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Commentary, Photographs: Desert, Photographs: Mono Lake Basin, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Northern California, Photographs: Sierra Nevada, Photographs: Structures and Objects, Photographs: Yosemite

Abandoned Buildings, Eastern Sierra

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Abandoned Buildings, Eastern Sierra
Abandoned Buildings, Eastern Sierra

Abandoned Buildings, Eastern Sierra. Near Lee Vining, California. July 25, 2010. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Blood-red dawn light illuminates eastern Sierra Nevada peaks of Yosemite National Park and morning clouds above abandoned high desert cabins in the sage brush along highway 395.

Many who travel the eastern Sierra on highway 395 have no doubt seen these two abandoned buildings along the highway not far from Lee Vining, set against the background of the Sierra’s eastern escarpment along the border of Yosemite National Park. I’ve noticed them for years and have tried to photograph them a few times in the past.

On this late-July morning I had gotten up very early at my Tuolumne Meadows camp site and decided that there might be enough interesting clouds to warrant a trip down to the South Tufa area of Mono Lake for a sunrise shoot. However, I apparently didn’t get up quite early enough (actually, I miscalculated the time of dawn) since the sun began to rise above the horizon just before I turned east from 395 onto 120 to get to the lake. For a moment I vacillated – should I hurry on to get to Mono as soon after sunrise as possible (since the light gets there a few minutes later) or shoot whatever I could see right then and there? The intense red light made the decision for me and I quickly pulled over near these buildings and made a few exposures as the saturated and very red morning light hit the mountains and the clouds.

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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keywords: blood, red, dawn, morning, sunrise, clouds, sky, virga, eastern, sierra, nevada, mountain, range, yosemite, high, coiuntry, parker, pass, snow, eastern, escarpment, forest, sagebrush, high, desert, red, pink, abandoned, dilapidated, cabin, ranch, sagebrush, highway, 395, lee, vining, mono, lake, county, roadside, fence, barbed, wire, landscape, travel, scenic, stock

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

First Light Above Tenaya Lake

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First Light Above Tenaya Lake
First Light Above Tenaya Lake

First Light Above Tenaya Lake. Yosemite National Park, California. July 23, 2010. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

The first morning light begins to light the granite domes and peaks above Tenaya Lake in the high-country of Yosemite National Park, California.

Although it is still more or less pre-dawn in the forest down around Tenaya Lake, morning is well underway above where the distant summit of Mount Conness is in full sun and the light is beginning to strike the granite ridges and domes above the lake. I’m always amazed at how few people who are in the area manage to get out and see the special beauty of dawn in the Sierra.

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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keywords: tenaya, lake, first, light, dawn, morning, sun, shadow, pywiak, dome, peak, face, cliff, granite, ridge, conness, mount, forest, tree, tioga, pass, road, highway 120, yosemite, national, park, california, usa, north america, landscape, nature, scenic, travel, sierra, nevada, mountain, range, high, stock

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

First Light, Tioga Meadows

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First Light, Tioga Meadows
First Light, Tioga Meadows

First Light, Tioga Meadows. Yosemite National Park, California. July 24, 2010. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

The first morning light touches trees at the edge of Tioga Meadows, Yosemite National Park.

I always enjoy photographing the light at the edges of shadows as they move across the landscape early and late in the day, and I especially like the way that this light can gradually pick out subjects like these trees against a still-unlit background. With this in mind I was near Tioga Pass early in the morning as the light began to work its way down into Tioga Meadow as the sun rose above the ridges of Mounts Dana and Gibbs.

A bit of an ironic note: I was so focused on the light and the trees that I failed to notice that two deer were grazing in the scene until I began working on the photograph after returning home! If you look very closely you may be able to find one that is right at the shadow/sun edge, but I’d be surprised if anyone can find the second one.

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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keywords: first, light, morning, tioga, meadows, pass, forest, mount, dana, lodgepole, tamarack, pine, deer, yosemite, national, park, california, usa, north america, sierra, nevada, mountain, range, alpine, black and white, monochrome, nature, landscape, scenic, travel, stock, shadow, hill, grove

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

Trees and Granite Slabs, Morning

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Trees and Granite Slabs, Morning
Trees and Granite Slabs, Morning

Trees and Granite Slabs, Morning. Yosemite National Park, California. July 23, 2010. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Morning backlight catches a group of lodgepole pine trees growing on a series of granite slabs in the high country of Yosemite National Park.

This photograph carries with it what almost amounts to a bit of embarrassment – of the “how did I not see this” category. I have driven past this spot literally scores of times, more likely hundreds of times, and not seen the possible photograph here. In fairness, it was not always at this particular time of day, and it is in a location where it would be natural to be distracted by other visual interests.

In any case, this series of granite slabs on a low dome-like feature is fairly typical of the Sierra high county of Yosemite, and I am always attracted to the combination of the widely separated trees and the glacially-formed granite slabs. Here I was also attracted to the way the main trees were set off against the muted tones of the distant ridge which is still in shadow at the early hour of the 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.

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keywords: lodgepole, tamarack, pine, granite, dome, slab, benches, morning, light, haze, back, glacial, polish, ledge, forest, yosemite, national, park, california, usa, north america, high, sierra, nevada, mountain, range, tioga, pass, road, tenaya, lake, highway, 120, landscape, nature, scenic, travel, stock