Tag Archives: Mountain

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

Meltwater Pond and Grasses, Mount Gibbs and Kuna Crest, Tuolumne Meadows

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Meltwater Pond and Grasses, Mount Gibbs and Kuna Crest, Tuolumne

Meltwater Pond and Grasses, Mount Gibbs and Kuna Crest, Tuolumne Meadows. Yosemite National Park, California. July 8, 2009. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Evening sky is reflected in a meltwater pond at the edge of a Tuolumne Meadows with Mount Gibbs and the Kuna Crest beyond, Yosemite National Park, California.

A rather peaceful evening scene, again at the seasonal runoff ponds near the west end of Tuolumne Meadows on and early July evening. I’m always intrigued by the patterns that the partially submerged meadow grasses make in these ponds, and here in the way they interrupt the sky reflected in the surface of the pond. On this evening I was also struck by the unusual coloration of the clouds about the summit of Mt Gibbs (at the left) and Mammoth Peak and barely-sunlit Kuna Crest in the center and right half of the frame.

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: tuolumne, meadows, melt, water, pond, pool, reflection, grass, flowers, blue, pink, green, sierra, nevada, mountain, range, crest, ridge, evening, dusk, sunset, light, mount, gibbs, kuna, crest, mammoth, peak, tree, forest, river, slope, hill, nature, scenic, landscape, travel, nature, stock

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

Spring Pond, Tuolumne Meadows

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Spring Pond, Tuolumne Meadows

Spring Pond, Tuolumne Meadows. Yosemite National Park, California. July 10, 2009. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Late afternoon light on a small runoff pond at the edge of Tuolumne Meadows with impressive clouds in the distance, Yosemite National Park, California.

If you have ever been to Tuolumne Meadows – or at least spent a few moments wandering about there – you probably know this little pond. It is right alongside the road where the John Muir Trail crosses on its way across the Meadows to Parsons Lodge, the old Sierra Club facility on the far side of the meadow by Soda Springs. It is a frequently-photographed feature of the meadow, though often it is used as a foreground for photographs of Lembert Dome. This photograph looks a bit fore towards the north or northwest towards Ragged Peak and the north boundary country of the park.

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: tuolumne, meadows, spring, summer, green, golden, grass, pool, pond, water, surface, blue, reflection, sky, clouds, plants, rocks, trees, forest, ridge, mountain, hill, ragged, peak, boulder, landscape, nature, scenic, travel, yosemite, national park, california, usa, high, sierra, nevada, range, lenticular, gray, stock

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

Fiery Evening Sky, Tuolumne Meadows

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Fiery Evening Sky, Tuolumne Meadows

Fiery Evening Sky, Tuolumne Meadows. Yosemite National Park, California. July 10, 2009. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Fiery sunset colors illuminate lenticular clouds above the Tuolumne River, Tuolumne Meadows, Lembert Dome, and Mounts Dana and Gibbs on the Sierra crest, Yosemite National Park, California.

This is the sky I wrote about in the text accompanying the previous two photographs made on this July evening in Tuolumne Meadows. I’ll just have to include the quote from Ansel Adams one more time for anyone who didn’t see it in the first post:

“Sometimes I do get to places just when God’s ready to have somebody click the shutter.” – Ansel Adams

I don’t think it is quite that simple – to put it another way, We’re all very fortunate that it was Ansel who happened to be in those places doing the shutter clicking on those occasions! But you do indeed have to be there, and you do need to be ready to take advantage of the scene that presents itself to you. Unlike painters, we cannot just conjure up scenes like this.

I count myself as extremely lucky in that I get to spend a lot of time in the Sierra and have for many years. (I’m also very lucky to be married to an artist who understands how important it is to me to traipse off to the Sierra to make photographs – Thanks, Patty!) I’ve seen a lot of Sierra sunsets and photographed (or tried to photograph!) a good number of them. FWIW, while the good fortune of being there at the right time plays a huge part in getting any photograph, it is rarely enough.

As I wrote in yesterday’s post, I’ve learned to recognize a certain set of Sierra Nevada conditions that can (but are not guaranteed to) create a brief moment of utterly astonishing color just as the sun slips below the horizon. Once you have seen this happen and recognize the pattern, if you are like me you will drop everything to be there. Nine times out of ten the potential will be unrealized and you’ll just have “another stunning Sierra sunset” – or perhaps just a gray cloudy sunset. But on that tenth time!

So, yes, I dropped everything to be in Tuolumne Meadows two hours before sunset, and I was in position with a composition scoped out and everything set up a full hour beforehand. I was more that willing to put up with the swarms of mosquitos – and when this light show started I didn’t even notice them.

What has happened here is that the mass of stacked lenticular clouds above Mounts Dana and Gibbs on the Sierra crest and to the east are being illuminated by the very last light reflected off of high clouds to the west just as the sun drops below the horizon. Silently, and almost before you realize what is happening, the color of the landscape is completely transformed for what could be no longer than a few short minutes.

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: fiery, color, sunset, twilight, evening, sky, flame, red, orange, purple, pink, blue, clouds, lenticular, atmosphere, tuolumne, meadows, river, yosemite, national, park, california, usa, high, sierra, nevada, mountain, range, peak, ridge, lembert, dome, mount, dana, gibbs, kune, crest, mammoth, peak, forest, tree, reflection, ripple, gravel, bar, grass, forest, tree, landscape, scenic, travel, meteorology, conditions, stock

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

Dusk, Mounts Dana and Gibbs, Tuolumne Meadows

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Dusk, Mounts Dana and Gibbs, Tuolumne Meadows

Dusk, Mounts Dana and Gibbs, Tuolumne Meadows. Yosemite National Park, California. July 10, 2009. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Glowing lenticular cloud formations above alpenglow-illuminated Mounts Dana and Gibbs and the Tuolumne River, Yosemite National Park, California.

From mid-July through the first week of September, Tuolumne Meadows is a very popular high Sierra destination in Yosemite National Park. The meadows, which are much more extensive than drive-through visitors know, comprise one of the largset and most spectacular examples of sub-alpine meadows and are surrounded by spectacular high peaks including some, like Mounts Dana and Gibbs, that sit on the crest of the Sierra Nevada range.

Several thousand people camp at Tuolumne every evening, and after dinner many of them sit around their campsites and engage in the ritual burning of wood and other camping activities. Meanwhile, a five minute walk from the campground, a handful of people sit or stand alone or in small groups along the edge of the huge sub-alpine meadow or along the Tuolumne River and wait for magic to happen. On this evening in early July there couldn’t have been more than 30-40 people in the meadow with more near their cars along the roadway. And on this evening the magic did happen.

I feel sorry for those folks in the campground who had no idea of the sublime scene taking place mere steps away.

“Sometimes I do get to places just when God’s ready to have somebody click the shutter.” – Ansel Adams

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: yosemite, national, park, california, usa, sierra nevada, summer, tuolumne, tioga, river, mount, dana, gibbs, bar, bank, meaadow, forest, trees, lenticular, clouds, formations, pink, blue, gray, sunset, dusk, evening, lembert dome, reflection, rocks, water, sky, alpenglow, snow, peak, mountain, landscape, travel, scenic, stock