Tag Archives: north

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Sierra Nevada

Sheep, Morning Fog

November 1, 2013 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

A flock of sheep grazes under morning fog in an eastern Sierra Nevada meadow

There is a long tradition of grazing sheep (and cattle) in parts of the Sierra Nevada. Many years ago they were taken to the high country in the summer season – a practice that Muir railed against, describing their effect on the vegetation of the high Sierra as that of “hoofed locusts.” Today we don’t see grazing in the high country anymore since these areas are now protected as wilderness, outside or inside national parks in many cases. But the tradition continues in the lower country along the eastern side of the range.

For many years I have seen the occasional flock of sheep on the east side, sometimes close to the mountains (as is the case here) and more often a bit further out into the semi-desert highlands. Often there will be a shepherd standing guard and perhaps a sheep dog or two. (One flock we saw this time also contained, for reasons that I can’t quite understand, a single black mule.) Sometimes you will see the small trailer nearby where the shepherd lives. The flock in this photograph was one of two very large groups in close proximity to one another in an area south of Mammoth Lakes and right alongside highway 395. I had driven here to try to photograph the morning fog that was drifting from Crowley Lake, and we got there just as it was clearing from this spot, with light beams shining through the breaks in the cloud.

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Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Sierra Nevada

Dawn Light, Wheeler Crest

October 31, 2013 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Dawn light on rugged Wheeler crest following an autumn Sierra Nevada snow storm.

It had snowed all day the previous day, and I knew that the eastern escarpment of the Sierra would be covered in new snow at dawn. The dawn weather conditions were a bit of an unknown, but it seemed to be worthwhile to get up very early and be in position with a view of the crest at sunrise, so we headed up into the hills above Bishop and below the mountains to see what would happen.

There were clouds. This can be a good thing or a bad thing in this situation. Without clouds the light can be less special, but if there are too many, especially to the east, they may completely block the sunrise light – and that light on the eastern face of the range is what we were there for. There was some clear sky overhead, and it seemed that the clouds to the east over the White Mountains were at least somewhat broken. These conditions bring the possibility – but not the certainty – that the dawn sun may find its way through gaps in the clouds, spotlighting areas of the mountains as the light works its way across and down their east faces. In fact, it worked out this way. We first photographed the range straight on, mostly centering compositions around Mt. Humphreys. After shooting that subject I looked around a bit more and saw bands of light starting to sweep across the face of the cloud-topped and rugged Wheeler Crest.

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Sierra Nevada

Aspens and Granite

October 30, 2013 G Dan Mitchell 2 Comments

A stand of aspen with fall color in front of a granite filled slope, eastern Sierra Nevada

This beautiful stand of aspen trees is easily visible from the main highway running up and down the eastern Sierra, and I notice the trees every time that I drive past. It is across a small meadow where sheep graze at certain times of the year, and the trees are set against the backdrop of a small rocky hillside. I have stopped here before, but most often either the light hasn’t been quite right (I have been looking for a certain combination of back- and side-light) or the leaf color hasn’t been exactly idea.

On this October eastern Sierra trip we passed this spot quite a few times as we looked for photographic subjects in nearby areas. Conditions ranged from snow to fog to night to midday. Each time I again looked over at the trees and thought about the conditions in which I could photograph them, and because the trip was an extended one I passed by a few times when I could have stopped and photographed. Finally, on the second-to-last day of the visit, I figured out that I might or might not pass them again on this trip, the trees were showing a lot of color, and the light seemed about right.

Photographs: Northern California, Photographs: People, Photographs: San Francisco, Photographs: Structures and Objects, Photographs: Urban/Street

Twenty Minutes of Street Photography – Six Photographs

October 29, 2013 G Dan Mitchell 9 Comments

I was in San Francisco this morning for a demo/announcement of new Google Plus features and after the event I had a bit of extra time on my walk back to the Caltrain station – 20 minutes to be precise. So, just for fun, the results (most of them at least) of 20 minutes of street shooting in The City.

It might seem odd to some that a photographer who does so much landscape work would be interested in photographing the sometimes-gritty urban environment of San Francisco. There is a lot I could write about this, but I’ll limit myself to a few ideas here. First, to some extent I think of photographing the urban environment as an extension of landscape photograph – let’s call it “urban landscape.” Second, shooting handheld while on the move leads to a different way of seeing that is quicker and more “improvisational” (to use a term from my music background), and this is, if nothing else, a great exercise in seeing.

Woman with Phone, Tall Building. San Francisco, California. October 29, 2013, 11:01AM.

I had stopped to try to photograph a woman pushing a stroller with this wall as a backdrop. She walked out of the frame too quickly, but I managed to grab this one of the solitary woman against the same backdrop.

MUNI Bus Yard. San Francisco, California. October 29, 2013. 11:03AM.

A moment later and on the other side of the street, I walked past this MUNI yard full of buses ready to head out.

Woman and Dog, Brown Building. San Francisco, California. October 29, 2013. 11:04AM.

One minute later and back on the other side of the street once again, I saw this interesting structure and a woman with a dog fortuitously walked in front at just that moment. This photograph is about many things, but the colors are quite important.

Pedestrian, Sidewalk. San Francisco, California. October 29, 2013. 11:16AM.

Slacking now, it was 12 minutes between the previous photograph and this one… ;-) Here I was trying to figure out my best route and I think I wandered around a bit without shooting, but then I saw this low building which was covered with swatches of paint that had been applied to cover graffiti. Once again, I was lucky and a pedestrian walked into the frame just as I was ready to shoot it.

Autumn Leaf, Sidewalk. San Francisco, California. October 29, 2013. 11:19AM.

After making a wrong turn I ended up walking around a block and back up towards where I started. While walking I saw this leaf and photographed it quickly without looking through the viewfinder.

Garage and Fence. San Francisco, California. October 29, 2013. 11:21AM.

A moment later and on the other side of the street from the leaf, I saw this small lot and the light blue building with the roll-up door, and the bright sky beyond. Initially I wanted to include the more of the building to the left along with a street light near its corner. So I made a few exposures of that, pausing as traffic passed by, and then made this one that eliminated all of the left-side building except for the tall wall facing the lot.

At this point I realized I had a train to catch, and one stop to make on the way there…

G Dan Mitchell Photography

Tag Archives: north

Sheep, Morning Fog

Dawn Light, Wheeler Crest

Aspens and Granite

Twenty Minutes of Street Photography – Six Photographs

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