warm light! I quickly – again – turned around and drove back and managed to get a couple of shots before it disappeared again. I then went on down to Tuolumne Meadows with a vague plan to look for interesting light or to photograph an exceptionally large herd of deer that I had seen on an earlier evening. When I arrived, the light was not stunning, but the deer where there, so I put on my “wildlife photographer hat” and a long lens. As I photographed them in less than amazing light, I saw a bright spot in the clouds to the west that just might line up to send a beam or light across the meadow from west to east – and sure enough, a moment later the light began to gradually build. Since I had no time to move or change lenses at this point, I thought about what I could do with the long lens before this light disappeared, so I focused on Lembert Dome, bathed in this light at the far end of the meadow and with the more distant slopes of Mount Dana beyond.

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Northern California, Photographs: Ocean & Coast

Point Reyes and Drakes Bay

July 1, 2013 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Drakes Bay and the Point Reyes Peninsula, viewed from near Mount Vision on Inverness Ridge

After photographing very early in the morning along the shores of Tomales Bay near the town of Inverness, I continued along the road to Point Reyes and soon entered the national seashore. There was a possibility that I might try to meet up with a group of people who planned to photograph the herds of tule elk a bit later in the morning, but at this point I had some time to kill before that might occur. I wasn’t quite sure where I was going to shoot, so I was sort of “following my nose” and the light, atmosphere, and other conditions and waiting to see where I might end up. I had a general idea that it might be interesting to go all the way out to the point itself, where the morning light might illuminate some of the cliffs along Drakes Bay that don’t get that sort of light later in the day.

However, long before I got close to that area I passed a turn-off that I had often noticed and wondered about, a road labelled Mount Vision. With one option looking just about as good as any other option, I decided to head up that road to see what I could see. The road climbs quickly, more or less switchbacking up a steep include and up a few valleys before more or less leveling off high up on Inverness Ridge, actually ascending to the top of the ridge in a few spots and providing panoramic views both towards the ocean and back towards Tomales Bay. Although it wasn’t exactly foggy – at least not in the form that is common here much of the year – the atmosphere was obscured and out at the far end of the peninsula the curving end of Point Reyes was a bit hard to see, and there was a distinct blue quality to the haze that didn’t seem like it was going to work especially well for a color photograph. So I started thinking that this scene might work better in black and white. Soon I saw this steep foreground ridge with its tall trees and dark shaded elements and it seemed like its angle and darker tones might set off the lighter and less contrasty elements of the landscape in the distance, from the tree-filled valley in the middle of the frame to the barely visible peninsula near the horizon.

G Dan Mitchell Photography

Tag Archives: mount

Autumn Flurries, Morning

Forest, Dome, and Distant Mountain

Point Reyes and Drakes Bay

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