Tag Archives: oak

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

Curving Trees, Falling Snow

March 1, 2018 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Snow falls among winter dormant trees in a Yosemite meadow

I have known for a month or so that I’d be in Yosemite for the last full week of February. That lead-in month was a very strange one for California weather. We had virtually no precipitation, and warm temperatures often made if feel more like summer than winter. These are not happy conditions for wintertime photography in the park, when a lot of the plant life is dormant and when snow and storm clouds usually provide more interesting conditions.

But immediately upon my arrival — literally the first moments I spent in the Valley — the weather changed. Not only did winter weather return, but it did so with a vengeance, and temperatures dropped much lower than would be typical for the date. On most days of my stay there were at least some clouds and on several days there was snowfall. The day I made this photograph brought the most daytime snow. In the afternoon a weak front worked its way into the Valley, and there were periodic snow showers. I headed to a tree-filled meadow when this shower arrived, and there I photographed juxtapositions of the interestedly shaped trees silhouetted against the falling snow.

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

Photographs: Central California, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Northern California

Tree, Winter Light

January 16, 2018 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

A bare winter tree and clearing tule fog.

On Sunday there was ground fog all over the San Francisco Bay Area, and I had a few free hours, so I headed out to see what I could find. I went to a place that is very familiar to me, a local haunt where I have hiked and photographed for decades. I had not been there in perhaps a year, so it was good to reestablish my relationship with the location and note a few changes. The little trip also reminded me that it isn’t necessary to travel long distances to find photographic subjects — quite often a closer look at nearby places will reveal worthy subjects.

The idea here was to arrive before the fog cleared, photograph in the thick fog for a while, and then be ready to photograph the brief transition period as it thinned, a time when brilliant and stunning but ephemeral light may appear. During my short drive to this location the fog remained thick, but just before reaching my destination it began to clear, likely because ground fog doesn’t stick around as long in the hills. As I parked and loaded up a light load (my lightweight trail photography setup) there were still some pockets of fog clinging to the hillsides, but in most places there was instead a sort of haze that glowed when I photographed in the direction of the sun. I’m very fond of this kind of light, so I quickly looked for subjects that I could use to advantage, and I soon found this tree standing on a grassy hillside and silhouetted against the glowing atmosphere beyond.

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

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: The Southwest, Photographs: Utah

Autumn Leaves, Sandstone

April 6, 2017 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Autumn leaves lie on the sandstone in a high country creek bed, Zion National Park

Every so often I decide to dig back through my older file archives from previous years, and I almost always discover photographs that I had forgotten, that perhaps didn’t resonate at the time, or were part of batches of images that I someone never quite finished reviewing. This is one of those. It comes from a lengthy autumn trip to various places in Zion with a group of friends back in 2012.

I made this photograph in Zion National Park, but it could have been made in uncounted numbers of places in Utah — it has the basic ingredients: patterned and worn sandstone plus leaves. This scene is as I found it, a small vignette of leaves, some in colors matching those of the sandstone and couple yellow enough to stand out from the background.

Photographs: Central California, Photographs: Nature

Pinnacles and Oak Trees

April 3, 2017 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Pinnacles tower above a grove of oak trees, Pinnacles National Park

I made this photograph in the late afternoon on the March day when I returned to Pinnacles National Park for the first time in quite a few decades — since before it was a national park! I had arrived early in the morning, when few others were yet there, and loaded up my camera pack to hike up to and along the High Peaks Trail, and impressively narrow and exposed route along a ridge and among the huge rock formations that give the park its name.

Exhausted (I carry a lot of photography gear!) I arrived back at the trailhead in the middle of the afternoon and decided it was time for a snack and a nap. That, by the way, is not an uncommon plan among photographers, who often find that the light at this time of day can be less than inspiring, and a typical day may start with very early photography, end with very late photography, and include some down time in between. As early evening approached I loaded up once again and headed down a nearby canyon that passed by more of the formations, stopping here for a photograph that includes three of the main spring icons of this area: the impossibly green new grass, oak trees, and the rock formations.

G Dan Mitchell Photography

Tag Archives: oak

Curving Trees, Falling Snow

Tree, Winter Light

Autumn Leaves, Sandstone

Pinnacles and Oak Trees

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