Tag Archives: rain

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

Mount Conness, Early Evening Thunderstorms

October 3, 2009 G Dan Mitchell 2 Comments

Early evening thunderstorms above Mount Connesss, as seen from near Vogelsang High Sierra Camp, Yosemite National Park, California.

As most of California was heading back home on Labor Day, I was heading to the Sierra Nevada for a late-season four-day pack trip into the Yosemite National Park back-country around the Fletcher Lake/Vogelsang High Sierra Camp area. I got off to a very late start and didn’t get on the trail up Lyell Canyon until nearly 5:00 p.m., so it was dark when I finally arrived at the Ireland Lake trail junction to make camp and fix dinner – and, a bit later, to be serenaded by coyotes.

The next day I headed up the Ireland Lake trail to spend a night at Evelyn Lake and then move the following day to Fletcher Lake, the location of the Vogelsang High Sierra Camp. The situation at Fletcher Lake exemplifies much of what I love about late-season Sierra backpacking. During the high season this is a very popular place: a few dozen people stay at the facilities of the high sierra camp and many more backpackers camp nearby – it can be a very busy place! But the high sierra camp shuts down after Labor Day (they were dismantling the tents when I arrived) and the number of backpackers drops dramatically.

But for a photographer, many other special things happen at this time of year as well. While some may lament the passing of the rich green plants of these meadows, I love the golden color that lasts for a few weeks between early September and the coming of the first snow only weeks later – and the spots of green you do find are even more special. The weather cools and there is something special about the light that I can’t quite define – perhaps it is the lower angle of the sun or maybe some change in the weather conditions.

This photograph was made in the early evening on the day I arrived at Fletcher Lake. My usual practice is to set up camp and have an early dinner and then grab the camera equipment as “golden hour” approaches and go to work. I had been focused on the camp chores and hadn’t noticed these clouds until I picked up the camera! Here two large cells, perhaps beginning to dissipate as the day ended, were towering above Mount Conness and the Sierra crest.

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
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/gdanmitchell

keywords: mount, conness, johnson, peak, early, evening, late, afternoon, thunderstorm, cloud, towering, blue, sky, rain, virga, light, fletcher, lake, vogelsang, high, sierra, nevada, camp, range, mountains, alpine, yosemite, national, park, california, usa, travel, scenic, landscape, nature, meadow, brown, gold, lodgepole, tamarack, pine, forest, rock, ridge, backpack, camp, fall, autumn, color, season, stock, september, boulder

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

Late Season Dogwood Blossom, Rain

June 18, 2009 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

A late season dogwood blossom along highway 120 after morning rain – Yosemite National Park, California.

As I entered Yosemite via the northern road on the first weekend in June I was certainly not expecting to still see dogwood blossoms – at least not more than a few brown stragglers – so I was very surprised and pleased to discover that one of my favorite groves along highway 120 was still full of bright white flowers. Even better, when I arrived everything was still wet from earlier rain, making the colors more intense and leaving some raindrops on flowers and leaves, and the overcast from the returning rain storm diffused the light nicely. This flower was photographed in a deeply shaded section of the forest.

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: dogwood, tree, leaf, flower, blossom, bloom, bract, forest, grove, rain, shower, spring, late, season, morning, yosemite, national park, california, usa, sierra, nevada, mountains, range, white, green, wet, drop, highway, 120, foliage, nature, scenic, travel, stock

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

False Solomon’s Seal, Rain

June 16, 2009 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Ground growing False Solomon’s Seal plants and flowers after morning rain – along Highway 120 in Yosemite National Park, California.

As I entered Yosemite on Highway 120 during the first weekend of June I stopped at one of my favorite dogwood groves along this road. The diffused light from overcast and the intense colors from early morning rain created striking colors in this grove – and I was surprised to find that there were still many dogwood blooms. While wandering around looking for just the right blossoms I happened to look down and notice a lot of lush new undergrowth including this little patch of false solomon’s seal.

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: false, solomons seal, Smilacina racemosa, highway, 120, rain, shower, wet, drop, reflection, flower, leaf, foliage, wildflower, flower, ground, hugging, forest, grove, nature, travel, scenic, green, water, spring, yosemite, national park, california, usa, north, entrance, stock

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

Forest After Morning Rain

June 15, 2009 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Soft overcast light illuminates tall trees covered with moss following early morning rain in Yosemite Nataional Park, California.

I’ve had my eye on this little spot in the forest alongside the highway 120 route north entrance to the park – it is in the high section between the turn-off to Tuolumne Meadows and the beginning of the steeper descent toward the Valley through open terrain. I have a particular set of conditions in mind for the photograph I would eventually like to make at this location, and although those were not the conditions I found on this morning I stopped and made a few photographers here nonetheless.

The weather in early June of this year has been a bit unusual – at the time when thing usually shift over to the expected California weather pattern of long periods of clear blue skies and warm temperatures, instead we have had weeks of cloudy, cool, and often wet weather. (All in all, the latter tends to make for more interesting photography than the former!) As I drove into the park early on this morning the forest was still wet from the previous day’s rain and the overcast was already rebuilding towards another day of rain, and this made for intense and saturated forest color (especially the reddish-browns and greens of the moss and leaves) and wonderful diffused light.

As Yosemite subjects go, this one falls considerably short of “icon” status – but it is the sort of thing about the park that grows on me more and more.

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, trunk, moss, green, branch, bark, texture, vertical, litter, plant, leaf, rock, morning, overcast, light, grove, soft, filtered, light, travel, scenic, nature, landscape, spring, rain, cloudy, wet, yosemite, national park, california, north, highway, 120, dense, stock

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