Tag Archives: nevada

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

Autumn Flowers

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Autumn Flowers
“Autumn Flowers” — Autumn flowers scattered across a Yosemite Valley meadow.

The fall colors brought me to Yosemite Valley for a few days at the end of October. But autumn there isn’t just abut those colors — everything about the place is different during this season. The Valley seems to slow down and mellow out, and I sense that winter is just around the corner, even on a warm, sunny day like this one.

There’s a lot going on in this photograph, and it was a challenge to incorporate all of these elements. Right in front of the camera we see the golden-brown meadow, dotted with white flowers . The forest begins beyond that, with deciduous trees close to the Merced River and then large groves of conifers. In the distance, we see several of the famous Yosemite Valley granite cliffs, with details muted by haze and bright late-afternoon sun.

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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” (Heyday Books) is available directly from him. Blog | Bluesky | Mastodon | Substack Notes | Flickr | Email


All media © Copyright G Dan Mitchell and others.

Conservation/Environment, History, News, Photographers, Stories

The First Light Group, Through My Eyes

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I will have more to say about this video and its context in a later post (though see below for a bit more information), but I wanted to share this Scot Miller video about the band of photographers known informally as “The First Light Group” and my role in the group.

There’s a lot more to say about the First Light project, but for now here is a little background. In the early 2000s the group assembled, with support from the Yosemite Conservancy, and headed into the Sierra Nevada backcountry with a special mission: to place landscape photographers in the wilderness for extended periods of time to create photographs that embody the character of these remote places. Over a period of nearly two decades we photographed all over the range.

You can subscribe to Scot Miller’s YouTube channel, where you’ll find more First Light videos and plenty of other material from him.

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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” (Heyday Books) is available directly from him. Blog | Bluesky | Mastodon | Substack Notes | Flickr | Email

All media © Copyright G Dan Mitchell and others.

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Sierra Nevada

Shoreline and Trees, Morning

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Shoreline and Trees, Morning
“Shoreline and Trees, Morning” — Warm morning backlight on trees along the shore of a subalpine Sierra Nevada lake.

This will be one of (but perhaps not quite the) last photographs I’ll share for now from my July backpack trip. A group of us went into the Eastern Sierra Nevada just outside of the northeast boundary of Yosemite National Park. sWe did a low-mileage four-day trip, which left me with plenty of morning and evening time for photography. But even with two mornings and two evenings in this particular spot I didn’t have all of the time that I could have used.

I have visited this area many times over the years, so I had some ideas about what I might photograph. This raised shoreline area, located between the lake and large meadow below it, was on my short list. I got distracted by other subjects on the first morning and missed the brief moment of ideal light when the shoreline is highlighted and the background remains in shadow. I wasn’t going to make that mistake again on the second morning, so I was there and ready when the light arrived.

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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” (Heyday Books) is available directly from him. Blog | Bluesky | Mastodon | Substack Notes | Flickr | Email

All media © Copyright G Dan Mitchell and others.

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

High Desert Aspen Trees

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High Desert Aspen Trees
“High Desert Aspen Trees” — Aspen trees with autumn foliage ascend a high desert gully in the Eastern Sierra Nevada.

These sage-covered foothills are at an elevation of 8000′ and higher, but they are brown and dry, especially this late in the season. Technically this spot is part of the Sierra Nevada — it certainly seems so when you look at these peaks. However, it feels more like high desert than part of the mountain range.

The little grove of aspens grows in the bottom of the canyon that drains the nearby highlands. These trees were approaching their peak color, but with changing light I had to work quickly. Cloud shadows were moving across the landscape, and the shadow of the low hill at bottom right was starting to intrude on the colorful trees.

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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” (Heyday Books) is available directly from him. Blog | Bluesky | Mastodon | Substack Notes | Flickr | Email

All media © Copyright G Dan Mitchell and others.