Tag Archives: range

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Sierra Nevada

Tree and Rock Face

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Tree and Rock Face
A tree next to an eroded and fractured rock face, John Muir Wilderness

Tree and Rock Face. © Copyright 2017 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A tree next to an eroded and fractured rock face, John Muir Wilderness.

Here I am back, once again, to that trip into the John Muir Wilderness from which so many recent posts have come. Believe it or not, there still may be a few to come! With a full week to photograph there, I had ample opportunities to explore all sides of this area.

Above our camp the landscape opened up, becoming more rugged and alpine. This is a land of exposed rocks, glacially smoothed and ground down, with rocks and slabs interspersed with meadows. As I followed a creek up into this drainage, often skirting along the edge of wet, meadowy areas, I saw some interesting rock patterns a bit higher up at the base of a nearby ridge, so I climbed up to photograph the rocks and the small trees and wildflowers growing there.

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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Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Sierra Nevada

Meadow, Forest, and Mountains

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Meadow, Forest, and Mountains
Clouds in the sky above meadow, forest, and mountains, John Muir Wilderness

Meadow, Forest, and Mountains. © Copyright 2019 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Clouds in the sky above meadow, forest, and mountains, John Muir Wilderness.

This is another photograph that emerged from the raw file archives as I reviewed photographs from a weeklong backcountry photography expedition a couple of years ago — that year’s version of the annual trips I make with a group of like-minded photographers. As per the usual plan, we made our way to a beautiful backcountry location, set up a base camp, and went to work spending the next week photographing the area like mad.

A short walk above our camp the country opened up into the terrain that is among my favorite in the Sierra — forests of smaller trees, broken up by rock-dotted meadows, and expansive high-elevation views to surrounding ridges and peaks. I made this photograph on a morning visit to this spot, starting to photograph before dawn and continuing into the early morning after sunrise. For the most part, the sky was typical “perfect Sierra blue,” but I was fortunate when a few clouds began to form about the distant ridge.

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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Links to Articles, Sales and Licensing, my Sierra Nevada Fall Color book, Contact Information.

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

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

Two Trees

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Two Trees
Two trees and their reflections along the rocky shoreline of a Sierra Nevada lake

Two Trees. © Copyright 2019 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Two trees and their reflections along the rocky shoreline of a Sierra Nevada lake.

Last week I spent a few days in the Yosemite high country around Tuolumne Meadows. I had a few things in mind. Visiting one of my favorite places in the Sierra was, of course, one of them, as was making photographs in this location. I also had a more practical goal in mind — spending a bit of time adapting to elevation for an upcoming trip that has me “going high” on the first day. With that last goal in mind, each day I picked a hike that covered some miles, that climbed, and that had me over 10,000.

I had been planning to camp outside the park to the east of Tioga Pass, but much to my surprise there was still “space available” at Tuolumne Meadows when I passed through, so I changed plans and got a campsite there. This meant that when I wasn’t otherwise occupied, I could easily get to some of the well-known locations along this roadway. That’s just what I did for this photograph, getting up early and arriving here well before the day’s crowds… at an early enough hour that the place actually provided some solitude.

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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Links to Articles, Sales and Licensing, my Sierra Nevada Fall Color book, Contact Information.

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

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

Young Trees, Dark Forest

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Young Trees, Dark Forest Young Trees, Dark Forest
Small, young trees growing at the end of a dark and dense forest

Young Trees, Dark Forest. © Copyright 2019 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Small, young trees growing at the end of a dark and dense forest.

After decades of hiking, camping, backpacking, photographing, skiing, (and in an earlier life occasionally climbing) all over the Sierra, there are odd little unexpected places that have some personal significance to me. In a few cases they are associated with a specific, memorable — there are several, for example, for each of my “kids.” (The “kids” are now all grown, but i remember!) Others connect to travels with backcountry friends or to events that occur there. In some cases, the development of a connection seems to be almost random, and there is nothing at all that points to them in any particularly objective way.

This is one of those latter spots. It isn’t far from a road, and I’ve always been attracted to the views for a mile or two on either side of the spot. But this place? There’s barely a turnout along the road. There is a narrow strip of meadow that runs quickly into thick, high-elevation forest, and it usually has a dark and impenetrable appearance. Logically I know what is beyond it, but it never quite feels like I do. And every year, more than once, I stop again and look at it and perhaps make a few photographs.

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 | Facebook | Email

Links to Articles, Sales and Licensing, my Sierra Nevada Fall Color book, Contact Information.

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