Tag Archives: nature

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

Dead Trees, Clearing Storm, Sunset

March 2, 2018 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

A winter storm clears to sunset light above forest of dead trees

The Sierra Nevada has been under stress for the past dozen years of so. (Technically speaking, some of these stresses have been building for longer than that, but the effects have become acute more recently.) Much of this is related to outlier weather/climate conditions and the secondary effects they have caused. The range has become much warmer. There are well-documents studies tracing the rising elevations of species of plants and animals adapting to this change. Recently the range has also experience some virtually unprecedented (at least in historical times) dry conditions, with a five-year period of tremendous drought broken by last years record precipitation, and then followed by what looks to be another very dry year this season. (We are getting some late rain, but not likely enough to make up for very dry December and February periods.) All of this affects forests it many ways, though two are obvious. The Sierra has always experienced wildfire, but recent fires have been extremely intense, going beyond the natural “pruning” effect to utterly destroy whole forests, and the areas affected by this destruction are huge. And in the wake of the drought conditions, beetle infestations have killed of tens of millions for trees.

This destruction is plain to see, and especially so to those of us who have visited the range for many decades. I sometimes imagine that new visitors driving through some denuded areas simply assume that this is “how it is” there, but others of us recall passing through deep forests in those places. As all of this has unfolded, I’ve tried to find beauty in such places — and it is there to find. These snags are on the side of a ridge, perhaps at the 5000′ level or so, on slopes facing west toward the foothills and the Central Valley beyond. It was snowing on this evening in the mountains, but I was near the western edge of the storm, and near sunset the snow diminished and the clouds thinned, and sunset light began to light the remains clouds and precipitation from behind, silhouetting these trees.

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

Curving Trees, Falling Snow

March 1, 2018 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Snow falls among winter dormant trees in a Yosemite meadow

I have known for a month or so that I’d be in Yosemite for the last full week of February. That lead-in month was a very strange one for California weather. We had virtually no precipitation, and warm temperatures often made if feel more like summer than winter. These are not happy conditions for wintertime photography in the park, when a lot of the plant life is dormant and when snow and storm clouds usually provide more interesting conditions.

But immediately upon my arrival — literally the first moments I spent in the Valley — the weather changed. Not only did winter weather return, but it did so with a vengeance, and temperatures dropped much lower than would be typical for the date. On most days of my stay there were at least some clouds and on several days there was snowfall. The day I made this photograph brought the most daytime snow. In the afternoon a weak front worked its way into the Valley, and there were periodic snow showers. I headed to a tree-filled meadow when this shower arrived, and there I photographed juxtapositions of the interestedly shaped trees silhouetted against the falling snow.

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

Photographs: Central California, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Ocean & Coast

Coastal Cliffs, Mist And Shadows

February 25, 2018 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Morning light illuminates ocean mist between cliffs descending to the Pacific Ocean

While spending a February morning and early afternoon photographing along the Big Sur coastline I passed by a rather famous and often crowded spot. Having visiting and photographed there many times, I wasn’t all that interested in stopping this time. However, I did look as I passed by, and I thought I saw some interesting light and spray down at the base of these cliffs.

By the time I saw it, there was no time to stop, so I continued on a bit, found a turnout, reversed direction and came back to look more closely. At this morning hour the western-facing cliffs are usually still in shadow, but the sun begins to rise high enough to send beams of light between them, lighting the mist and spray from surf and intensifying the color or the near-shore waters.

Photographs: Central California, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Ocean & Coast

Pacific Coastline, Winter Haze

February 21, 2018 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Gentle winter haze along California’s Pacific Ocean coastline south of Monterey

I have visited this coast for decades, since my parents moved to California from the Midwest when I was four-years-old. Back then we took lots of family “day trips,” and the Monterey Peninsula and Point Lobos areas were often our goals, and I became familiar with the Coast Highway Pacific Ocean interface at a young age. There was perhaps a gap when I was in college, but when our kids were old enough we headed down this way from time to time, too.

There are a few constants here: the headland cliffs plunging into the Pacific, the twisting and turning route of the highway, the little places to stop and grab a bite to eat, the long views over the ocean and up and down the coast. But other things are rarely the same twice. The light is constantly changing, from morning to evening, from winter to summer, from clear air to fog. I would most typically photograph early or late, but on this winter day there was interesting light and atmosphere right into the middle of the day when I made this photograph, looking south along the coastline as the haze gradually obscured distant hills and the sunlight’s reflection turned the oceans distant surface a brilliant white.

G Dan Mitchell Photography

Tag Archives: nature

Dead Trees, Clearing Storm, Sunset

Curving Trees, Falling Snow

Coastal Cliffs, Mist And Shadows

Pacific Coastline, Winter Haze

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