Tag Archives: nature

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

Clearing Autumn Storm Clouds, Sunset

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Clearing Autumn Storm Clouds, Sunset
Swirling clouds from an autumn storm clear from Yosemite Valley cliffs at sunset

Clearing Autumn Storm Clouds, Sunset. Yosemite Valley, California. October 28, 2016. © Copyright 2016 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Swirling clouds from an autumn storm clear from Yosemite Valley cliffs at sunset

This is perhaps a bit of a complex photograph, where the subject is not immediately clear, to at least it seems to me. We are looking at some buttresses and terraces high up on the granite walls of Yosemite Valley, as partially revealed by drifting clouds in the wake of an autumn storm. Sunset light colors the clouds just a bit.

I was at the end of a quick two-day visit to the Yosemite area, with business in Oakhurst and then photographing in the Valley. At the end of the day I watched the remnants of a storm begin to clear from the Valley, and I’m always fascinated by what the clouds do in these conditions, drifting and unexpectedly parting to momentarily reveal small bits of the landscape high above the Valley floor.

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 and Amazon.
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Photographs: Central California, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: People, Photographs: Photographers

The Last Light

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The Last Light
Photographer Michael Frye silhouetted against the fading light of winter San Joaquin Valley dusk sky.

The Last Light. San Joaquin Valley, California. December er 26, 2016. © Copyright 2016 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Photographer Michael Frye silhouetted against the fading light of winter San Joaquin Valley dusk sky.

Earlier this week I spent the day out in the San Joaquin Valley, photographing birds and this expansive landscape of water and sky and a few trees. (I also made a quick midday run up to the Sierra foothills on business, and it was wonderful to see the evidence of a relatively normal looking winter in California — water pooling in flats and snow on the peaks!) It was quiet in the morning when I arrived, and there were few others there at dawn. But shortly, as I was stopped photographing sandhill cranes, a car drove up and it was my friends Michael and Claudia — what a wonderful surprise!

These are long days, beginning with a 3:30 wake-up alarm, a two-hour pre-dawn drive in darkness, and arrival at my destination by perhaps 6:30 AM or so. I photograph for a few hours, take a midday break, and then return in the afternoon to photograph until the light is gone. The cycle of the afternoon photography is striking. I begin in good light, watching for the golden hour light to begin. Soon it arrives, and it goes quickly. On this evening it was hard to figure out where the birds would be, so we finally just decided to pick a spot and see what would happen. As the sun set, geese and cranes began to arrive — cranes flying past, mostly, and some geese landing in the ponds in front of us. We continue to find ways to photograph as the light fades — switching from long lenses to wide-angle, working with rather than against the blur of lower shutter speeds. But eventually it just plain becomes too dark and we stop photographing. And this, in many ways, is the most beautiful moment of the entire day — we lower our cameras and simply stand and look, on the best days standing with a small group of friends as the day ends.

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 and Amazon.
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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: Wildlife, Photographs: Yosemite

Precipice, Clouds

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Precipice, Clouds
Autumn storm clouds hover around a granite precipice

Precipice, Clouds. Yosemite Valley, California. October 28, 2016. © Copyright 2016 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Autumn storm clouds hover around a granite precipice

It was a late in the afternoon — almost evening, actually — when I made this photograph near the end of October. I had been in the Yosemite area for a few days, photographing fall color and the moody conditions of an early season rain storm, and late in the day as the storm cleared out the remnant clouds hugged the granite cliffs of the Valley.

Conditions like these are highly variable and continuously change from moment to moment. This is not the sort of landscape that you photograph by carefully composing a subject and then making a single exposure! The clouds are in motion, and with the intense backlight from the west the visibility of elements of the landscape changes continuously. Here the light in the clouds was so bright that the exposure rendered the shaded cliff face in very dark tones.

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

Photographs: Fall, Photographs: Fall Color, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Sierra Nevada, Photographs: Yosemite

Trees, Cliffs, and Clearing Autumn Storm

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Trees, Cliffs, and Clearing Autumn Storm
Autumn storm clouds clear from granite cliffs of Yosemite Valley

Trees, Cliffs, and Clearing Autumn Storm. Yosemite Valley, California. October 28, 2016. © Copyright 2016 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Autumn storm clouds clear from granite cliffs of Yosemite Valley

I had a shorter time than usual for my late October Yosemite fall color this year. First off, I had some business to attend to in the town of Oakhurst, along the southern route into the park. I took care of that, drove to the Valley in beautiful fog and rain, photographed for a few hours, and headed back to Oakhurst. (More typically, I’ll stay in the Valley, even if it means camping in the rain.) The next morning I was up early, with good intentions about getting back to the Valley for the first light. But there were too many distractions on the drive — beautiful fall color in the forests, more fog, clouds filling valleys — and I didn’t get there until later.

It was another “interesting” weather day, mostly clearing, but still clouds hanging around. The clouds of autumn and winter are a favorite subject of mine here, so when I stopped to photograph these autumn trees along the edge of a meadow, I think it may have been at least partially an excuse to watch the clouds flowing back and forth along the tall granite walls, momentarily parting to reveal the details of the mountain and then closing up again. Here the faint afternoon sunlight is coming from the left and lighting the trees. The cliff is in shadow, hence that deep bluish tones of the rock, and thinning clouds pass by further up the flanks of the valley walls.

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 and Amazon.
Blog | About | Flickr | Twitter | Facebook | Google+ | LinkedIn | Email

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