Tag Archives: point

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

Granite and Trees, Morning

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Granite and Trees, Morning
Granite and Trees, Morning

Granite and Trees, Morning. Yosemite National Park, California. May 12, 2003. © Copyright 2013 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Morning light on granite slabs in the Yosemite high country.

These are the light, the rocks, the trees that bring me back to the Yosemite high country of the Sierra Nevada every year when Tioga Pass opens and which keep me coming back until the high country closes again in the fall. Tioga Pass opened for the season this past weekend, and that – plus the chance to see a show and visit with some friends in the Valley – was excuse for a quick visit. I try to go over the pass each season on the day it opens or shortly afterwards. For me, crossing that pass and starting down the road into Lee Vining Canyon marks the start of “summer,” even though the calendar still says it is spring.

Since the high country camp grounds are not open yet and the Forest Service camps east of the pass are also still closed, I ended up getting a last-minute camp site in Yosemite Valley. (This also provided the opportunities to attend the reception for John Sexton’s and Anne Larsen’s show at the Ansel Adams Gallery, to hear John’s wonderful talk about Ansel Adams that evening, and to get one last crack at photographing this year’s dogwood bloom.) On the first day I did little more than make an obligatory drive up toward the pass and see the familiar country. This was the second dry winter in a row in California, and there is very little snow for such an early date in the season. Perhaps because of this, there were far fewer people up there than on other recent opening days. On the second day I got up well before dawn and left my Yosemite Valley camp in darkness, driving up Tioga Pass road early enough to photograph in the May Lake (turnoff), Olmsted Point, and Tenaya Lake areas in early light. Here I found what I was looking for – sparse trees in the back-light from early morning sun, ridges of exfoliating granite, and a bit of hazy morning atmosphere. I suppose it might just be my first high-country photograph of the new season.

G Dan Mitchell is a California photographer and visual opportunist whose subjects include the Pacific coast, redwood forests, central California oak/grasslands, the Sierra Nevada, California deserts, urban landscapes, night photography, and more.
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Text, photographs, and other media are © Copyright G Dan Mitchell (or others when indicated) and are not in the public domain and may not be used on websites, blogs, or in other media without advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

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

Shoreline Trees and Mist

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Shoreline Trees and Mist
Shoreline Trees and Mist

Shoreline Trees and Mist. Tomales Bay, California. February 9, 2013. © Copyright 2013 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Silhouettes of shoreline trees on a misty morning at Tomales Bay, California

This photograph was made along the shoreline of Tomales Bay, near Inverness, California and north of San Francisco very near to the Point Reyes National Seashore. I was there, in fact, to visit Point Reyes. As I passed through the Inverness area, the sun rose over the fog-shrouded hills of Marin County, and I decided to stop right there, short of my actual goal, and make some photographs in this interesting early morning light.

Looking to my left and toward the northern entrance to Tomales Bay, everything was front- or side-lit, the sun shone brightly, colors were intense, and the fog was clearing. Looking to my right, I was facing directly into the rising sun and seeing it through the misty remnants of fog along the Marin hills, and the colors were washed out by the atmosphere and bright light. I used a long lens to pick out this row of shoreline trees from the larger landscape and to be able to make a photograph that excluded the sun itself. But it was still very bright. Mist rises off of the foreground water of the bay and a bit of fog still lurks beyond the trees. To look at this photograph you might think you are seeing a monochrome image that has been sepia toned… but this is the actual color of the light in these conditions.

G Dan Mitchell is a California photographer and visual opportunist whose subjects include the Pacific coast, redwood forests, central California oak/grasslands, the Sierra Nevada, California deserts, urban landscapes, night photography, and more.
Blog | About | Flickr | Twitter | Facebook | Google+ | 500px.com | LinkedIn | Email

Text, photographs, and other media are © Copyright G Dan Mitchell (or others when indicated) and are not in the public domain and may not be used on websites, blogs, or in other media without advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

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

Morning Fog, Tomales Bay

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Morning Fog, Tomales Bay
Morning Fog, Tomales Bay

