Tag Archives: peaks

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

Exfoliation

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Exfoliation
Granite slabs littered with exfoliated boulders, Yosemite Naitonal Park.

Exfoliation. © Copyright 2021 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Granite slabs littered with exfoliated boulders, Yosemite Naitonal Park.

As is our pattern in the backcountry, by late afternoon each of photographers in our group had “headed out” find subjects to photograph in late-day light. There was a lot to work with in the area surrounding the lake where we were camped; low ridges, the shoreline of the lake, forest, meadow with boulders, granite slabs, and even actual mountains if you walked far enough.

I decided to wander to the other side of our lake, where a granite dome rise above the water… and dropped of precipitously into a gigantic canyon on the other side. I decided that I would approach from one side, cross the summit close to sunset, and then return to camp by descending a ridge on the other side. The angle of the light was quite low as I crossed granite slabs to a low spot between the dome and another low hill, and the slabs were covered with boulders that appeared to be remnants of the process of exfoliation.

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, Amazon, and directly from G Dan Mitchell.

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

Evening Storm, Sierra Crest

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Evening Storm, Sierra Crest
An evening thunderstorm dissipates over the Sierra Nevada crest in Northern Yosemite.

Evening Storm, Sierra Crest. © Copyright 2021 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

An evening thunderstorm dissipates over the Sierra Nevada crest in Northern Yosemite.

The Sierra Nevada crest runs just northwest of this area in northern Yosemite National Park, and the mountains here rise to rugged, rocky heights, in places high enough to be topped by the older geological layers that were lifted up on top of the material that produced the range. This is alpine country — in places it is easy to travel since the landscape is so open, but eventually you’ll run up against these jagged peaks.

On this evening I had ascended some gentler — though still quite rocky — terrain not far from our camp, originally with the idea of photographing a large valley to our west and the peaks beyond it. Just before sunset I started to descend, coming back around the shoulder of “my” ridge and turning toward this line of peaks to the east and the remnants of a huge dissipating thunderhead on the other side of the crest.

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, Amazon, and directly from G Dan Mitchell.

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

Evening in a High Place

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Evening in a High Place
Long evenng view across boulder-filled alpine meadows toward distant peaks, Yosemite National Park.

Evening in a High Place. © Copyright 2021 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Long evenng view across boulder-filled alpine meadows toward distant peaks, Yosemite National Park.

This area is one I’ve visited many times — in fact I used to make an annual ritual out of returning. This place and others like it provide a rare and wonderful thing, the opportunity to wander alone, unbounded by trails, across a vast wilderness landscape, going wherever my interest and abilities may take me.

Recently I have had reason to review photographs from over a decade of visits to the Sierra backcountry with a group of fellow photographers (sometimes referred to as the “First Light group) with whom I’ve been fortunate to share many a golden hour. It is hard to be definitive about when this began, but in this case there are some clear markers in the timeline. Shortly before making this photograph back in 2008 I had just descended from a lake in a rocky hanging valley when I encountered a photographer heading in my direction. The photographers was a part of the group, and after Keith and I spoke briefly we each went our separate ways. Mine took me to this area of open meadows and long vistas as the day ended. As such, this might be considered among first photographs to emerge from this association.

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, Amazon, and directly from G Dan Mitchell.

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Links to Articles, Sales and Licensing, my Sierra Nevada Fall Color book, Contact Information.

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

Photographs: Fall, Photographs: Fall Color, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Sierra Nevada

Shoreline Aspens, Autumn

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Shoreline Aspens, Autumn
Colorful autumn aspen trees line the shore of an Eastern Sierra lake reflecting high peaks in morning light.

Shoreline Aspens, Autumn. © Copyright 2020 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Colorful autumn aspen trees line the shore of an Eastern Sierra lake reflecting high peaks in morning light.

As I worked my way through what is actually a rather small collection of aspen color photographs I made this season I kept thinking that I had found all of the photographs worth taking through the full post-processing workflow. I was really only on the East Side for about 48 hours on this visit, and I made most of the photographs in two specific spots. But so far, each time I have “finished” and taken my final look at the raw files… I have come up with yet one more that I did not want to leave behind.

This is one of several I made from this location along the shoreline of this lake. Once I realized that I was going to be here I pre-selected a couple of spots to set up, and this one was on the agenda for my last morning before heading home. I knew that I wanted the foreground red trees in the the photograph, so I had to find a spot with a bit of elevation above the lake. I located it and the rest of the series of photographs was made from camera positions within about a five foot radius, adjusting my locations slightly to deal with some overlaps. Because it was somewhat smoky from wildfires, I decided on this composition as a way to exclude the more distant elements that tend to show the smoke up more clearly.

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.

Blog | About | Flickr | Facebook | Email

Links to Articles, Sales and Licensing, my Sierra Nevada Fall Color book, Contact Information.

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