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

Cascade Creek Spring Torrent

June 2, 2011 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

A small tree stands in the raging spring torrent of Cascade Creek, Yosemite National Park.

This may be the final photograph in this series I shot in early May when I visited this seasonal cascade on the way into Yosemite Valley. Compared to some of the others this one takes in a larger portion of the scene, mainly so that I could include the little leafless tree or bush at the lower left, as it stands against the tremendous force of the rushing water descending steeply among the rocks.

This creek is fed by seasonal snow melt fairly early in the season because the ares that feed its flow are at a relatively lower elevation. For a while each year, but especially in a wet year like this one, this little creek rages as it drops precipitously down this narrow canyon towards a point below where it flows into the Merced River. A bridge provides an interesting vantage point from which to shoot almost directly down into the torrent.

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Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Northern California, Photographs: Ocean & Coast

Light on Water, Point Reyes

June 1, 2011 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Afternoon light filtered through incoming clouds illuminates the surface of the Pacific Ocean at Point Reyes, California.

When we were at the Point Reyes lighthouse on Memorial Day, clouds from a weak weather system were approaching the coast. Above the horizon the sky was dark and somewhat gloomy. Overhead there were broken clouds, the light coming through the cloud breaks dappled the surface of the Pacific Ocean to the northwest of the Point, and there was a larger pool of light on the horizon. All of this seemed to call for another “minimalist seascape,” so I made one.

When I made the exposure I was leaning towards a black and white image, but when I began to work with it in post and realized that it was very close to being monochromatic already, I decided to stick with the very muted colors of this version. The colors a bit more obvious in the print, but still quite subtle. The closest thing to real color is a slight golden tinge to the light on the horizon.

The Point Reyes lighthouse area is often a pretty wild place. I’ve been there when the wind was blowing so strongly that I essentially gave up on photography. It can be extremely cold out there, too, even on days when the sun is breaking out and the temperatures are warm a bit inland. But this spring day was a surprise. Apart from the passing clouds, the weather was quite comfortable, and for the first time that I can recall there were moments of no wind at all!

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Northern California, Photographs: Wildlife

Four Tule Elk, Point Reyes

May 31, 2011 G Dan Mitchell 9 Comments

Four tule elk in the meadows at Point Reyes National Seashore.

When the day started I had no idea that I might be photographing wildlife today, much less tule elk! In fact, today was meant to be primarily a photography day. We decided to spend the day on a coastal drive, starting with breakfast in Santa Cruz and then heading north to… wherever we ended up. We had a vague idea that it might be interesting to end up at Point Reyes Station perhaps, where there was an open art studio event going on.

By mid-afternoon, that is indeed where we ended up. We stopped in town to get coffee and a snack and wander about just a bit. With no specific plan in mind we sort of decided to head on out to Point Reyes – the actual “point,” not just the general park. On the way back we took a detour down to Drakes Bay for a quick stop. As we drive back up from there to the top of the hill near the main road we saw some strange shapes in the distance behind a fence. The looked like antlers, but that didn’t seem right – this particular area is dairy country and the elk that I had heard about were in a different area of the park. But as we reached the top of the hill it became completely obvious that a small herd of tule elk were grazing right on the other side of the fence. We pulled over and I grabbed my long lens. The elk were kind enough to occasionally look up from the business of grazing and pose dramatically in the low late-afternoon light from the west.

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Sequoia-Kings Canyon, Photographs: Sierra Nevada

Mammoth Peak Reflected in Tioga Tarn

May 30, 2011 G Dan Mitchell 6 Comments

Mammoth Peak in sunset light, reflected in the still surface of Tioga Tarn, Tioga Pass, Yosemite National Park.

This view of Mammoth Peak on Kuna Crest in the Yosemite High Country from the Tioga Tarns at the top of Tioga Pass is a classic Sierra Nevada scene. The foreground tarns are lush green in the early summer after the snow melts out and fall into shadow early in the evening as the sun drops behind the ridge between this area and Gaylor Lakes. Mammoth Peak, however, has an almost unobstructed line of sight to the west, so this peak continues to hold the sunset light until the last possible minute. (Don’t let the peaceful appearance of the scene fool you – I was being devoured by clouds of mosquitos as I made these exposures.)

In order to deal with the extremely large dynamic range between the Mammoth Peak snow fields in direct sun and the very dark shadows of the nearby forest I resorted to exposure blending and a few other post-processing techniques. With exposure blending, I make two exposures, one optimized for the brightest areas of the scene and the second a slightly longer exposure to capture a bit more of the shadow detail. In post I began with the darker frame, since that presented Mammoth Peak the way I remembered it. Then I placed to other exposure beneath it and used a mask layer to reveal some of the lighter areas from the lower layer.

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” (Heyday Books) is available directly from him.

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