Tag Archives: nevada

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Northern California, Photographs: Sierra Nevada, Photographs: Yosemite

Granite Ridge, Trees

September 21, 2015 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Tall trees on top of a granite ridge, Yosemite National Park

This has been a period of unprecedented drought in California as a whole and particularly in the Sierra Nevada. In the fourth of this series of drought years the Sierra is showing the strain. Creeks have stopped flowing, lake levels are significantly low, trees are under stress and dying throughout the range. This summer the annual wildfire season began much earlier than usual, and many fires spread quickly and took longer to contain. We certainly saw all of these effects during our week-long photographic sojourn in the Yosemite backcountry. Until we had a couple of days of (welcome!) rain near the end of the trip, the smoke was a major factor. On many days we had smoke so thick that we were concerned about our health, and the pall often made photography somewhat challenging. Fortunately, even on the smokiest days there were times when it was clear, too.

However, it is possible to see how to make photographs even in smoky conditions. On the plus side, some smoke can soften the light a bit, and the haze can enhance the atmospheric recession effect, which can emphasize the distances between subjects in front of the camera. The haze in this photograph comes partially from wildfire smoke. Here it muted to sometimes-difficult highlights on the granite, and it softened and muted the distant forest across the valley.

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

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Northern California, Photographs: Sierra Nevada, Photographs: Yosemite

Fallen Tree, Lake Shore Autumn Grasses

September 20, 2015 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

An old fallen tree and lakeshore autumn grasses at a Sierra Nevada lake.

During a week at this backcountry lake and the surrounding area I had plenty of time to wander about, work in varied conditions, and see beyond the obvious first impressions. After a few long stays in such places I have come to be familiar with a certain cycle. I arrive with a mixture of “how will I ever manage to find enough here for a week of work?” and “once I slow down I know there will be plenty to see.” After a day of settling in it begins to feel like there will be plenty to photograph, but that there is no real urgency to the work. I tend to wander, looking at whatever happens to catch my attention and not really working much from a plan. At some point near the middle of the stay there comes a time when I do a count of subjects remaining to photograph and number of mornings/evenings remaining… and I realize that I have to formulate a plan! And then, invariably, on the final day or two I realize that even with a week to work there will be subjects that I won’t get to.

I photographed this scene close to the midway point on the trip — when there still seemed to be plenty of time and just before I felt the need to begin planning more carefully. This is a wonderful time on such a trip, when there are opportunities to engage in “aimless” wandering — though there is very much an aim to that aimlessness! This subject is one that I could easily overlook early on during a trip or during the end-of-trip attention to specific remaining subjects. The skeletal gray of the fallen tree contrasts wonderfully with the rich coloration of the early fall meadow around the edges of this sub-alpine lake.

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

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Northern California, Photographs: Sierra Nevada, Photographs: Yosemite

Reflections, Cathedral Range Granite

September 19, 2015 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Still waters of a lake reflect Cathedral Range granite patterns, Yosemite National Park

This is likely to be the first in a somewhat large group of photographs made during a recent weeklong stay at a backcountry Sierra Nevada lake with friends and fellow photographers Charlie Cramer and Scot Miller. The two of them are part of a larger group of photographers who have photographed annually in the high Sierra, most often in Yosemite, for about the past 15 years. I’m a more recent hanger-on, first tagging along on my own perhaps a half-dozen years ago, and then participating more fully for the past three years or so. The typical plan is to pack in to a scenic backcountry location, set up a base camp, and then photograph the heck out of the area for a week or so. This approach has all kinds of advantages — too many to completely describe them here — including the ability to watch for perfection conditions or to return to a location and refine a vision of the subject over a period of days.

Near the start of the trip I saw this little area where vertical rocks meet water near the edge of a lake. My first photographs were OK, but just OK. However, I knew the spot had potential given the right water and light conditions. I watched the area each time I passed it, always watching for those better conditions. I got them on this day, when the water had become almost completely still, producing a more coherent reflection of the lichen-covered rocks.

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

Photographer Charlotte Hamilton Gibb

September 18, 2015 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Landscape photographer Charlotte Hamilton Gibb works the summer evening light along the Tuolumne River, Yosemite National Park

This photograph was one result of a wonderful set of coincidences in the Yosemite high country. I had gone up to the Tuolumne Meadows area for a few days of photographing mid-July. I arrived midday, managed to get a campsite, set everything up, hung out a bit… and it was time to figure out what to photograph in the late afternoon and evening. As sometimes happens, especially on the first day of such a trip, when I’m still working my way back into “the zone,” I didn’t have a plan. So I decided to simply get in my vehicle and head back to the west along Tioga Pass Road and look for some interesting potentials in the light and the scenery. At one point I caught a glimpse of some interesting light on trees and I quickly pulled over into a clearing at the side of the road. I noticed two other cars already there and a woman getting out of one of them, and I thought “I hope I’m not annoying her.” Then I realized that she was a friend and her husband was parked one car up. Claudia and Michael and I exchanged greetings and quickly decided to join forces and head out across the meadow.

As we crossed to the other side I saw another couple, one with a serious looking tripod, who seemed to be following us. we paused at the far side of the meadow and they caught up — it was Charlotte and her husband. Now the party was becoming larger! We headed slowly downstream, talking and watching for subjects, finally arriving at a spot where the river twisted through a few turns and granite slabs lined the banks. Each of us went to work on our particular views of the spot, and I made this photograph of Charlotte, focused so intently on her photograph that she was unaware that I was photographing her.

G Dan Mitchell Photography

Tag Archives: nevada

Granite Ridge, Trees

Fallen Tree, Lake Shore Autumn Grasses

Reflections, Cathedral Range Granite

Photographer Charlotte Hamilton Gibb

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