Tag Archives: Mountain

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Sierra Nevada

Trees, Drifting Fog

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Trees, Drifting Fog
Fog from a clearing storm drifts among backcountry Sierra Nevada trees growing on rocky ledges.

Trees, Drifting Fog. © Copyright 2022 G Dan Mitchell.

Fog from a clearing storm drifts among backcountry Sierra Nevada trees growing on rocky ledges.

This evening marked the end of a 24 hour bout of pretty challenging backcountry weather during our August photography trip in the Eastern Sierra. We had no more set up our tents at our base camp when the skies unleashed hours of the heaviest rain I have ever experience in the Sierra backcountry. Later that evening it decreased enough that we could come out of our tents, recover some gear that had been left out in the deluge, fix dinner, and crawl back into our tents. We thought it was over, but very early in the morning it started again, though this time not nearly as heavy, and continued on into the next day. Finally, on the second evening, the weather started to break.

On this second evening we all headed out to find suitable photographic subjects. The clouds were slowly thinning, and the surrounding peaks starting to show through. Eventually we got a bit of last-minute sunset light that created utterly beautiful cloudscapes and colorful mountains. But first, I set up on top of a rocky outcropping and watched fog drift across this rocky slope, making the trees drift in and out of sight as the clouds washed back and forth.

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

Timberline Meadow

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Timberline Meadow
A timberline meadow with small trees is bounded by a granite bench.

Timberline Meadow. © Copyright 2022 G Dan Mitchell.

A timberline meadow with small trees is bounded by a granite bench.

I recall the time, quite a few years ago, when I first understood that the places in the natural world (and the human world, for that matter) that we identify with are not necessarily the most iconic, biggest, most classically impressive places. I was at the end of a moderately short backpacking loop out of Tuolumne meadows, within perhaps little more than an hour of the trailhead. It was a day of potential rain, and that potentiality became reality at this point. I stopped, put on rain gear and covered my pack, stepped off the trail, sat down, and leaned against a rock to watch the rain approach. Decades later I still remember that rock and consider it a thing worth visiting — although I’m sure that no one else would even notice it.

I passed by the spot in this photograph a couple of times during our August backcountry photography visit to the Eastern Sierra. There are, I’m certain, thousands of similar little meadows throughout the Sierra — most from a stream meandering through, green with meadow grasses, bounded by granite and small trees. But somehow this particular spot caught my attention and, I think, may have become one of “those places.”

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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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: Nature, Photographs: Sierra Nevada

Mountains and Cascade, Dawn

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Mountains and Cascade, Dawn
A cascade descends from the high country as dawn light illuminates peaks.

Mountains and Cascade, Dawn. © Copyright 2022 G Dan Mitchell.

A cascade descends from the high country as dawn light illuminates peaks.

One benefit of surviving the deluge we experienced on the first days of our recent backcountry photography trip was that the streams came back to life… and then some. In this drought-year August we were not expecting to see a lot of water, but as the near-flood receded the streams were flowing as if it were still early summer. There was water everywhere — tarns were full, small streams came back to life in meadows, and rocky cascades were full of water.

As I headed into one lovely subalpine meadow I had to cross several of these streams, something that presented a bit more of an adventure than I might have seen a few days earlier. As I pondered this crossing I noted that first morning light on the peaks far above, and I paused to photograph the rapidly descending water that I was about to cross.

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

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Commentary

Baby Forest

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Baby Forest
Lodgepole pines growing at the edge of the meadow at Tioga Pass

Baby Forest. © Copyright 2022 G Dan Mitchell.

Lodgepole pines growing at the edge of the meadow at Tioga Pass

While I often prefer to minimize the content of photographs when possible — some of my favorites qualify as minimalist images — I also have a weakness for trying to make photographs out of extremely dense subjects. (If you know a bit about “minimalism,” you may recognize that filling space with details can also be a characteristic.) Sometimes the pure density and complexity of the scene is enough, though at other times the challenge is in finding a viable composition among so much detail.

This little “baby forest” vignette is from high in the subalpine zone in the Yosemite Sierra, in the young forest near the edge of a meadow, a place where new trees can gain a foothold out of the literal shadows of the more established trees. Particularly in the early season — late spring and the start of summer — spots like this can be lush and full of new greenery and wildflowers.

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.

Blog | About | Twitter | 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.