Tag Archives: mount

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Sierra Nevada

Autumn Dawn, Eastern Sierra

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Autumn Dawn, Eastern Sierra
Successive ridges rise from the high desert toward the crest of the Eastern Sierra Nevada in pre-dawn autumn light

Autumn Dawn, Eastern Sierra. © Copyright 2019 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Successive ridges rise from the high desert toward the crest of the Eastern Sierra Nevada in pre-dawn autumn light.

Yes, I know I was supposed to be photographing aspen color. But there are other subjects in and around the Sierra during the autumn! It turned out that I arrived a bit before the peak color, so my inclination to photographer other things, too, was perhaps a bit stronger than it might have been a few days later. I also knew that some aspen subjects that I wanted to photograph would be in better light a bit later, and that left me time for a quick foray to this location before dawn.

I have photographed from this location previously, so I’m pretty familiar with the view, the camera position possibilities, and the potential for lots of interesting early light on the eastern escarpment of the Sierra Nevada. However, as familiar as all of that may be, there are always surprises. I made this photograph a few minutes before the sun cleared the eastern horizon (or, more accurately, the mountains to the east) so the light had taken on the warm, colorful quality of dawn, but without the harsh quality of the first direct sunlight. The photograph spans a wide range of zones — from the sagebrush of the high desert to the summit of one of the highest Sierra peaks in this area.

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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Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Sierra Nevada

Peaks and Lake Shore

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Peaks and Lake ShorePeaks and Lake Shore
Sierra Nevada peaks tower about a rock-line alpine lake.

Peaks and Lake Shore. © Copyright 2019 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Sierra Nevada peaks tower about a rock-line alpine lake.

True confession time — my “photographic core” is and probably always has been black and white photography. Today the majority of my photographs are in color, and I love working whit color images. But I began with black and white, way back when I was just a kid using a cheapie camera on family vacations. Later my father took me into his home darkroom and I learned to make prints, black and white essentially by necessity in those days. My early photographic heroes were almost all black and white photographers.

All of that is by way of explaining the inclusion of this black and white photograph among all of the other color photographs from this trip, a one-week backcountry visit in the Eastern Sierra Nevada. We looked at this scene daily — it was only steps from my tent — and over the week we got to know its details and its moods well. I made this photograph late in the day, as shadows lengthened across the low, rocky saddle, and the more distant peaks lost most of their sunlight.

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.

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

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Sierra Nevada

Late Season Wildflowers

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Late Season Wildflowers
A patch of late-August lupine flowers in the John Muir Wilderness

Late Season Wildflowers. © Copyright 2019 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A patch of late-August lupine flowers in the John Muir Wilderness.

Over the years I’ve seen some outlier seasons in the Sierra Nevada. A few years ago we experienced a serious five-year drought that left the range dry very early in the season, producing summers that were mostly brown up high and autumns that featured stressed aspens. I’ve also experienced summers that followed extremely wet precipitation seasons, including several during which the high country really did not open until July. In those years there was snow around all summer, and even at the end of the season there were still flowing water, green meadows, and even wildflowers.

This summer fell into the latter category. Although last winter’s season started out looking dry, a series of strong storms arrived a bit later and produced a much larger than average snowpack. Once again, the opening of the high country was delayed, and when it did open up there was water everywhere. My recent visit was during the final few days of August and the first couple of days of September. Despite the late date, many areas were still green — especially in the well-watered valley we visited — and wildflowers were still blooming. Not far from our camp I found extensive patches of lupine in full bloom.

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.

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

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

Mount Dana

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Mount Dana
Mount Dana, against a sky full of summer thunder clouds

Mount Dana. © Copyright 2018 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Mount Dana, against a sky full of summer thunder clouds.

This photograph comes from last summer, on a lovely mid-July day when I was slowly poking around a few locations near the eastern Yosemite boundary on a relatively early visit to the high country. You never know, from year to year, what you’ll find there in July. In a very snowy year this scene could still hold a lot of snow, but in 2018 the snowfall had been less impressive, and most of it was already gone. The creeks were still high and meadow grasses were coming up, with the promise of wildflowers soon to arrive.

The peak itself is on the park boundary, and the view here looks toward the side that is inside the park. However, my camera location was outside the park, in an area that has long intrigued me — for this view, for views back up to the crest north of Tioga Pass, and for some of the more intimate nearby views. It was a cloudy day, and alternative light and shadow moved across the landscape, changing the appearance from moment to moment.

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.

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