Tag Archives: mountains

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Sierra Nevada

High Country Meadow, Evening Light

September 5, 2017 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Late-day light on a stormy evening high in the John Muir Wilderness

For more than the past week, we occupied a Sierra Nevada backcountry landscape full of surprises and riches — more than enough variety of conditions and subjects to keep us busy. A group of eight of us hiked over a 12,000+’ Sierra crest pass (with assistance from pack train support) and set up a base camp from which we set out each day to explore and photograph the spectacular surroundings. The pleasures of such a trip extend beyond photography — to include contemplation of this landscape, occasionally without a camera, and the joy of sharing the high country with a small circle of like-minded friends. This time it was even more special, as Patricia Mitchell returned to the back-country with me for the first time in many years.

I made this photograph on an evening when late day sunlight filled this subalpine meadow and storm clouds cast shadows over the distant peaks. There was a trail to this meadow, but it was hardly necessary, and once in the meadow we were free to explore all of it and the surrounding domes and peaks — which we did on many mornings and evenings. Those with Sierra Nevada high country experience may be surprised that this photograph was made near the end of August when meadows are typically turning golden brown. Last winter’s extraordinary snowfall delayed the onset of summer conditions, and the meadows were still green and wildflowers were everywhere.

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

Evening Shadows, Meadow and Forest

September 3, 2017 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Long evening shadows cross a boulder-flled subalpine Sierra Nevada meadow

I love the evening light in this giant subalpine meadow — and probably in just about any such place in the Sierra. But this one is large and open to the sun from the west, so in the right places the light sticks around a while and eventually trees cast long shadows across many of the open areas.

Earlier in the day there had been a threat of weather, and thunderstorms were beginning to dissipate at sundown. I wandered the edges of the meadow a bit, enjoying the remaining clouds and thinking about how I could photograph this warm evening light. All of the layers (except the river!) are in this little scene: the meadow itself, the old boulders set in the meadow and poking up to catch a bit of light, the long shadows, the forest on the hills beyond, and finally the evening sky.

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

Two Domes, Evening

September 1, 2017 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Evening light on granite domes, meadows, and forest, Yosemite National Park

As always when staying in and around Tuolumne Meadows — though this time I had to drive in from a more distant campground — I was out in the meadows as evening approached. The campground was still closed due to late-melting winter snows, so there were even fewer than usual people out enjoying the late-day light and benign clouds floating overhead.

As I walked through the meadow I enjoyed the constantly changing landscape and patterns of clouds and sunlight moved across the forest, meadow, and mountains. From moment to moment the light changed significantly enough to almost create new landscapes. At the moment of this photograph the main subject was actually darkened a bit by the shadow of a passing cloud — perhaps giving it a more ominous appearance — but the light was bright on the smaller, more distant dome and on the meadow and forest at the base of the dome.

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

Two Trees, Granite, and Forest

August 25, 2017 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Two trees stand at the base of a granite dome with forest ascending further hills

When I first photographed this pair of trees some time ago, I thought I had discovered something special. From my perspective that was true — my personal discovery was special. But it wasn’t too long afterwards that I “discovered” a beautiful print of these same trees by photographer and friend Charles Cramer, at which point I recognized that perhaps my photograph was just a bit less unique than I imagined! Yet, something about these trees and their surroundings sticks in my mind, and from time to time I stop and photograph them again.

That was the case on this late-July morning, when I passed by on my way to some other place. I noticed that the morning light seemed just about perfect, and that the slight haze produced a bit of atmospheric recession to add depth to the subject. So, once again, I stopped and made a few photographs. In this one I decided to include just a bit of the foreground trees, one on either side, so that I could also include a bit more of the forest zigzagging up the side of the more distant slopes in the morning light.

G Dan Mitchell Photography

Tag Archives: mountains

High Country Meadow, Evening Light

Evening Shadows, Meadow and Forest

Two Domes, Evening

Two Trees, Granite, and Forest

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