Tag Archives: obscure

Photographs: Mono Lake Basin, Photographs: Nature

Mono Basin, Morning

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Mono Basin, Morning
Autumn wildfire haze slighlty obscures mountains on the far, eastern side of Mono Basin

Mono Basin, Morning. © Copyright 2019 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Autumn wildfire haze slighlty obscures mountains on the far, eastern side of Mono Basin.

Early on this autumn morning, before heading off to find aspen trees to photograph, we made a side trip to a high spot with a view of the Sierra Crest, Mono Lake, and most of the the Mono Basin. We arrived before sunrise and set up our equipment to photograph the sunrise, which turned out to be a subtle experience due to the prevalence of drifting wildfire smoke east of the Sierra Nevada.

Mono Basin is a gigantic landscape. It is one of those places where the scale is so grand that it is actually hard to realize just how big the distances are. This photograph looks across the surface of the huge lake to its far, eastern shoreline and to the dry mountain ranges beyond. That distant landscape lies in the rain shadow of the Sierra Nevada, and it quickly takes on the dry quality of Nevada’s basin and range country.

G Dan Mitchell is a California photographer and visual opportunist. His book, “California’s Fall Color: A Photographer’s Guide to Autumn in the Sierra” is available from Heyday Books and Amazon.

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Photographs: Death Valley, Photographs: Desert, Photographs: Nature

Dust Storm, Desert Mountains

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Dust Storm, Desert Mountains
A spring dust storm obscures the Panamint Mountains, Death Valley

Dust Storm, Desert Mountains. Death Valley National Park, California. March 28, 2016. © Copyright 2016 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A spring dust storm obscures the Panamint Mountains, Death Valley

This was a remarkable day in Death Valley, from dawn until dusk, though it was not entirely an easy day to be there. We began very early on a ridge high in the Panamint Mountains, where we went to photograph sunrise. This was not the iconic brilliantly colorful sunrise that one might hope for, but it was more remarkable in many ways. There was a milky translucence in the atmosphere produced by some combination of light and dust, the latter being the precursor to a huge dust storm that would envelop the area later in the day. Later in the morning we explored other remote areas of Panamints before eventually deciding that we would start back down into Death Valley, where we were staying.

While still high in the mountains we began to notice the telltale signs that dust storms were imminent. Brown streamers of dust began to appear high above us, unusual for this high in the mountains, and though we could not see the Valley we began to recognize what was happening. As we descended the dust thickened, and by the time we joined up with the main road into the Valley the dust was thick, obscuring even nearby mountains such as those in this photograph. We continued on, and before long the wind was howling and dust was everywhere. I’ve been in dust storms before, but I was surprised when for a brief moment the dust turned to sand and then tiny pebbles began to fall from the sky! We got back to our room and closed up doors and windows — but dust still streamed into the room through any slight crack. Hours later the wind abated and we went outside. There were still clouds of blowing dust, but we could see some breaks… and rain clouds moving in! Before long showers were passing through the dust storm, creating one of the most apocalyptic landscapes I’ve ever seen.

G Dan Mitchell is a California photographer and visual opportunist. His book, “California’s Fall Color: A Photographer’s Guide to Autumn in the Sierra” is available from Heyday Books and Amazon.
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Photographs: Nature

Wildfire Smoke, Early Morning

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Wildfire Smoke, Early Morning
layers of thick wildfire smoke obscure the morning light

Wildfire Smoke, Early Morning. Along US 395, California. September 18, 2016. © Copyright 2016 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

layers of thick wildfire smoke obscure the morning light

This was the culmination of more than twelve hours of observation of a developing wildfire located east of the Sierra Nevada, roughly between Lee Vining and Mammoth Lakes. The previous evening I finished a hike into the Sierra backcountry not far from Tioga Pass, returning to my car well after sunset. As I drove back down Lee Vining Canyon in the near-darkness I saw a big tower of smoke to the southeast and the tell-tale glow of fire on the bottom of the cloud. The next morning I woke up and headed straight back toward Mono Lake, from which I figured I could photograph conditions related to the fire.

I began photographing Mono Lake itself, where the lake was still mostly visible with only a few thin smoke clouds floating over it. But very soon this changed as winds brought the smoke right over Mono Lake, casting a pall over the scene all the way up to Conway Summit. My goal was to head south along the eastern escarpment, but as I did so the smoke only became thicker. I made this photograph at a point closer to the fire, where the smoke was very, very thick, enough so to take away most of the sunlight and add a post-apocalyptic quality to the scene.

G Dan Mitchell is a California photographer and visual opportunist. His book, “California’s Fall Color: A Photographer’s Guide to Autumn in the Sierra” is available from Heyday Books and Amazon.
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Photographs: Central California, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Northern California

Wetlands Island, Fog

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Wetlands Island, Fog
Thick tule fog obscures the view of a San Joaquin Valley wetlands island

Wetlands Island, Fog. San Joaquin Valley, California. February 15, 2016. © Copyright 2016 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Thick tule fog obscures the view of a San Joaquin Valley wetlands island

I can’t think of nicer weather for California’s Great Central Valley! (Well, unless you really need to get somewhere by car, in which case this kind of pea soup fog will slow you down, drive you nuts, and make you worry about those drivers who insist on traveling through it at high speeds.) I had a pretty good idea that it was going to be “this kind of day” as I approached this favorite bird photography location. Most of the drive had been clear, but a few miles away the fog suddenly thickened and soon I was creeping along narrow back roads at low speeds.

Our photography begin in fog so thick that we really could not see any of the birds that we heard, even though they were obviously not that far away. Finally it began to thin enough that we could see a few birds, dimly, though the mist. We photographed them for a while, and then I decided to make another circuit of the spot before the fog dissipated. Partway along the fog became less thick and it began to glow from above. I stopped, switched gears from bird photographer to landscape photographer, and made several photographs of these mostly obscured islands and trees and bushes.

G Dan Mitchell is a California photographer and visual opportunist. His book, “California’s Fall Color: A Photographer’s Guide to Autumn in the Sierra” is available from Heyday Books and Amazon.
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