Tag Archives: red

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Sierra Nevada

Post-Storm Clouds

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Post-Storm Clouds
A great variety of clouds and fog as a summer storm clears over the Eastern Sierra.

Post-Storm Clouds. © Copyright 2022 G Dan Mitchell.

A great variety of clouds and fog as a summer storm clears over the Eastern Sierra.

No, I am still not quite finished with this spectacular evening in the Sierra backcountry. In early August our group spent a week base-camped in the wilderness, heading out each day (starting before sunrise and concluding after dark) to photograph our spectacular surroundings. We experienced challenging weather during the first 24 hours, but on the evening of the second day the storm dissipated, and just at sunset things opened up and alpenglow briefly lit up the sky.

There was no guarantee of this happening — which is often the case when chasing such subjects. Not long before this things were pretty gray, and fog drifted just overhead, obscuring trees and peaks, al though we could see that the sky was lightening up a bit. Then a bit of pink showed up on the higher clouds, gradually working its way down though the various layers left by the departing storm. I had been photographing the fog, but I quickly turned my attention to this developing scene! As the sky became more and more colorful, a bank of lighter fog enveloped the top of a ridge on the other side of the valley beyond the lake. A few minutes after this spectacular finale… the show was over.

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, Amazon, and directly from G Dan Mitchell.

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Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Sierra Nevada

Clearing Storm, Evening

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Clearing Storm, Evening
“Clearing Storm, Evening” — The sky lights up at sunset as a Sierra Nevada storm clears.

Our backcountry stay began with the absolute worst summer Sierra storm I can remember. Within seconds of getting our tent up the skies let loose with an hours-long barrage of extremely heavy rain, hail, thunder, lightning, and wind. Everything around us flooded, and we had a stream flowing under the tent. There was nothing to do but shelter in the tent and try to stay dry and warm. We managed to escape briefly to eat a quick dinner, but the rain continued. It paused later that night… and then resumed before dawn and continued through most of the next day, albeit not as heavily.

Finally, late on day two, the storm broke. We began to see some thinning in the clouds to the west, and we began to hope for some interesting sunset light. Out we went, with each of us making guesses as to when and where the light might appear. At first I photographed the fog that was drifting back and forth among the surrounding peak, and then I began to turn my attention to the west, where I hoped to get some sunset color. Not much was happening there… and then I looked behind me to see see this scene developing!

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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” (Heyday Books) is available directly from him. Blog | Bluesky | Mastodon | Substack Notes | Flickr | Email

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Photographs: Architecture, Photographs: Northern California, Photographs: San Francisco, Photographs: Urban/Street

No Parking

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No Parking
No Parking sign and colorfu paint on a San Francisco residence.

No Parking. © Copyright 2022 G Dan Mitchell.

No Parking sign and colorfu paint on a San Francisco residence.

There are lots of places offering similar visual opportunities in San Francisco, and they aren’t hard to find, especially if you get out and walk the City. And this is a very walkable city! I often walk almost all the way across between the CalTrain station and points north, following various favorite routes. This spot, if I recall correctly, is on a side street in roughly an area between North Beach and the tourist center known as Fisherman’s Wharf.

There are plenty of ways to photograph the sometimes-eclectic (and other times quite classic) architecture of this city. In terms of scale, I can go anywhere between including entire buildings (or even groups of them) and photographs that focus on very small elements — a door, a stairway, a bit of a window. In this one the colors, of course, were the main attraction. But I also was taken by the almost Cubist composition that resulted from cropping tightly.

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, Amazon, and directly from G Dan Mitchell.

Blog | About | Twitter | Flickr | Facebook | Email

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

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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, Photographs: Yosemite

West-Facing Wall

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West-Facing Wall
Sunset light floods a west-facing bowl above a high Yosemite backcouintry lake.

West-Facing Wall. © Copyright 2022 G Dan Mitchell.

Sunset light floods a west-facing bowl above a high Yosemite backcouintry lake.

In the recent series of panoramic photographs from the Yosemite backcountry and a follow-up photograph in a more typical orientation, I mentioned this location and its extraordinary exposure to the western sky. Among backcountry locations with which I’m familiar, this one is perhaps the most reliable at producing beautiful sunset light and alpenglow.

For this photograph I decided to simply compose straight on, looking right at the upper (and east) side of the bowl. Even though peak sunset color has not yet quite arrived, the entire cliff face is washed with this warmly-colorful light.

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, Amazon, and directly from G Dan Mitchell.

Blog | About | Twitter | Flickr | Facebook | Email

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

Scroll down to leave a comment or question. (Click this post’s title first if you are viewing on the home page.)

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