Tag Archives: national

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

Light on Rocks, Tuolumne River

November 21, 2015 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Early evening light shines on granite slabs along the Tuolumne River as afternoon clouds dissipate behind nearby peaks

As I post it in November, this photograph takes me back to a wonderful Sierra trip last summer. I spent a few days in July camped at Tuolumne Meadows, doing a bit of hiking and a lot of photography. Each morning and evening I was out with the camera, in the meadows or somewhere else along Tioga Road. Although it was the fourth summer of California drought in the Sierra — a drought that did serious damage to the Sierra environment — on these July days it was almost possible to not think about that. There had been rain and it was the green time of year in the high country.

One evening I went out, this time by vehicle, to look for subjects. I had only a vague idea of some general things to photograph back along Tioga Pass Road, so I was easily distracted by anything that happened to catch my attention. Before I even left the Meadows I caught sight of some trees that were lit in an interesting way, so I turned around, drove back, and pulled out along the road. There were other cars there already and I hoped my sudden arrival didn’t annoy anyone, but I quickly saw a pair of photography friends at one of the vehicles. After exchanging greetings we decided to hear across the meadow together. By the time we got to the other side yet another couple of photography friends showed up! Mind you, none of this was planned. We all teamed up and spent a beautiful evening among friends making photographs along the Tuolumne.

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

Backcountry Lake, Dawn

November 13, 2015 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Dawn sky reflected in the surface of a Yosemite backcountry lake

Another morning from a week of such mornings at this Yosemite backcountry lake. My tent was at the end of a granite slab leading back up from the shore of the lake, so it became typical to arise each morning, crawl out of the tent, grab camera and tripod, and walk the slab and then the meadow beyond to the shoreline for morning photography. In this strange weather year in the Sierra every morning was different. One morning it might be clear, another was filled with thick wildfire smoke, and on yet another it was raining.

This was an in-between morning. There was a bit of wildfire smoke — it never went away completely during our stay — and high clouds muted the morning light on the lake itself. The air was not moving, and was September-cold. First light brought a bit of color to the clouds, reflected in the early morning stillness of the lake.

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

Photographs: Photographers

Photographer Scot Miller, Yosemite Backcountry

November 8, 2015 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Photographer Scot Miller at work on a ridge in the backcountry of Yosemite National Park

I have been fortunate to get to know photographer Scot Miller over the past few years. I write “photographer,” but a more complete accounting would include videographer, author, and much more. I met Scot through my association with a group of photographers who have been photographing in the Yosemite backcountry for the past 15 years or so — sometimes referred to as the “First Light” photographers in recognition of their beautiful book, First Light: Five Photographers Explore Yosemite’s Wilderness. (The others are Charles Cramer, Karl Kroeber, Mike Osborne, and Keith Walklet.)

This past September three of us (Scot, Charlie, and myself) spent a bit more than a week base-camped at a backcountry Yosemite National Park lake making photographs. By staying in one location for so long we become acquainted with the location in ways that would not be possible in the normal backpacking mode, in which one tends to move from place to place daily. Instead we have the opportunity to let the character of the place sink in, to wander slowly, to return to spots we saw earlier, and to experience a range of conditions — which on this trip included everything from Sierra sun, though wildfire smoke, to a couple of days of rain. One morning, without planning to do so, Scot and I ran into one another high on this ridge above our lake.

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Sierra Nevada

Columns and Lichen

November 1, 2015 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Basalt columns and bright yellow lichen, Devils Postpile National Monument

This photograph is probably the result of at least one accident. We had gone to the Eastern Sierra for a few days to photograph fall color, arriving late in the evening, tired and ready to sleep. We discussed how early we would get up the next morning, but I managed to remain vague about my plans, secretly hoping that I might not wake up on “photographer time,” but perhaps actually sleep in a bit! In fact, that is what happened — and it was probably a good thing since I was tired after three busy weeks including several previous trips over the crest to photograph on the east side of the range.

Of course, once we got up late we still had to figure out what we would photograph. Obviously dawn light was out of the question, and it seemed like we might not get out until the best early and soft light for aspen color had passed. We hatched a very general plan to head over to Devils Postpile National Monument, though I didn’t have real high hopes for it. However, once we arrived we realized that we had actually come at just the right time. This feature, at this time of year, doesn’t get sunlight very early. When we arrived the face was still in beautiful, soft, shaded light but the surroundings were reflecting some light onto the columns. That’s what I call a “happy accident!”

G Dan Mitchell Photography

Tag Archives: national

Light on Rocks, Tuolumne River

Backcountry Lake, Dawn

Photographer Scot Miller, Yosemite Backcountry

Columns and Lichen

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