Tag Archives: recesses

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Sierra Nevada

Wild Onion Flowers

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Wild Onion Flowers
Wild onion plants blossoming in a meadow below Sierra Nevada peaks

Wild Onion Flowers. © Copyright 2018 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Wild onion plants blossoming in a meadow below Sierra Nevada peaks

This week-long (plus!) visit to the Sierra backcountry came during a summer following a record-setting wet season in California. This was more special than usual, as the five years before that had been a period of intense and historically unprecedented drought conditions. During those earlier years a visit to this location at this time of year would have seen dry meadows, almost no wildflowers, and missing snow fields. Given that backdrop, the lush green landscape was extra special.

Even at this late date the wildflowers were abundant and lush. By the end of our stay a few sections of some open meadows were showing just a bit of brown. In may seem surprising, but the purple swamp onion flowers are among my favorite in the Sierra. The plants are lush and green, they typically grow in wet areas, and the flowers are colorful. But more than that is the special surprise of coming upon the fragrance of fresh, wild onions in the backcountry.

See top of this page for Articles, Sales and Licensing, my Sierra Nevada Fall Color book, Contact Information and more.

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

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Sequoia-Kings Canyon, Photographs: Sierra Nevada

Tree, Lake, Reflected Mountains

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Tree, Lake, Reflected Mountains
A solitary tree, subalpine meadows, lake, and reflection of Sierra Nevada peaks

Tree, Lake, Reflected Mountains. © Copyright 2018 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A solitary tree, subalpine meadows, lake, and reflection of Sierra Nevada peaks

For this photograph I again travel back almost a full year, to a late summer photographic adventure into the High Sierra with a group of friends. We had much of our bulky and heavy equipment packed into this remote spot, though we carried our photographic equipment in on our backs. We remained here for about a week, with lots of time to explore and photograph the surrounding landscape.

The closest feature of interest was the meadow holding this subalpine lake. (We camped behind my camera position and on a rise that kept us out of the meadow. ) Early and late in the day the light around this lake could be beautiful, and I made this photograph in the morning while the water was still and the light slanted in from the east and left dramatic shadows on the landscape.

See top of this page for Articles, Sales and Licensing, my Sierra Nevada Fall Color book, Contact Information and more.

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

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Sierra Nevada

Inlet Stream, Subalpine Lake

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Inlet Stream, Subalpine Lake
Sierra Nevada ridge, forest, and lake viewed from the meadowy inlet stream

Inlet Stream, Subalpine Lake. © Copyright 2018 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Sierra Nevada ridge, forest, and lake viewed from the meadowy inlet stream

I made this photograph on a lovely late-summer morning at a Sierra Nevada backcountry location where we camped for about a week a while ago. Camped nearby, hidden among trees and boulders on a small glacial moraine, we woke each morning, emerged from tents, and were immediately in a target-rich photographic environment. We had choices — wander the nearby meadow and lake, head up the hill to bigger meadows, or embark on a longer hike above timberline.

The lake is more or less a Sierra classic. It sits on a bench above a deeper canyon, with low hill at the outlet end suggesting that the terrain was scooped out by glaciation. Above (and behind my camera position) the valley continues, rising well above treelike and culminating at a ring of high peaks. A river drains to the west in the valley between the lake and the more distant ridge. I made the photograph in the morning as the first direct light hit the meadow and the distant mountains were still in shadow.

See top of this page for Articles, Sales and Licensing, my Sierra Nevada Fall Color book, Contact Information and more.

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 | Twitter | Facebook | LinkedIn | Email

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

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Sierra Nevada

Reflection, Morning Shadows

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Reflection, Morning Shadows
Shadows on lakeside meadow as morning light hits Sierra Nevada peaks

Reflection, Morning Shadows. © Copyright 2018 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Shadows on lakeside meadow as morning light hits Sierra Nevada peaks

This is a scene of what I regard as classic Sierra Nevada scenery. It also has the three main ingredients of many mountain photographs: rocks, trees, water. I made the photograph in the morning, probably most of the way through this morning’s photographic work. A typical morning in such a place begins with an alarm going off (quietly!) well before sunrise, followed by rolling out of the tent, grabbing camera pack and tripod, and heading off to some likely location to find morning light. Photography begins before sunrise, often moves quickly as the first direct light hits the landscape, and then evolves with the changing morning light… until, several hours later, it is time to wander back to camp and fix coffee and breakfast.

We were camped very close to this lake — though you could have easily walked past it and completely missed our camp, which was hidden away in the trees. We remained here for the better part of a week, allowing plenty of time to become familiar with the local landscape, photograph in a range of conditions, and make longer excursions away from camp. I actually did not photograph this closest lake much until near the end of our stay, when I realized that it was now or never. I made this particular photograph in the morning, well after sunrise but a few minutes before the sun peeked over nearby peaks to illuminate the shoreline meadow.

See top of this page for Articles, Sales and Licensing, my Sierra Nevada Fall Color book, Contact Information and more.

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 | Twitter | Facebook | LinkedIn | Email

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