Tag Archives: oak

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

Winter Fog and Oak Covered Hills

January 21, 2010 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Winter morning fog settles over the oak covered Calero Hills landscape of central California.

On this early-January winter morning I headed to my “photographic backyard” in the Calero Hills area, knowing that I’d get to shoot my favorite hills, oak trees, and grasslands in fog, clearing fog, and perhaps even sunlight. Things didn’t pan out exactly as I expected, but it was a good morning of photography anyway.

After starting out by photographing a tree in the “lowlands” of the park, I could tell that the tule fog was starting to clear a bit along the ridges – the brighter light from above was one hint, and the occasional faint sight of blue sky and clouds through the low fog was another. So I decided to finish up my work on that tree and follow a trail that ascends to one of the many minor ridges running through the park.

Arriving at a familiar point on the ridge along a valley that drops away to the south, the fog began to clear from my location. I soon discovered that it wasn’t going to be a day for sunlit photographs – a weak weather system was approaching and high clouds muted the sunlight. In addition the fog didn’t exactly clear – it was more a case of the fog sort of washing back and forth. One moment my position and nearby ridges would clear and I’d see the overcast sky above (as in this photograph), but a few minutes later another wave of fog would expand out of the valleys and I’d be socked in again. So I set up and waited and watched and ended up with several photographs that I like.

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.

keywords: calero, county, park, santa clara, california, usa, hills, oak, tree, grove, grass, brown, golden, valley, fog, mist, clouds, silhouette, nature, ridge, mountain, sky, winter, season, central, grassland, emerge, clear, settle, landscape, soft, light, rock, plant, stock

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

Autumn Oak Trees, Cliff Face – Yosemite Valley

November 28, 2009 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Autumn oak trees and meadow with background cliff face towering above – Yosemite Valley, California.

Having posted all of the better photos from last week’s shoot at Point Lobos, I’m back to the fall photographs from Yosemite Valley once again as I complete the process of going through all of the images I brought back from my October 31 and November 1 visit. This is another in the “tree with hazy cliffs in the background” series that I seem to have spent a lot of time on during this visit. These trees were photographed during the bright midday hours, at a time when I might usually knock off from photography for awhile. However, with the right backlight on the colorful black oaks and a background of hazily distance valley walls, I continued to shoot almost straight through on this day.

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.

keywords: yosemite, national, park, valley, sierra, nevada, mountain, range, autumn, fall, season, scenic, travel, nature, landscape, california, black, oak, tree, grove, cluster, meadow, gras, brown, golden, yellow, trunk, branch, forest, haze, atmosphere, green, leaf, leave, tall, stock

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

Meadow, Oak Forest, and Cliffs – Autumn, Yosemite Valley

November 18, 2009 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Autumn color on meadow, forest, and cliffs at Yosemite Valley, California.

If it isn’t clear by now… I really like photographing the “treescape” of Yosemite Valley – at any time of the year but especially in the fall.

This was a technically challenging photograph to produce. Several things attracted me to the scene including the color of the shaded oak in the right foreground, the subtle light on the tree trunks coming from the reflection from a cliff that is far out of the frame to the left, the very yellow tree just left of the center of the frame, and the sunlit slopes of the Valley walls beyond, carpeted with trees. In addition to finding the right spot to “see” all of this, the exposure issues were challenging.

Dynamic range was obviously one issue. The foreground oak and certain other elements are in relatively dark shade, yet these areas include important details. At the same time, the far cliff is in full sun and – to add to the fun – includes some very reflective sections of rock that are extremely bright. The solution for me was to make two exposures – one for the shaded foreground areas and another for the distant and very bright cliff. The two images were then blended in post-production using masks. (For those who know the term “HDR,” this is not HDR.)

The second problem had to do with color balance and/or color perception. Though you might not “see” it while standing there looking at the scene, there are some very complex issues here with the color of the light. On one hand there are elements that naturally have very warm tones, including parts of the meadow in the sun and that small very yellow oak tree left of center. But other elements are actually very blue – the foreground, shaded vegetation and parts of the meadow because they are illuminated primarily by the very blue open sky above, and the distant hillside because of the haze in the Valley. Our eyes and brain “correct” for this when we are on the scene and we don’t recognize these color issues – to us it just “looks the way it looks” when we are standing there. However, put this lighting in a photograph “as is” and it looks quite wrong! So I had to make some selective color adjustments to move these areas a bit away from the blue tones and in the case of the far cliff to desaturate a bit. Some of this could be done in a general way, but other parts of it had to be done bit by bit using masks.

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.

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

Four Black Oaks in Autumn, El Capitan Meadow

November 15, 2009 G Dan Mitchell 3 Comments

Four black oak trees with autumn colors in morning light, El Capitan Meadow, Yosemite Valley, California.

This group of trees has achieved near-icon status, having been photographed many times in many ways in many seasons and in a wide variety of lighting conditions by many photographers. (Whew..) Several factors have perhaps led to them being photographed so often. First, the group has some very appealing features, especially their close spacing and the gentle curves of their forms along with their location in an area with a lot of surrounding empty space but still with interesting background further away. Secondly, and probably as a result of the previous factors, they have been photographed often enough that many people are familiar with wonderful photographs of the group by any of a number of well-known photographers. Finally, I cannot ignore the fact that they are only a few feet away from one a very popular place to pull off the road – in fact it is entirely possible to frame up an effective composition while standing next to your car!

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.

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