Tag Archives: range

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

Clouds Rest and Quarter Dome, Winter

August 4, 2014 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Early evening light breaks through winter mists shrouding the snow-covered summits of Clouds Rest and Quarter Dome, Yosemite National Park

In Yosemite Valley in late winter for the opening of the Yosemite Renaissance exhibit, I had several days of photographing in and around the Valley in winter conditions — or what passed for winter in this year of California drought. There had been snow a few days earlier, to the surrounding peaks and upper Valley walls were coated with white. As late afternoon arrived it was time to go photograph, but it seemed that the clouds were likely to kill the light in the Valley, so we headed higher.

From this elevated overlook there is, of course, a famous view of the stupendous panorama of Yosemite Valley. However, I’ve taken to mostly photographing smaller bits of the scene rather than continuing to photograph the whole darned thing — most of the time, though there are exceptions. As we watched, there were a lot of clouds. Some floated across high landmarks at the far end of the Valley. Others drifted upwards along closer rocky faces. Fog began to collect in spots along the valley floor. Clouds to the west of the Valley mostly blocked direct sunlight, which can be a good thing when it softens the light, but is much trickier and occasionally disappointing when it blocks it entirely. Shooting with a very long focal length I was able to focus on this small scene at the far end of the Valley, where drifting clouds parted enough to reveal a partially obscured view of sunlight on the snowy slopes of Clouds Rest and Quarter Dome.

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

Forested Hill, Morning

June 25, 2014 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Morning light on trees of an open forest ascending a rocky hillside, Lake Tahoe

More quiet morning light at Lake Tahoe, photographed during my visit last week. We were there for a wedding and up late at night, but I still managed to struggle out of bed shortly after 5:00 in pre-dawn near darkness and head out along the west side of the lake. For such an urbanized and busy place, it is certainly possible to find quiet and solitude in these early morning hours. I saw almost no one else out traveling at this early hour — apparently the beautiful dawn light isn’t quite enough to get others to rise!

The light was the sort that I describe as “interesting.” It was not the all-too-common light of a cloudless blue Sierra sky, nor was it the darkened, overcast light. There were enough clouds to occasionally “turn out the lights” on the warm morning light, but between those cloud shadows warm and soft light passed across lake and rocks and forest. I stopped at a simple roadside turnout, surrounded by forest, when I saw this morning light coming from behind some trees and, nearby, hitting them from the side. This is one sort of quintessential Sierra terrain, with straight but not too tall trees leading up a rocky and sandy slope covered with boulders and manzanita.

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

Base of the Panamint Range

June 2, 2014 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

The lower reaches of the Panamint Range drop to the floor of Death Valley

The stillness of this image belies what was actually happening when I made the exposure. It was late afternoon, and the sun was just above the ridge of the Panamint Range as we drove down through Death Valley, past the Mustard Hills and towards Furnace Creek. As often happens in the spring, the winds were rising. I saw the scene and immediately knew I wanted to stop and photograph it, with the backlit hills rising across the far side of the Valley. I grabbed my tripod, camera, and one lens and headed across the side of a nearby hill that looked like it might provide me with a higher vantage point, and immediately recognized that wind was going to be a real problem.

The same wind that had filled the atmosphere with the beautiful haze that was glowing in the backlight was also making it nearly impossible to photograph. There are some winds that are strong enough that almost no tripod can hold a camera still, and this was that sort of situation. I set up, hanging onto the tripod to prevent it from blowing over, and waited for a lull in the wind. The wind momentarily diminished enough for me to make a few exposures as a cloud shadow darkened the foreground salt flats.

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

Cascade, Boulders

June 1, 2014 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

A seasonal waterfall cascades past granite boulders, Yosemite National Park

I guess I’ll go ahead and make this a “waterfall weekend” by posting a second photograph of the same little cascading creek that was featured in yesterday’s photograph. This small beauty is a seasonal cascade that is right next to the roadway—I’m definitely not taking any “wilderness photography” credit for this one. (Though the character if the creek is very similar to and remiss me of many such rocky creeks found in less accessible locations.) As is the case with some many such small creeks, this one comes and goes quickly in most years. It does not necessarily dry up completely, but it often diminishes to an unimpressive trickle later on.

Although the accessible location makes photographing this fall easy, there are still a few challenges. Perhaps the most mundane is that, given that one is photographing from the shoulder of a highway, you have to watch out for passing vehicles! From a photographic perspective there are a few more interesting challenges. One is that of composition. This section of the waterfall is some distance above the camera position, and there are only a few clean shots of it. I wanted some of the curving and flowing shapes at the top along with the faster moving, and hence narrower, section at the bottom, and I wanted to include the blocky, wet, and reflective rocks. The light is a bit tricky here, too. Fortunately, the cascade remains in shadow well after sunrise, but the best light seems to come at just about the moment when the sun starts to rise above the ridge behind the fall. Consequently, though it isn’t visible in this tightly cropped composition, I was shooting almost straight into the sun!

G Dan Mitchell Photography

Tag Archives: range

Clouds Rest and Quarter Dome, Winter

Forested Hill, Morning

Base of the Panamint Range

Cascade, Boulders

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