Tag Archives: peaks

Photographs: Nature

Spring Bloom, Valley and Mountains

Image Leave a comment
Spring Bloom, Valley and Mountains
Morning fog thins above a landsape of spring wildflowers stretching from valley to mountaintops.

Spring Bloom, Valley and Mountains. © Copyright 2020 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Morning fog thins above a landsape of spring wildflowers stretching from valley to mountaintops.

As I continue to mine the archives of raw files from 2019 during these “shelter in place” days of 2020, here is another photograph from about this time in 2019, when I was traveling around California to enjoy and photograph a rather remarkable spring bloom. After abundant Winter and early Spring rain, the landscape was coming to life in spectacular fashion.

To make this photograph I headed out into the center of this plain — actually more of a very wide valley between two mountain ranges. Here the flowers grew in patches of similar colors — orange here, purple there, and yellow almost everywhere. The carpet of colorful wildflowers spread across the plain, up into the foothills, and extended almost to the summit if these distant mountains.

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.

Scroll down to leave a comment or question.

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

Photographs: Central California, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: People In Landscape, Photographs: Travel

Spring On The Plain

Image Leave a comment
Spring On The Plain
A lone horseback rider heads onto a California plain filled with spring wildflowers and backed by distant snow topped peaks.

Spring On The Plain. © Copyright 2019 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A lone horseback rider heads onto a California plain filled with spring wildflowers and backed by distant snow topped peaks.

Continuing today with the bittersweet 2020 theme that is a combination of “wish I could be here” and “at least I can take a virtual trip,” here is a photograph from Spring back in 2019, when I was out and about and making photographs in several beautiful areas of California. (In truth, my current situation is much better than that of many other people — I don’t have that much to complain about — so let’s focus on the positive here!)

I had spent part of a couple of days exploring and photographing this area as I passed through on my way to a California desert location. Most of the time was spent making pure nature photographs, but I couldn’t resist taking advantage of a serendipitous moment when a group of horseback riders wandered into the foreground of this grand vista of flower-covered plain and distant snow-capped mountains.

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.

Scroll down to leave a comment or question.

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

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Sierra Nevada

Autumn Snow, Sierra Crest

Image Leave a comment
Autumn Snow, Sierra Crest
Dawn light on the snow-dusted Sierra Nevada crest along the northeastern boundary of Yosemite National Park

Autumn Snow, Sierra Crest. © Copyright 2019 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Dawn light on the snow-dusted Sierra Nevada crest along the northeastern boundary of Yosemite National Park.

After my first night camping on the East Side during this year’s autumn aspen color season, I got up before dawn, broke camp and loaded my vehicle, and was on the road before sunrise. My plan was to head down US 395 to a more southerly location where I was sure I would be able to access high elevation trees that often are the first to turn colors. The drive began with a short road taking me back to the main highway, and as I passed thought cattle country here I realized that it was only 19 degrees outside. That was a bit of a shock to a person who had only recently experienced 90 degree weather back home!

The actual realization of the cold arrived after I stopped to make this photograph. The light waits for no one, so when I saw that it was about to strike these high peaks along the northeast Yosemite National Park boundary I pulled over and got ready to photograph. And, boy was it cold — a good reminder to keep jacket, gloves, and other warm gear handy for the rest of this visit.

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.

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

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Sierra Nevada

Timberline Lake, Soft Light

Image Leave a comment
Timberline Lake, Soft Light
Quiet morning light at a Sierra Nevada timberline lake.

Timberline Lake, Soft Light. © Copyright 2019 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

An alpine stream descends through a boulder-strewn, meadow-filled Sierra Nevada valley.

I photographed this scene in what a colleague refers to as “the quiet light” — the soft light in shade, found here during the daytime but also found before sunrise and after sunset. This lights is not as striking as the more dramatically colored light of sunrise and sunset, but it has a special peaceful quality.

The lake wrapped around our basecamp, with nearby streams flowing into and out of it. The rocky shoreline on the far bank is backed by tiny bits of meadow, some trees, and a series of rocky benches rising to a low, glaciated ridge. Beyond that — and not visible from here — is an alpine lake. And above that rocky talus slopes rise toward the base of the highest peaks, in a world of rock.

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.

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