Tag Archives: oak

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

Oaks and Hills, Winter Fog

2 Comments
Oaks and Hills, Winter Fog
Oaks and Hills, Winter Fog

Oaks and Hills, Winter Fog. Calero Hills, California. January 9, 2010. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Morning winter fog clears from the oak forest and grassland of the Calero Hills, California.

This is a sort of scene that seems to me to be a prototypical California view. Almost anywhere you go west of the Sierra and away from either the redwoods or deserts, you won’t be too far from places like this that feature grassland, oak trees, and some sort of vertical relief in the landscape. This area happens to be a short drive from where I live. It is merely a local county park and not a place that most would regard as special. However, because it is so close, I have been able to spend a great deal of time here in all seasons, at all times of the day, and in all sorts of weather conditions. Eventually I found that there is an almost unending supply of potential photographic subjects even in this spot that would certainly not impress most people as being exceptional.

I made this photograph back near the beginning of 2010, and shortly after that a posted an early version here. That version was in a slightly wider format and it was in color. As part of my year-end review of all of my raw files from 2010, I saw this image again in its original form… and this time I saw it a bit differently, in black and white and with a more “traditional” 4:5 ratio format. Contrary to what I though originally, I now think that the narrower format does a more effective job of juxtaposing the stacked angles of close, middle and far ridges, and it also let me eliminate some stuff along the margins that now seems distracting to me.

To the extent that this version of the image works, I think it illustrates something that I’ve heard others say and which resonates with my own experience, namely that it is sometimes easier to “see” what is in a photograph when you get a bit more distance from the act of “capturing” it.

This photograph is not in the public domain and may not be used on websites, blogs, or in other media without advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

G Dan Mitchell Photography
Flickr | Twitter | Facebook Fan Page | Facebook | Friendfeed | Email

Commentary

Four Oak Trees, El Capitan Meadow

Leave a comment
Four Oak Trees, El Capitan Meadow
Four Oak Trees, El Capitan Meadow

Four Oak Trees, El Capitan Meadow. Yosemite Valley, California. October 31, 2010. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Four black oak trees with early autumn foliage stand in late-afternoon light at El Capitan Meadow, Yosemite Valley.

These four oak trees in El Capitan Meadow are almost iconic, having been photographed by many, many people. On this trip I stopped in El Capitan Meadow near the end of the day – this was my last major shooting location before leaving the Valley for the long trip back to the Bay Area. While there was considerably time left before sunset, because El Capitan Meadow sits to the east of some very tall cliffs, this photograph and others in the series were made just before the list direct light fell on the area. The fact that the areas closer to the cliff faces along the north side of the valley were already in shade helped set off the backlit leaves of the four trees.

This photograph is not in the public domain and may not be used on websites, blogs, or in other media without advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

G Dan Mitchell Photography | Twitter | Friendfeed | Facebook | Facebook Fan Page | Email

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

Cascade Creek – Trees and Mist

4 Comments
Cascade Creek - Trees and Mist
Cascade Creek - Trees and Mist

Cascade Creek – Trees and Mist. Yosemite National Park, California. June 5, 2010. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

The spring torrent of cascade creek fills its narrow canyon with mist behind trees growing among the rocks.

I’ve been sitting on this second photograph of Cascade Creek, shot back near the beginning of June, trying to make some decisions about cropping and so forth. I finally have decided that I think I like this somewhat unusual (for me, at least) square format for this image.

Cascade Creek crosses beneath Big Oak Flat Road as it descends toward the Merced River and Yosemite Valley. For a few weeks during the spring snow melt season it can turn into a powerfully flowing stream, whose power is amplified by the steep descent and narrowness of the rock channel it follows.

G Dan Mitchell Photography
About | Flickr | Twitter | Facebook | Google+ | 500px.com | LinkedIn | Email

Text, photographs, and other media are © Copyright G Dan Mitchell (or others when indicated) and are not in the public domain and may not be used on websites, blogs, or in other media without advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

(Basic EXIF data may be available by “mousing over” large images in posts. Leave a comment if you want to know more.)


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

Cascade Creek, Spring

10 Comments
Cascade Creek, Spring
Cascade Creek, Spring

Cascade Creek, Spring. Yosemite National Park, California. June 5, 2010. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

The spring torrent of Cascade Creek descends past Big Oak Flat Road on its way to the Merced River, Yosemite National Park, California.

Every year, but especially in years of above average precipitation, this cascade flows strongly in the early season as low elevation snow melts above Crane Flat Road. The creek, swollen with runoff, drops down a narrow slot above the road, passes under the bridge, and continues its descent to join the Merced. This year the cascade was very full during my first-week-of-June visit, and even though I’ve photographed it before I had to stop again.

Lighting can be tricky here. The water is deep in the cleft in the rocks, so it is much darker and the light is fairly blue. The direct sun was lighting the foreground trees, which are much brighter and warmer in color than the background. I was lucky in that the waterfall and some morning breezes were raising a good deal of mist, which alternately obstructed the view of the fall and cleared away to show some of the trees. At the moment I made this exposure the shadows of trees outside the frame were creating shadows in the cloud of mist.

This photograph is not in the public domain and may not be used on websites, blogs, or in other media without advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

G Dan Mitchell Photography | Twitter | Friendfeed | Facebook | Facebook Fan Page | Email

Technical Data:
Canon EOS 5D Mark II
Canon EF 24-105mm f/4 L IS USM at 84mm
ISO 100, f/16, 1/4 second

keywords: yosemite, national, park, sierra, nevada, mountain, spring, nature, tree, oak, pine, trunk, branch, rock, boulder, granite, cascade, creek, fall, waterfall, torrent, spring, runoff, melt, water, foam, spray, big, flat, road, merced, river, landscape, nature, scenic, travel, mist, light, morning, beam, stock