Tag Archives: pioneer

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Sierra Nevada

Last Light, Stormy Sky

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Last Light, Stormy Sky
Dark storm clouds beyond meadows and Sierra Nevada peaks and ridges.

Last Light, Stormy Sky. John Muir Wilderness, California. August 28, 2017. © Copyright 2017 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Dark storm clouds beyond meadows and Sierra Nevada peaks and ridges.

During our late August and early September foray into the John Muir Wilderness of the eastern Sierra Nevada we were fortunate to have “interesting” weather. While we had our share of typical Sierra blue sky days, we also had clouds, ranging from the sort that drift benignly across the sky to those that bring rain, hail, thunder and lightning. While the idea of dealing with rain, occasionally briefly heavy, in the backcountry might not sound all that appealing, from a photography point of view the weather almost always makes for more interesting conditions. It also provides a wonderful topic for camp conversations as we try to guess what will happen and when.

This evening’s conversation almost certainly involved both the beautiful light and the thunderstorm hovering beyond the ridge to our south, a storm that turned the sky dramatically darker beyond the light on the ridge. While our camp was more or less hidden in forest on top of a moraine — we try to minimize the visual intrusion of our camp on the landscape — we were repeatedly drawn to nearby open areas. Right below us was a lake and surrounding meadow, and not far above our location the trees thinned and the landscape opened up. This photograph was made from a meadow in that higher area, a place we visited repeatedly.

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

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Sierra Nevada

Meadow, Flowers, Trees, and Mountains

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Meadow, Flowers, Trees, and Mountains
A stream winds through a tree and flower-filled meadow holding a subalpine lake, with distant peaks, John Muir Wilderness

Meadow, Flowers, Trees, and Mountains. John Muir Wilderness, California. August 29, 2017. © Copyright 2017 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A stream winds through a tree and flower-filled meadow holding a subalpine lake, with distant peaks, John Muir Wilderness

And, yes, yet another photograph from our end-of-August-start-of-September trip into the John Muir Wilderness backcountry, during which we spent more than a week photographing some very spectacular scenery and hanging out with a fine group of fellow photographers. Our camp was located on a moraine near the site of this photograph — a high spot with some visibility to a larger panorama, but also somewhat hidden from others who might pass by.

Below our camp was this meadow and the lake beyond. The conditions were very special — for the end of August and beginning of September the meadow was still very lush and green and the wildflowers were still thriving. There were all kinds of flowers in the meadow, but this photograph mostly features paintbrush flowers and plants.

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

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Sierra Nevada

High Peaks, Evening Light

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High Peaks, Evening Light
Rugged peaks tower above canyons and glaciated ridges, John Muir Wilderness

High Peaks, Evening Light. John Muir Wilderness, California. August 28, 2017. © Copyright 2017 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Rugged peaks tower above canyons and glaciated ridges, John Muir Wilderness

This set of peaks is bound to figure in quite a few of the photographs that I’ll be sharing from our recent extended backcountry photography trip into the John Muir Wilderness of the Sierra Nevada. Because we were located on a high, open bench directly across the canyon from them they were a constant presence, visible virtually anywhere we walked.

This photograph was made from a location a few hundred feet higher than our camp. Ascending the valley above our camp revealed more and more spectacular country — large high meadows full of wildflowers, a steam winding down the mountainside and pooling in a small tarn in the middle of a meadow, and above that access to the whole upper basin. I made this photograph late in the day after climbing up the slopes a bit to get some elevation on the glaciated moraine and forest below, opening up the views to the south into this rugged area of valleys and ridges.

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 | Twitter | Facebook | Google+ | LinkedIn | Email

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

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Sierra Nevada

Meadow, Trail, and Wildflowers

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Meadow, Trail, and Wildflowers
A use trail passes through a wildflower-filled meadow in the John Muir Wilderness on a late summer evening

Meadow, Trail, and Wildflowers. John Muir Wilderness, California. August 30, 2017. © Copyright 2017 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A use trail passes through a wildflower-filled meadow in the John Muir Wilderness on a late summer evening

We became very familiar with this little section of unofficial “use trail” near our base camp for our recent sojourn into the John Muir Wilderness of the Sierra Nevada range. Our camp was relatively hidden among trees up on the top of a nearby moraine ridge, but these meadows became a second home to us for over a week. I first used this trail when I arrived on our first day, following behind the rest of the group who had arrived a bit earlier. Near the outlet stream of the lake seen in the distance in the photograph, I turned right and headed up along its shoreline, following this path. It was only after passing the lake and starting to climb that I began to wonder if I was now past our camp — and, yes, I had to backtrack.

There were many places worthy of exploration all around out camp. Some were further away — a higher open meadow, a rocky ridge, narrow meadows full of flowers. But the areas around “our” lake drew us back, and many of us visited them every day at some point. On this evening I set out to simply wander the meadow and see what I could find, and I decided that including the trail in the scene made a lot of sense. Also of note, the meadow was still wet and green and wildflowers were everywhere — even though it was the very end of the month of August, well past the time when the flowers typically die back and the meadow grass turns golden.

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 | Twitter | Facebook | Google+ | LinkedIn | Email

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