Tag Archives: nature

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

Across The Tuolumne

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Across The Tuolumne
Looking across the canyon of the Tuolumne River toward the Cathedral Range, evening.

Across The Tuolumne. © Copyright 2021 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Looking across the canyon of the Tuolumne River toward the Cathedral Range, evening.

This is the second in a sort of sequence of three photographs made one after the other on a late summer evening as I approached, topped, and descended from a high overlook in the Yosemite backcountry. The specific terrain of this area high in the Tuolumne River drainage lends itself to such views. Because the river is large and the upper drainage expansive, from many ridges and peaks one can look over vast swaths of the park’s highlands. And there are many such high points along the edges of this drainage and even along ridges that cut across it.

I made this photograph late in the day as the shadows were lengthening and the color of the light was warming. The atmosphere is hazy, a natural condition in the late season, when wildfires begin to increase throughout the west. Those familiar with this area can probably pick out quite a few Sierra landmarks.

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: Nature, Photographs: Sierra Nevada, Photography and Music

Shoreline, Sunset

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Shoreline, Sunset
The shoreline of an alpine lake at sunset, Yosemite Naitonal Park.

Shoreline, Sunset. © Copyright 2021 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

The shoreline of an alpine lake at sunset, Yosemite Naitonal Park.

We were camped at a backcountry lake in northern Yosemite. Our group of photographers were there for a long enough period of time to photograph the lake itself and to explore the surrounding terrain — other lakes, talus fields, high ridges, and more. On this evening we all had the same idea — to follow the inlet stream of “our” lake up a slope toward the next higher lake in the drainage.

I made this photograph near the upper lake’s outlet, where the terrain flattened out and wetter, almost swampy areas surrounded the water. This spot, being higher than surrounding country, was fully open to the west and the low angle sun sloped across these small trees, standing against a background of a late-season snow field and the base of a rocky slope.

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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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

Trees, Boulders, Shoreline

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Trees, Boulders, Shoreline
Boulders and trees along the shoreline of a Yosemite backcountry lake.

Trees, Boulders, Shoreline. © Copyright 2021 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Boulders and trees along the shoreline of a Yosemite backcountry lake.

This dense and complex little scene caught my attention as I slowly wandered around the periphery of this Yosemite backcountry lake early in the morning a few years ago. I often look for a sort of compositional simplicity in photographs — some basic, underlying form that encompasses the elements — but sometimes I like to head off in the opposite direction and play with the idea of including lots of components in the scene. If I didn’t do this occasionally, I think I’d have to leave a lot of subjects out of my photography. So, yes, there’s a lot going on here: a couple of vertical lines from trees; a jumble of small trees and plants, the shapes and textures of the boulders, and even a bit of reflection in the water.

I made the photograph at a particular moment in the evolution of the morning light at this location. Because I was out and about very early, the first light I experienced was the soft, bluish light of the pre-dawn time. Before long the sun began to hit some of the surrounding peaks, and as this light spread it began to reflect warmer light in to the still-shaded parts of the landscape. At this point the light is still soft, but it is gradually and almost imperceptibly warming and becoming a bit more directional.

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: Nature, Photographs: Sierra Nevada, Photographs: Yosemite

Forest Reflection, Morning

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Forest Reflection, Morning
Morning light on forest trees, reflected on the surface of a backcountry lake.

Forest Reflection, Morning. © Copyright 2021 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Morning light on forest trees, reflected on the surface of a backcountry lake.

Photographing the special and transitory light at the start and end of the day reminds me of the experience of spring skiing. It can be great, but you’ve got to be there at the right moment, and it doesn’t last long. Early on a spring skiing morning the slopes (be they groomed or natural) are often badly frozen in the early morning. I’ve done a lot of cross-country skiing and a bit of telemark skiing, and I have to say that that refrozen slush can be really nasty stuff. But as the morning warms there is a point where the surface softens just enough and what was nearly impossible become quite wonderful… for a very short time, as the snow soon turns to slush.

Early morning (and evening) light seems a lot like this. In the same way that you need to already be on the slopes while they are icy to catch that bit of wonderful spring snow, you need to be up and about and finding your photographic subjects before the light is ideal — and while the cold and lack of coffee aren’t making things any easier. But if you are out there and you know where to look, at some point the light “happens,” continuously changing as the rising sun works its way across the landscape, illuminating a bit of meadow, a tree, the rim of a peak… and then it becomes too harsh and flat and is gone.

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.