Tag Archives: pinnacle

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

Mist Shrouded Spire, Yosemite Valley

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Mist Shrouded Spire, Yosemite Valley
Mist Shrouded Spire, Yosemite Valley

Mist Shrouded Spire, Yosemite Valley. Yosemite National Park, California. October 30, 2010. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A rocky spire emerges from the mist of an autumn storm along the rim of Yosemite Valley.

Still mining the backlog of photographs from my late-October visit to Yosemite Valley, here is another photograph made in the beautiful rainy and misty conditions of an autumn storm that came across the Sierra during the last weekend of the month. Since I’m crazy about photographing mist and fog, there was almost too much to shoot at times! When I made this photograph I was moving back and forth between isolated shots of small sections of the upper Valley rim blanketed by fog and light rain, and the scene of Yosemite Falls which was alternately socked in and almost clear. I kept my eyes on the cloud conditions just upwind of the falls, and when it looked like a clearing was approaching I would swing my camera that direction. Then, as thicker clouds moved across the falls and obliterated that view I redirected the camera towards small and quickly changing bits of cloud-covered landscape elsewhere along the cliffs nearby.

This is the sort of scene that makes me think more about how tremendously difficult it was/is to photograph such things with film! A subject like this is anything but static – the clouds move across and through the trees and rocks and change continuously, often so quickly that you only realize what has happened when the opportunity has passed. Accomplishing this with a few sheets of film must require not only tremendously good luck but also an excellent understanding of how these conditions evolve. I try to apply the same awareness of the conditions when I shoot such scenes… but I’m quite happy to be able to make multiple exposures quickly and without a lot of fuss!

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.

G Dan Mitchell Photography
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Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Northern California, Photographs: Sierra Nevada, Photographs: Yosemite

Half Dome Sunset from Big Oak Flat Road

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Half Dome Sunset from Big Oak Flat Road

Half Dome Sunset from Big Oak Flat Road. Yosemite National Park, California. November 1, 2009. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Sunset on Half Dome and El Capitan, photographed from Big Oak Flat Road, Yosemite National Park, California.

I almost always stop at this turnout along the Big Oak Flat Road entrance to Yosemite Valley when heading into the Valley and, if the conditions are right, photograph the view up the Valley past El Capitan toward Half Dome. (The turnout is just past the side road to Foresta as you head toward the Valley.) The morning view tends to be, obviously, backlit and often includes a lot of haze – which can be an interesting subject itself.

For some time I’ve wanted to try photographing this view near sunset. I have tried a few times during the past year, but either managed to miss the good light (it starts a bit earlier than I thought it would) or else I had flat and boring light when I arrived. On this afternoon I thought that the light might be more interesting so I managed to leave the Valley soon enough to get to this spot with plenty of time to spare. I actually arrived so early that I didn’t even set up my camera right away – but I was soon surprised by the full moon coming up above El Capitan! (Photos of that scene may be coming a bit later.)

As sunset approached the last light hit the forested ridge in the lower part of the scene and shadows from foreground ridges began to lengthen and get darker.

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: yosemite, national, park, valley, sierra, nevada, mountain, range, autumn, fall, season, scenic, travel, nature, landscape, california, sunset, half, dome, el capitan, forest, tree, light, shadow, big, oak, flat, road, overlook, stock, evening, pinnacle, canyon

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

Cypress Trees in Fog #2

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Cypress Trees in Fog #2

Cypress Trees in Fog #2. Point Lobos State Reserve, California. August 21, 2009. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Cypress trees and rocks in fog, Point Lobos State Reserve, California.

Once I finally admitted that the sun was not going to come out before sunset – which would have been obvious to anyone who did not arrive at Point Lobos with my incorrect preconceptions about the day’s weather – I set about making photographs of subjects that were made more interesting by the fog.

This tree is one that I’ve walked past many times while shooting along the northwest portion of the park just to the “right” of the Punta de los Lobos Marinos and in an area of trails along the bluffs and through Monterey Pine groves. Usually the scene right here is pretty complicated, with many trees, lots of rocks and so forth – but on this evening the fog simplified things, fading all parts of the scene except for this one closer tree growing on top of the rocks.

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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keywords: monterey, cypress, tree, fog, mist, cloud, pinnacle, point, hill, cliff, rock, bluff, shore, seascape, pacific, ocean, peninsula, california, usa, carmel, sea, rugged, point, lobos, state, reserve, park, landscape, nature, travel, scenic, stock, stump, snag, water, foam

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

Cypress Trees in Fog

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Cypress Trees in Fog

Cypress Trees in Fog. Point Lobos State Reserve, California. August 21, 2009. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Cypress trees on rocky shoreline cliffs at Pinnacle Point, Point Lobos State Reserve, California.

Not the weather I was expecting…

In the middle of a Saturday afternoon I was trying to decide where in the greater SF Bay Area to shoot. I’d shot in The City a few days ago, and shot Muir Woods at about the same time, so I wasn’t thinking of those kinds of locations. As I frequently do when pondering such things, I went to the NWS web site to see what conditions might be like on the coast. I had a vague notion to go to Point Lobos for an evening shoot, so I checked the weather report for that area. I must have read too fast because I didn’t see anything about fog…

So I quickly loaded up and headed off to the Monterey Peninsula with ideas about photographing beautiful golden hour light at one of my favorite shoreline locations. Oddly, as I approached the Salinas River, there was some fog in the air. In full-on “explain it away” mode I told myself that it was probably remnants left over from the clearing that was certainly underway now. Supporting this notion, by the time I got to Marina the air over the Bay was quite clear, though there were some clouds atop the ridge above Monterey. Again, I told myself, “It is clearing still. I’ll get there just in time for the sun to emerge!”

Passing Carmel it was just plain foggy, and when I entered Point Lobos nothing changed. Still, I told myself – again! – that it must have just not cleared here yet. Any sane person who knows this area would have recognized my delusion at this point. While it is possible – just barely – for the fog to clear at 5:30 along this coastline, that is about as likely as putting your car in first gear and having it go backwards… Nonetheless, I wandered on out to the Monterey Cypress groves along the northern portion of the Reserve, happy to photograph the trees in the soft light of the fog.

As the evening wore on, it eventually became clear – even to me! – that the fog was coming in, not going out. I set about looking for “foggy subjects” to photograph, still working mostly in and around the cypress forest. This photograph is yet another example of how conditions can change the shot completely. Here there was just enough fog to mute the background pinnacle and other rocks and barely reveal a bit of the ocean beyond, but it was not so foggy that the closer tree on the rocky prominence was hidden.

On a clearer evening I would have stayed a half hour after sunset to continue shooting… but the light was really gone long before that.

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.

Web: G Dan Mitchell Photography
Twitter: http://twitter.com/gdanmitchell
Friendfeed: http://friendfeed.com/gdanmitchell
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keywords: monterey, cypress, tree, fog, mist, cloud, pinnacle, point, hill, cliff, rock, bluff, shore, seascape, pacific, ocean, peninsula, california, usa, carmel, sea, rugged, point, lobos, state, reserve, park, landscape, nature, travel, scenic, stock, stump, snag, water, foam