Tag Archives: mountains

Photographs: Mono Lake Basin, Photographs: Nature

Mono Lake, Morning

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Mono Lake, Morning
“Mono Lake, Morning” — Pahoa and Negit islands silhouetted against early morning lake reflections with desert mountains in the distance.

I have shared a few other Mono Lake photos made at this elevated location some distance from the lake. This camera position gives a different and broader sense of the lake and its surroundings. It is a huge body of water — there’s far more water on the far side of the islands than between them and the near shore. The desert mountains are many miles beyond the far edge of the lake. All in all, Mono Basin is a place of immense space and great distances.

I photographed very early in the morning. I had gone to this location to photograph something else, but by turning my camera 180 degrees the lake was in the frame. It was a generally clear morning with some high clouds, but the great distances still turned the atmosphere a bit blue with haze, and that haze mutes the details of the distant basin and mountains.

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: Fall, Photographs: Fall Color, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Sierra Nevada

Fall Color, Eastside Canyon

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Fall Color, Eastside Canyon
“Fall Color, Eastside Canyon” — Trees with fall foliage in sagebrush country at the base of an Eastern Sierra Nevada canyon.

Without naming this canyon, I’ll just say that it is one that you have likely visited if you spend much time on the east side of the Sierra Nevada. From the point where you first see the upper canyon, it offers one of the more spectacular views spanning the range from cottonwood country through aspen country to some very high, alpine ridges.

Ascending the eastern slopes of the range, which rise relatively steeply, I am always aware of transitions. In a relatively short distance you can pass though everything from high desert to alpine zones. In this canyon in autumn, the color at the lower elevations comes from cottonwood trees, but by the time you get to the trailheads aspens begin to join the show. I’ve often photographed the whole of the canyon, but this time I decided to limit the view to just the foreground trees and some lower canyon slopes.

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: Articles, Sales and Licensing, my Sierra Nevada Fall Color book, Contact Info.

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Photographs: Mono Lake Basin, Photographs: Nature

Sunset Storm, Mono Lake

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Sunset Storm, Mono Lake
“Sunset Storm, Mono Lake” — An evening storm moves over Mono Lake at sunset.

Occasionally nature throws some light at me that seems just plain unreal — effects so unusual that even I start to doubt what I saw. Often this happens at sunset or sunrise when the conditions align just right, as they did on this evening. It had been cloudy and raining, and there was still moisture in the air as the clouds began to break up in the north and west. As that happened, colorful sunset light came in over the Sierra crest and illuminated the clouds from within.

I had anticipated that something interesting might happen on this evening, but this intensely colorful light took me by surprise. In the photograph we look at and across Mono Lake from a high point to the southwest of the lake, right into the brilliantly colored clouds to the north.

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 | Instagram | Flickr | Facebook | Threads | Post | Email

Links: Articles, Sales and Licensing, my Sierra Nevada Fall Color book, Contact Info.

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Photographs: Fall, Photographs: Fall Color, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Sierra Nevada

High Desert Autumn Aspens

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High Desert Autumn Aspens
“High Desert Autumn Aspens” — Autumn aspen trees along a high desert creek descending from the Sierra Nevada.

This is a bit of a different sort of aspen photograph from me — not the first one like it but there aren’t many others. After photographing at another location at sunrise I packed up and went exploring in the foothills below the eastern escarpment of the range. (The base of the range is visible at the top of the frame.) This area feels less like “the mountains” and more like high desert. It is less steep, drier, and covered with what we sometimes refer to as sagebrush country.

I made this photograph in direct sunlight and the trees are not even backlit. The light comes from the side, and that does highlight the color of the leaves a bit, but this is closer to what aspen trees look like in “normal” light. This little line of trees grows along the course of a small stream that comes from much higher up in the mountains. The little stream brings just enough moisture to this dry area to support the trees and other plants.

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 | Instagram | Flickr | Facebook | Threads | Post | Email

Links: Articles, Sales and Licensing, my Sierra Nevada Fall Color book, Contact Info.

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