Tag Archives: mount

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Sierra Nevada

Eastern Sierra Morning

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Eastern Sierra Morning
Morning light on the eastern escarpment of the Sierra Nevada under stormy skies.

Eastern Sierra Morning. © Copyright 2021 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Morning light on the eastern escarpment of the Sierra Nevada under stormy skies.

This photograph was made mere moments after another of the eastern Sierra Nevada escarpment that I shared recently. That photograph included the first, warm-tone light of the new day. This one comes after that initial golden hour light has left the highest peaks — though a bit of it remains in the lower foreground — and these formations are illuminated by somewhat harsher light. It was a remarkable morning, with conditions changing with extreme rapidity. The gently curving wave cloud in the previous photograph had, by the time I made this one, turned into a very dark layer beyond the crest.

There is another background story related to this series of photographs — a story that is partly about photography and partly about learning to know places. I first went to this location quite a long time ago, almost by accident the first time. Intrigued, I returned frequently when I had a moment, and as a result I saw the place in rather varied conditions. I began to get a sense not only of what I actually saw, but also of how this landscape might respond to conditions that I did not encounter. Eventually this served me well, and more than once I’ve aborted other photographic plans to go to this spot based on nothing more than a hunch about what the conditions might be like.

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” is available from Heyday Books, Amazon, and directly from G Dan Mitchell.

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Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Owens Valley, Photographs: Sierra Nevada

Sunrise in the Buttermilks

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Sunrise in the Buttermilks
Autumn dawn light on the eastern escarpment of the Sierra Nevada above the Buttermilks.

Sunrise in the Buttermilks. © Copyright 2021 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Autumn dawn light on the eastern escarpment of the Sierra Nevada above the Buttermilks.

This is a sort of new/old photograph. A question from a friend about the time period when I made it prompted me to make a return visit to some older photographs from that time. When I came to this on in my raw file archive I knew it looked familiar, but the raw file itself appeared to be little changed from the downloaded default settings. I soon realized that I had worked it up before, but using some older software and without using some techniques that I now apply on a regular basis. So it was back to the drawing board to come up with a newer interpretation that I like more than the old one. (I’m with the many other photographers who regard the original — whether it be a raw file or a film image — to be the score, not the only possible performance.)

It occurs to me that the title might well perplex some folks who are not familiar with this area of the eastern Sierra Nevada. “The Buttermilks” is (are?) an area of fascinating rock formations at the base of the Sierra above Bishop, California. Long a favorite location for climbers, I’m surprised that it hasn’t attracted more photographers. It isn’t that hard to get to, though to fully explore it you are going to have to drive on some gravel backroads and likely do a bit of hiking. I made this photograph on an autumn morning when I was in the Sierra to photograph fall color.

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” is available from Heyday Books, Amazon, and directly from G Dan Mitchell.

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Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Sierra Nevada

Mount Tom, Tungsten Hills

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Mount Tom, Tungsten Hills
Mt. Tom and the Tungsten Hills along the eastern escarpment of the Sierra Nevada.

Mount Tom, Tungsten Hills. © Copyright 2012 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Mt. Tom and the Tungsten Hills along the eastern escarpment of the Sierra Nevada.

This photograph memorializes one of a series of very dry winters in California, a period many of us remember as the great drought. For five years little rain fell in most of the state and in other parts of the West. The Sierra Nevada snowpack suffered, and consequently the forests were decimated and water shortages were a very real concern everywhere.

The view of the Sierra seen here is what you might typically see at some point in June or even a bit later, when the winter snow pack has diminished to the point that high country travel starts to become easier. But this was early January! I passed through here on my way home from Death Valley and recall being shocked at the bare peaks on the east side of the range.

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” is available from Heyday Books and Amazon.

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Links to Articles, Sales and Licensing, my Sierra Nevada Fall Color book, Contact Information.

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All media © Copyright G Dan Mitchell and others as indicated. Any use requires advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

Photographs: Mono Lake Basin

Tufa Field, Dawn

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Tufa Field, Dawn
First dawn light on a field of short tufa formations.

Tufa Field, Dawn. © Copyright 2012 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

First dawn light on a field of short tufa formations.

One of the great privileges about photographing landscapes is that I get to wake up way before dawn so that I can be in place before the sun rises. No, really. Like many of you, I used to dread the idea of getting up in the dark, and I could not fathom how anyone could actually want to do this. But even though I’ll admit that the sound of an alarm at, say, 3:30AM is not something I look forward to, at least I now understand that there are rewards that make it worthwhile. Such as standing alone in an immense, silent space as the first light creeps over mountains to the east.

Tufa, from I’ve come to understand, comes in quite a variety of shapes and sizes. There some well-known tufa structures that have been photographed lots of times not far from here, and I’ve photographed those, too. I have gotten to know some absolutely huge tufa formations in desert areas around Death Valley. (If you were familiar with only the first one I mentioned above, you might not even recognize the second as an example of the same thing.)These very small tufa structures embody yet another form of this stuff.

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” is available from Heyday Books and Amazon.

Blog | About | Flickr | Facebook | Email

Links to Articles, Sales and Licensing, my Sierra Nevada Fall Color book, Contact Information.

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All media © Copyright G Dan Mitchell and others as indicated. Any use requires advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.