Tag Archives: Mountain

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

Wildfire Survivors, Morning

July 18, 2013 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Morning light on tall trees spared by a wildfire, Yosemite National Park

This is a sort of sad but hopeful portion of Yosemite. This valley, along the Tioga Pass Road, was badly burned back in the 1990s in a fire that burned upslope from the Foresta area and through old forest than had not burned in a long time. Back in the days of fire suppression, during the decades without fire a lot of undergrowth grew up and many fallen trees and other sorts of flammable debris collected. The result of Smokey Bear’s call to “prevent forest fires” was the creation of a very fuel rich forest environment and produced super-fires that were so hot that they not only consumed undergrowth but killed mature trees. This fire was one of those, and the forest in this valley near the upper reaches of the fire, just before it was halted at Tioga Pass Road, was almost completely decimated.

At first I found the sight to be depressing. Gradually I have come to regard fire as a normal part of forest ecology and can now see some stark beauty in its aftermath. However, this valley has remained a scar and a blunt reminder of why managing natural fires, along with other measures, makes for a better strategy. After a few years I began to think that there might be a photograph in this valley, though I stopped for several years without seeing anything that would work. I began to think that it might be good to try to photograph late in the day when area is open to the evening sky in the west – but I stopped a number of times and it just wasn’t right. However, on this trip I passed by early in the morning, just as the sun was topping a ridge to the east (left) and lighting up this small group of older trees that survived the original fire and now form a little outpost of forest against the desolate face of the far hillside.

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

Lake, Granite, and Forest Reflection

July 15, 2013 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Granite slabs rise above the reflected shoreline of Tenaya Lake, Yosemite National Park

I woke up on this morning in Yosemite Valley, car camping (as in “camping in the back of my car”) so that I could rise well before dawn, get out of the Valley, and drive over Tioga Pass in the morning light on this first weekend during which the road was open. It had actually opened the previous day, and I had made a ritual midday “first of the season” drive to the pass, but it was in light that was less than inspiring – hence my return at an earlier hour this next morning. It was dark when I left the Valley and the sky began to lighten as I headed up toward highway 120 and the trans-Sierra route.

I stopped along the way in the very early light to photograph lakes and rocks and trees and granite, and by the time I arrived at the shoreline of Tenaya Lake I felt like the light was going. However, the stillness of the water and the slight atmospheric recession produced by morning haze caught my attention and I pulled over. The main draw for me in this composition and a few other similar ones that I did at the same time was the reflection of the sunlit granite slabs ascending from the far shoreline. I also wanted to contrast that hard and bright surface with the softer and darker patterns of the forest beyond and the shaded faces above the forest.

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

Spring Trees, Waterfall Mist

June 25, 2013 G Dan Mitchell 1 Comment

There are at least two stories behind this photograph. The first involves a family tradition that I started when I began taking my kids to The Valley quite a few years ago when they were small. Each spring we would take a “waterfall trip” as close as possible to the time of peak runoff – sometimes going up to the Valley and back in a single day. As part of this event, it was also my tradition that we would “say hello to summer” in the Sierra by making the first stop at Bridal Veil falls, then hiking as close to the base of the fall as possible, in order to stand in the tremendous wind-blown clouds of spray, usually getting thoroughly soaked. This year we were there without our kids, who are now “all growed up” and off living their own lives, but I still had to make a ritual visit to the spray at the base of this fall. Yes, I got soaked. :-)

The second story might actually be a continuation of the first. Sometimes I go to experience something rather than to photograph it. That was my intention when we walked to the fall this time, so I left my “big camera” gear behind. But as we rounded a corner on the trail and I looked up into the morning light from the sun that had just cleared the top of the cliff, I saw this wonderful silhouetted maple tree standing in mist-filled air with the still-shaded waterfall beyond. But I did not have my “big camera” nor did I have a tripod — I had my small Fujifilm X-E1, but with the wrong lens for this shot. I turned to my wife, who also had an X-E1 but usually attaches a 60mm macro lens (she is passionate about photographing small things!) and asked if I could borrow her camera/lens to try to squeeze off a couple of shots. She agreed, and I made two exposures on her camera, shooting handheld in the spray and wind.

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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” (Heyday Books) is available directly from him. Blog | Bluesky | Mastodon | Substack Notes | Flickr | Email

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Sierra Nevada

Aspen Leaves, First Light

June 21, 2013 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

First morning light on aspen trees and fall foliage, eastern Sierra Nevada, California

This past fall I had exactly one day to photograph aspens in the eastern Sierra Nevada. This was a bit odd for me, since I usually spend quite a number of days chasing fall aspen color up and down the east side of the range. But this year my target was a bit further away in Utah, and we merely paused for an extra day on the “east side” on our way to that other state. Fortunately, we hit great conditions, in terms of good aspen color and fine weather that didn’t prevent us from getting up to those trees.

Very early in the morning we headed up to an area that I have photographed many times. There are a couple of iconic photographic subjects at this location, but I mostly got them out of my system some years ago and now I look for somewhat less obvious subjects when I go here. I began by shooting some trees near the outlet stream of a lake, with early morning light behind the trees. After working that tricky but beautiful light for a while, I decided to go around to the far side of the lake to where a large stand of small but densely packed aspens stands at the base of a hillside. I got there before the sun came to this spot, so I quickly schlepped my gear up the hill a ways and into the end of the grove, setting up just before the sun arrived. Before the sun’s rays hit the tree, everything had a distinctly blue tone. As the edge of the shadow arrived, the aspen leaves began to glow more and to cast shadows on the trees in the background. These shadows quickly transitioned from soft and subtle to quite contrasty and sharply defined in a matter of seconds. This photograph was made just as the sunlight arrived but before it became intense, and the soft shadows of the leaves on the slender background trunks lasted just a moment.

G Dan Mitchell Photography

Tag Archives: Mountain

Wildfire Survivors, Morning

Lake, Granite, and Forest Reflection

Spring Trees, Waterfall Mist

Aspen Leaves, First Light

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