Tag Archives: photography

Photographs: Desert, Photographs: Mono Lake Basin

Tufa Towers, Mono Lake, Dawn

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Tufa Towers, Mono Lake, Dawn

Tufa Towers, Mono Lake, Dawn. Mono Lake, California. June 7, 2009. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Mono Lake and shoreline tufa towers are illuminated by dawn light.

I more or less accidentally ended up at Mono Lake early on the second morning of my early June “Yosemite trip.” My plans are often somewhat flexible when I’m out doing photography, but they were very flexible this time. My original plan had been to try to grab a last-minute campsite in Yosemite Valley and shoot there for the better part of two days, but when my position on the campsite waiting list made this option look less than certain I decided to instead head up to Tuolumne Meadows, over Tioga Pass, and get a camp site on the east side. Being only a 15 minute drive from the iconic South Tufa location at Mono Lake it was hard not to head over there before dawn.

The dawn light can be truly stunning at this location if you hit it just right. Ideal conditions might include glass smooth water on the lake, some clouds over the Sierra crest and perhaps directly overhead, but clear sky to the east so that the first sun can hit the towers without obstruction. When I arrived at Mono before sunrise it did not look like it would end up being quite that “ideal” day. A fairly solid overcast filled the sky to the east, with just a few small holes in the clouds that might allow some beams of light to pass through. But since I was there – and since I’ve learned that conditions can evolve in interesting and surprising ways – I wandered on out to the water’s edge and set up for a first shot in a small bay-like spot. After shooting the very first light hitting some towers out in the water I decided to move a bit to my right and into a more jumbled area of the tufa where I found this composition looking out between towers toward the lake and the nearly clear sky to the north.

This photograph is not in the public domain. It may not be used on websites, blogs, or in any other media without explicit advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

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

Burned Forest Near Mariposa Grove

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Burned Forest Near Mariposa Grove, Yosemite National Park

Burned Forest Near Mariposa Grove. Yosemite National Park. June 7, 2009. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Burned forest near the Mariposa redwood grove in Yosemite National Park, California.

During my recent visit to the Mariposa Grove of Sequoias in southern Yosemite National Park I hiked up the main trail through the grove. While the forest and occasional redwood tree to my left were certainly interesting, my attention was drawn to the burned area to the right. The trail in places followed the very edge of fairly recent wildfire, and in some spots crossed it.

I am fascinated with forest fire areas and how we perceive them. As a kid I remember learning from Smokey the Bear that forest fires are a tragic thing. But later I became less certain, and I came to view the wild fires as a natural and periodic element of a healthy forest. Aside from the human tragedies can accompany wildfires, I began to change my perspective on the aesthetic value of these burned areas, and I learned to see a certain stark beauty in them. A recently burned forest like this one is not necessarily an ugly thing if you look at it this way. The open light, verticals of black and gray, the intense brown of singed leaves and needles, the contrast with the reddish-brown of the forest floor, and the appearance of scattered new growth all create a special landscape. And a few years later as the cycle starts again and wildflowers and bushes grow wildly there can be a riot of color below the skeletons of the old trees.

This photograph is not in the public domain. It may not be used on websites, blogs, or in any other media without explicit advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

keywords: forest, tree, burn, char, scar, fire, wild fire, aftermath, brown, bare, growth, green, gray, black, mariposa, redwood, sequoia, grove, landscape, nature, travel, ecology, environment, fallen, california, usa, yosemite, national park, stock

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

Spring, Dana Fork Meadow, Mounts Dana and Gibb

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Spring, Dana Fork Meadow, Mounts Dana and Gibb

Spring, Dana Fork Meadow, Mounts Dana and Gibb. Yosemite National Park, California. June 7, 2009. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Spring returns to the high country as new growth begins in a meadow along the Dana Fork of the Tuolumne River with snow-dusted Mounts Dana and Gibb in the distance – Yosemite National Park, California.

