Tag Archives: park

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Wildlife

Harbor Seals

September 21, 2016 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

A group of harbor seals hauled out on a beach at Point Lobos State Reserve

When I was very young, shortly after my parents moved the family from Minnesota to the San Francisco Bay Area of California, we used to periodically visit Point Lobos on the Monterey Peninsula, located at the very upper boundary of what some call the Big Sur coast. We were fascinated by the ocean itself and by the strange life we could find in the tide pools, by the birds on “bird island,” and by the rugged cliffs. I especially remember one small and pristine beach we often visited, in a very narrow cove and accessed by a steep stairway. I also recall that there were “seals,” but I don’t remember seeing a lot of them — somehow they weren’t really on my radar.

I have continued to visit Point Lobos for decades now, and I eventually became more away for the marine mammals that frequent the place. I learned where they hand out, and I found certain overlooks from which I could observe them. I figured out that not only had I been less than aware of these creatures, but that they come in colors! I have no idea how I missed that, but I recall the it may only have been a decade ago when I understood that the harbor seals are really quite beautiful — as you can see in this photograph, their mottled fur ranges from black to white-tan to somewhat blue. On a recent winter visit I found that little beach my family visited was now closed, and that a large group of these animals had made it their own.

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

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

Forest and Cliffs

September 17, 2016 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Yosemite forest, with many dead and dying trees, and cliffs near Bridal Veil fall

In early September, about a week after returning from over a month of international travel — and missing the entire month of August in the Sierra! — I finally got to “go home” to the Yosemite high country for a few days. I camped in Tuolumne Meadows, traveled briefly to the East Side along US 395, and returned home via quick stops in Yosemite Valley, Oakhurst, and a favorite winter bird spot in the Central Valley. It was a quick trip, but just enough to get me back in contact with the mountains. (It also let me take an early look at the upcoming seasonal changes. The signs of fall in the Sierra are clear: corn lily plants dying off and falling over, bilberry reddening meadow edges, little spots of yellow on plants high up on rocky slopes, a few golden willow leaves here and there, and a general sense that everything is slowing after summer’s frantic burst of life.)

I rarely visit Yosemite Valley in the summer, preferring almost any other time to the crowds that go there during the vacation season. Although this was a post-Labor Day visit, and the biggest crowds had departed, there were still lots of people there. After a visit to the Ansel Adams Gallery, where a show celebrating the role of photography in the parks was close to concluding (it included five of my prints), I started to head out of the Valley. As I passed this spot I caught a glimpse of drought-killed trees (with the help of bark beetles), other trees standing tall, and the cliffs around Bridal Veil fall. I noticed it too late to stop… so I took one more loop around the roads of the lower valley and came back to make this photograph in the afternoon light and haze.

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

Photographs: New York City, Photographs: Urban/Street

Woman on Balcony

September 13, 2016 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

A woman sits on the fire escape balcony of a brick apartment building

The first stop on our five-week “grand tour” was New York City — our oldest son and our daughter-in-law were getting married. This is the longest the two of us have ever been “on the road,” and before we were finished five weeks later we had been to New York City, London, Paris, Heidelberg, briefly in Munich and Bologna, then the Chianti region between Florence and Siena in Italy, and finally in Florence for a few days. Whew! One thing that came out of visiting all of these places, with between five or six days and up to eight days in each place, is that we got both a sense of the character of each place (though incomplete, of course) and we were able to see the contrasts between them. New York City certainly has its own character, somewhere on the spectrum closer to London than Florence perhaps.

The entire New York visit was not taken up by wedding events, so we did have a chance to get out and explore New York a bit, which we always enjoy. On this afternoon we ended up at the High Line Park, walking part of its length on a hot and humid day the eventually led to some light rain. (That seems to be a theme for us near the High Line.) Since I’ve been to this park before I have gotten to know some of the surroundings, and this particular brick wall of windows and fire escape stairways always attracts my attention. And this isn’t the first time I’ve found an interesting person on that very balcony — somewhere in my collections I’m pretty certain that I have another photograph of someone on this exact same balcony, sitting outside on a similar hot and humid day before the rain arrived.

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

Summer’s End

September 11, 2016 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Late summer meadow and forest, Yosemite National Park

I missed much of summer in the Sierra this season since we were traveling. Soon after we came back to California I managed to squeeze in a few “going home” days in the Yosemite high country during the week following the exit of the Labor Day Holiday crowds. Following my midday arrival and camp setup (and a nap to compensate for my early wake up call that morning) I decided that I’d head out a familiar trail toward an alpine lake that I’ve frequently visited in the past. As it turns out I started a bit too late, and when I hit my predetermined halfway time I hadn’t made it the goal — so I just found a rock and sat quietly for a while before turning around.

Every summer, far before autumn actually begins, I see the early signs of the coming seasonal change. I missed the first hints since I wasn’t there in August. (Though I did see a few early leaves change color in Italy at that time.) But on this early September day the signs were all there. The meadows have turned that familiar golden brown color. Red bilberry plants glow in the low angle backlight. Corn lily plants have lost their green lushness and now turn brown and topple over. A few yellow leaves begin to appear on willows, and here and there it is even possible to find a few aspen trees with premature yellow leaves. Less concretely, there is something I’ve never quite been able to define about the light and the atmosphere, though it is plainly obvious to me that it has changed. Summer is ending in the Sierra, and the inevitable arrival of autumn and winter is just around the corner.

G Dan Mitchell Photography

Tag Archives: park

Harbor Seals

Forest and Cliffs

Woman on Balcony

Summer’s End

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