Tag Archives: national

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Sierra Nevada

Eastern Sierra Lake, Evening

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Eastern Sierra Lake, Evening
Early evening light on a high country Sierra Nevada lake in the Hoover Wilderness.

Eastern Sierra Lake, Evening. © Copyright 2021 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Early evening light on a high country Sierra Nevada lake in the Hoover Wilderness.

A few weeks ago I decided to head to the eastern Sierra for a few days to get up into the high country. The main idea was to do a sort of pre-flight check for some potential backpacking, but I was also interested in photography, of course. I ended up camping at the end of an east side road that departs US 395 north of Yosemite. Despite the number of wildfires in California, I was lucky and the winds blew the right way to give me mostly clear skies. On this afternoon I decided to just hike up into the drainage above the road end to see what I would find.

Because I was looking for late-day light I didn’t start up the trail until mid-afternoon — my plan was to arrive at the high point when the light was getting good, make photographs, and then return by nightfall. After many years of hiking such terrain, this route felt familiar even though it was my first time on this trail. I passed a lake, following a trail through trees along its shoreline, and then climbed again, crossing a rocky ridge before another lake came into view. Eventually I came to my favorite sort of Sierra landscape — flat, meadowy areas with glaciated granite and small trees, with water flowing and peaks above. I stopped hiking and just sat for a while, enjoying the solitude and quiet… and noting that it was starting to get a bit cold. Eventually I made a few photographs and started back down the way I came, pausing to photograph a small peninsula at this lake as the angle of the light lowered.

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: Coastal Redwoods, Photographs: Nature

Redwood Forest Flowers

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Redwood Forest Flowers
“Redwood Forest Flowers” — White flowers growing amongst redwood sorrel in Redwood National Park. (Possibly columbia windflower?)

As I frequently report, I’m fairly weak when it comes to identifying wildflowers. I know a few obvious ones instantly, at least by their common names. (Latin names? Let’s not go there!) But there are many more that simply cannot name. In many cases I “know” the flowers, and I’m familiar with when and where they appear and how they grow. It is the naming that has always challenged me.

All of that is a preface to the experience of photographing these lowers. I know that I’ve seen them before in the redwood forests, deep beneath the shadows of the big trees. In fact, I recognized them from a previous visit when we photographed at this location. But when I wanted to go behind “white flower on forest floor” I had to start searching. I finally came up with “Columbia windflower,” and my family botanist (thanks, Ruth Ann!) confirms that identification. What attracted me was their white blossoms standing above the bed of darker greenery, including some redwood sorrel.

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.

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Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Northern California, Photographs: Redwood National & State Parks

Edge of the Forest

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Edge of the Forest
Deciduous trees at the edge of a forest, Redwood National Park.

Edge of the Forest. © Copyright 2021 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Deciduous trees at the edge of a forest, Redwood National Park.

This photograph comes from a section of forest that always surprises and pleases me when I visit Redwood National Park. In a place where the giant coast redwoods are everywhere… here there aren’t any! Instead these densely-spaced deciduous trees with their thick green foliage line both sides of the road. Although the spot is not marked as an iconic location, there are always others stopped there when I arrive.

Part of the attraction of subjects like this is the challenge of finding some sort of logical composition in all of the extremely complex detail of trunks, branches, and leaves. It is there, but I often have to look for it. Typically I spot something that seems like it might anchor the photograph… and then as I look over the scene I discover some element that doesn’t fit or a spot that is too dark or otherwise seems empty. At the same time, I don’t want it to be too perfect — without some formal tension the scene can easily become completely static.

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: Coastal Redwoods, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Northern California, Photographs: Redwood National & State Parks

Old Stump, Redwood Forest

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Old Stump, Redwood Forest
An old redwood stump stands among dense undergrowth in a Northern California coast redwood forest.

Old Stump, Redwood Forest. © Copyright 2021 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

An old redwood stump stands among dense undergrowth in a Northern California coast redwood forest.

The coast redwood forest can seem almost static — it is a place of quiet stillness, populated with many very, very old trees. On quiet days the only motion comes from an occasional bird and continuous slight movements of the air. But it is actually a place of continuous transition, as a scene like this reminds me. In the left foreground is a young tree that is extending toward the canopy to find light, but in the middle is a very old and worn stump of a long-gone redwood. And, of course, around the base of the trunk is a carpet of annual plants.

I photographed this on a slow walk through a section of redwood forest one morning when fog was intermittently moving in and out — one moment there would be a bit of sun and shortly after fog would move through the trees. I wanted to make a photograph that contained the complexity of this place and which caught the highlights of light on the edge of the trunk, so I waited for the light to intensify a bit before making the exposure.

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 | 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.