Morning Fog, Tomales Bay. Inverness, California. February 9, 2013. © Copyright 2013 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Morning light on fog shrouded green hills along the shores of Tomales Bay, California

I made this photograph just after dawn on a beautiful February morning along the shore of Tomales Bay near Inverness, California, while on my way to the Point Reyes National Seashore. That I was here in this spot was the result of slightly poor planning. I had awakened three hours before dawn so that I could drive up here and, or so I hoped, be out at Point Reyes near the lighthouse at dawn and photograph the outer edges of Drakes Bay in the very early morning light. I miscalculated the driving time and didn’t get out the door quite as quickly as I planned, and by the time I was approaching Tomales Bay I knew that the sun was going to be up well before I got to my original goal.

As I drove through the redwood forest approaching the coast it was very foggy, a bit to my surprise since the forecast had not mentioned this. At first I thought that the fog might extend the early morning shooting a bit, but as I arrived near Olema and then headed out on the road along Tomales Bay, it was clear (literally!) that the fog was lifting and that if I was going to shoot the early light it had to be right then and there. I pulled over at a spot where some interesting buildings stand in the shallow waters along the shoreline, unloaded my gear and walked a bit to make some shots here. I was surprised by the cold. Here by the water, where the nighttime temperature are typically moderated quite a bit, it was about 30 degrees! The first light was beginning to angle across the low, green hills on the other side of the bay as the wispy fog began to disperse, so I made a simple photograph of the water of the bay, with water plants in the foreground, the color gradient fading from dark blue to near white, and the hills beyond.

G Dan Mitchell is a California photographer and visual opportunist whose subjects include the Pacific coast, redwood forests, central California oak/grasslands, the Sierra Nevada, California deserts, urban landscapes, night photography, and more.
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Text, photographs, and other media are © Copyright G Dan Mitchell (or others when indicated) and are not in the public domain and may not be used on websites, blogs, or in other media without advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

Photographs: Death Valley, Photographs: Desert, Photographs: Southern California

Backcountry Road, Desert Mountains

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Backcountry Road, Desert Mountains
Backcountry Road, Desert Mountains

Backcountry Road, Desert Mountains. Death Valley National Park, California. March 6, 2013. © Copyright 2013 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Titus Canyon road twists through rugged desert landscape of Titanothere Canyon before climbing to its high point at Red Pass

I have driven through this desert back-country quite a few times during my visits to Death Valley National Park. This time was a bit different in two specific ways. First, in the past I have usually combined this route with an early morning shoot at a nearby location, shooting at this other location first, taking a breakfast break, and only then heading out on this drive. Consequently, I’ve always made the drive quite a bit later in the day when the light is much different – usually more hazy and with the sun higher in the sky. This time I started my day on this route, heading out just before dawn. Secondly, I made this a more leisurely passage. Sometimes in the past I have allowed myself to pass by too many portions of this region a bit too quickly, telling myself I had to move on in order to get to other things in time. This time I stopped a lot, and I often lingered at these stops for quite some time, poking around and looking for things to photograph that I might previously missed.

I mentioned in an earlier post that I have sometimes found certain aspects of the desert terrain to be quite difficult to “see” as photographs. I think that the limited color palette has been one issue (often spanning the range from gray to tan!) as has the tendency for things to have a rather uniform appearance – often it is hard to find one central and prominent feature to focus on. In addition, for a photographer who has tended to work in places with water and greenery, the desert possess some different challenges. More than on some previous visits, this time I think I realized more that it is absolutely critical to slow down and adapt to the different pace and rhythms of this world. This time, rather than looking and deciding to move on, I stopped and looked some more. And as I did I began to see that there are more of the patterns and juxtapositions and forms that intrigue me than I had realized.

G Dan Mitchell is a California photographer and visual opportunist whose subjects include the Pacific coast, redwood forests, central California oak/grasslands, the Sierra Nevada, California deserts, urban landscapes, night photography, and more.
Blog | About | Flickr | Twitter | Facebook | Google+ | 500px.com | LinkedIn | Email

Text, photographs, and other media are © Copyright G Dan Mitchell (or others when indicated) and are not in the public domain and may not be used on websites, blogs, or in other media without advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.