After photographing Mono Lake early this Sunday morning on the first weekend of June and then packing up my camp, I headed up over Tioga Pass into Yosemite to do some photography in the park before starting my drive back to the SF Bay Area. As I came over the pass it was a beautiful morning… but now one that promised many obvious photographic opportunities. I love the very early spring conditions shortly after the trans-Sierra roads open; there is still a lot of snow around, the plants are just barely beginning their growth spurt, and there is water everywhere. However the lighting was very tough on this morning. Interesting clouds were beginning to build and a thin dusting of new snow from yesterday’s storm coated the highest peaks, but the atmosphere was filled with very bright bluish haze and the light was harsh – more like noon than mid-morning.

I had almost decided to not bother stopping for photography when I passed this meadow on the Dana Fork of the Tuolumne Meadow. I stop here often, many in the early evening later in the summer when the setting sun illuminates these peaks. When I saw that this part of the meadow was largely flooded by the high water of the river and that Mounts Dana and Gibb were backed by clouds I decided to stop and see what I could do with the scene. The technical challenge of the scene was the tremendous dynamic range between the eye-squinting brightness of the clouds and the shadows in the foreground of the meadow. So I made several different exposures and applied the “ND grad filter in post” technique of combining the properly exposed portions of each.

This photograph is not in the public domain. It may not be used on websites, blogs, or in any other media without explicit advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

keywords: spring; meadow; rock; tree; river; water; reflection; grass; foliage; plants; forest; tree; mount; dana; gibb; fork; tuolumne; sierra; nevada; crest; snow; dusted; clouds; blue; sky; scenic; travel; landscape; yosemite; national park; california; usa; growth; stock

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Wildlife, Photographs: Yosemite

Bear Family in Tree, Yosemite

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Bear Family in Tree, Yosemite

Bear Family in Tree, Yosemite. Yosemite National Park, California. June 7, 2009. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A mother black bear and her two cubs practice their tree-climbing skills in Yosemite National Park, California.

I confess that I participated in a full-scale “Yosemite tourist experience” in order to get this photograph. Despite the fact that I’ve encountered California black bears many times in the high country while car camping and while backpacking – and I respect but do not fear these bears – this photograph was made during a less wild experience. I was driving back down Tioga Pass Road from Tuolumne and as I approached the right turn to pick up the main road out of the park I suddenly came upon many cars parked at odd angles along the road. I slowed, rolled my window down, and asked, “Hey, what is everyone stopped for?” The breathless reply was “a mother bear and her cubs are in the trees!”

Not having any decent bear photographs in my collection I decided to stop and see what I could get. I found a spot to park off the roadway, grabbed a camera and the longest lens, and walked back up the road to where others were staring intently across a small clearing toward trees far beyond – but I couldn’t spot a darn thing. Finally someone pointed out where the mother bear had last been seen, and I thought I spotted her head – in very poor light and crouched down low in the brush. I flipped on the image-stabilization on my 100-400mm lens, increased camera ISO to 400 (wanting to minimize blur when I hand held the camera) and got “mama” framed up. She was not a very photogenic subject, prone on the forest floor beyond some plants – but I was patient. Before long she began to move, walking among the trees, and soon her two small cubs appeared. I thought they might just be within range of the lens I had so I began to track their movements with my camera and shoot photos whenever something interesting happened. (Basically, I like to photograph wildlife – at least mammals – in much the same way that I might photograph people: I want the critter to look in a direction such that I can see its face, and if the animal is actively engaged in doing something, all the better.)

It seemed to me that “mom” was perhaps showing the cubs how to climb trees. She would edge them over to a tree and then they would start to climb. Before long both of the small cubs were scampering many feet up into the trees, and mom followed at least partway.

This photograph is not in the public domain. It may not be used on websites, blogs, or in any other media without explicit advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

keywords: black, bear, mother, sow, cubs, climb, tree, trunk, moss, ascent, forest, grove, wildlife, animal., nature, yosemite, national park, california, usa, travel, adventure, tioga, road, sierra, nevada, mountain, range, stock