Tag Archives: north

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

Snow Begins

April 1, 2018 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Snow begins to fall on trees alongside a Yosemite Valley meadow

Yes, another photograph of Yosemite Valley on a winter day. I made this photograph on an afternoon when snow flurries were beginning to affect the Valley. It was an extremely cold day, and I was resuming my photography after a mid-day break. The light was “challenging” as the clouds moved in, muting colors, lowering the light levels, and producing a rather gray affect. But that is what it looks like when snow is coming!

If I recall correctly, I passed by this well-known meadow on my way to another objective, and paused long enough to walk about a bit and make a few photographs before moving on. At this point it was only snowing lightly. It is perhaps hard to see the falling snow in the meadow, at least in the small online version of the photograph, and it was still possible to see through the flurries to the surrounding cliffs.

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

Photographs: Night, Photographs: Structures and Objects

Alley, Arrow, Windows

March 31, 2018 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

A directional arrow in a narrow alley outside of a windowed industrial building

Night photography is, perhaps ironically, truly all about the light. There isn’t that much of it in most cases, so we resort to very long exposures (or perhaps very high ISO values) and we seek out places where there is just enough of it to make photographs. Night illumination is often from artificial sources, and frequently it comes at least partially from inside the subject rather than falling on its exterior. Subjects that may be mundane in normal daylight can take on new qualities in the light of the night — they may stand isolated from their backgrounds, take on unusual colors, and even become mysterious and moody.

This building is one of those subjects that glows from within. When I first saw it my initial idea was to get very close to some of the windows and simply photograph the interior of the empty building. For various reasons, ranging from practical to aesthetic, I gave up on that idea. Instead I stepped back a bit, included the windows and building interior, but also worked with the light spilling out into this alley, where a variety of patterns are produced on the pavement.

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

Winter Trees

March 30, 2018 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Bare winter trees alongside the Merced River

There is a, obviously, a lot to see in Yosemite Valley and the rest of this famous national park. Many of the iconic sights are well-known and there is little question why. (As someone said, “They are icons for a reason!”) We all love those familiar domes and cliffs and waterfalls, and we all photograph them. But eventually, after spending quite a bit of time in this place, it is easy to see that there are plenty of other things worth looking for in the Valley and beyond.

Most people are familiar with these scenes in spring and summer, and the ideal includes lots of greenery, perhaps some colorful wildflowers, flowing rivers and waterfalls. But those conditions account for only a small portion of the year here, and especially in late fall and winter you are more likely to find dormant meadows, leafless deciduous trees, rain or snow, and very different light. These trees grow in a location that in spring and summer is noted for green meadows, a flowing river, and sun and warmth When I photographed it this time it was very cold, at the end of a winter day, and thin light was coming through high clouds and softly lighting the bare trunks and branches of these trees.

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

Patterns In Granite

March 29, 2018 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Patterns in a section of Yosemite Valley granite

Of all the things that characterize and define Yosemite, rock may be the most important. The Valley itself is lined with huge granite* forms in the shapes of domes and cliffs and more, carved by water, glaciers, and slow erosion. Wandering about the Valley one eventually becomes aware that the granite “moves,” and that giant chunks have fallen from the surrounding heights and sometimes managed to travel a good distance into the valley — a sobering thought. This rock continues into the high country, where some of the same features are found, along with others — the glacial “erratics” left behind as ice retreated, places were rivers flow across smooth rock, meadows dotted with boulders.

The character of granite on the large scale is hard to miss, but its character close up is also fascinating. Many years ago, for a few years, I was a bit of a rock climber. As a climber one gets “up close and intimate” with rock, learning (and remembering the tactile qualities) of the rock — smooth, straight cracks, rough, covered by lichen, disintegrating, marked by water, and more. That may explain why this little spot caught my attention. Quite a few stories are in this rock. It lies at the base of some very large cliffs, suggesting its source. It is covered by lichen, part of the reason for the color variations. Stained streaks produce vertical lines, and one odd section, which must be harder than the rest, angles up from left to right.

A geologist friend has pointed out to me in the past that “granite” is not a technically correct blanket description for the rock of Yosemite. I’m using the term in the casual and familiar sense. And for those who get this far, did you notice a compositional link to the recent redwing blackbird photograph? :-)

G Dan Mitchell Photography

Tag Archives: north

Snow Begins

Alley, Arrow, Windows

Winter Trees

Patterns In Granite

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