Tag Archives: rain

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

Tree Trunk and Wolf Lichen

November 9, 2010 G Dan Mitchell 4 Comments

Wolf lichen on a tree trunk near LeConte Lodge comes back to life with autumn Rains, Yosemite Valley.

If you read the “technical data” at the end of this post, you know that it was dark in this forest! The location is near the Le Conte Lodge (across the road from the Housekeeping Camp) along the south side of Yosemite Valley, and in an area where the tall cliffs approach very closely to the road and trail. Because of this it is deeply shaded for a good part of the day, especially during this time of the years.

I had gone here looking for maple leaves and for the large oaks that grow near the lodge. I just happened to see this interesting bark texture as I hiked past and noticed the brilliant – almost fluorescent – greens of the lichen in contrast to the dull color of the tree. While it was dark here and the shot required a long exposure, an upside was that the soft, diffused light lowered the contrast of the scene to manageable levels.

(I originally referred to “moss” in the title and description of this photo. Thanks to “Dave” for setting me straight and identifying it as fruticose lichen.)

G Dan Mitchell Photography

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

Autumn Rain, Merced River

November 7, 2010 G Dan Mitchell 3 Comments

Fall colors and mist along the Merced River, Yosemite Valley.

Returning to the land of color – after a spate of recent black and white posts – this is a photograph made on a rainy day along the Merced River in Yosemite Valley, as fall color came to the trees and bushes and fog drifted along the walls of the Valley. This photograph was made from the bridge near Curry Village as it rained lightly and the colors were reflected in the calm surface of the river. Probably because of the damp weather and the relatively early hour there was hardly any one else around, and this in a location that is often quite busy.

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.

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

Yosemite Fall and Lost Arrow, Fog and Mist

November 2, 2010 G Dan Mitchell 3 Comments

Yosemite Fall and Lost Arrow emerge from drifting storm clouds, Yosemite Valley.

When I traveled to Yosemite Valley this past weekend I knew that rain was coming on Saturday – and I was happy about this since I love photographing the Valley in rainy and misty weather. I made a plan to photograph, among other things, what I expected would be cloud and mist floating among the cliffs, trees, and waterfalls of the Valley – and I wasn’t disappointed!

This is a photograph of a Yosemite icon, Upper Yosemite Fall. As clouds drifted across the face near the fall and into the valleys above, from time to time there would be a bit of clearing. Occasionally a clear view of the waterfall would even appear for a moment. At this moment in time, the spire of “Lost Arrow” also appeared along the side of the cliff at the upper right.

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.

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Sierra Nevada

Sabrina Basin, Autumn Color and Rain

October 29, 2010 G Dan Mitchell 10 Comments

Brilliant fall aspen color on a morning of light rain in Sabrina Basin.

On the first weekend of October I had visited North Lake for some early morning photography, and on my way back to the main road I stopped just before a steep descent in a location where I knew of a ridge extending out toward the middle of the valley a bit. I had shot from this ridge before and imagined that with excellent aspen color scattered up and down the valley that it might provide a good perspective on the trees and the peaks of the Sierra crest beyond Sabrina Lake itself. So, in light rain I found my way out onto this ridge and bushwhacked around a bit to check out various possible shooting locations.

While my instinct to shoot from this general area was right, by initial instinct to go as far as possible out on the ridge turned out to be less right. It was a fun adventure, and it provided a very airy overlook… but things in the field of view just didn’t seem to line up quite right. (I did make some photographs at the first location, and I’m not writing them off yet though…) I decided that a better vantage poit my be a bit closer to where I had started since this would place the very large and very colorful aspen grove at the base of the hill a bit more centrally in the frame.

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.

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