Tag Archives: reflection

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Sierra Nevada

Lake, Peninsula, and Reflections

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Lake, Peninsula, and Reflections
“Lake, Peninsula, and Reflections” — Morning sun comes to a rocky peninsula at a wilderness lake reflecting gigantic talus slopes, Inyo National Forest.

Reflections in the waters of high country lakes always provide interesting photographic subjects. This lake, located just outside the northeast boundary of Yosemite National Park, produces some of the largest and most abstract shapes that I know of. The combination of open terrain and huge talus slopes are the keys.

I photographed here in the early morning, while my non-photographer backpacking partners were still snug and warm in their sleeping bags. The light had worked its say down the distant slope and across most of the lake — you can see the edge of the shadow on the rocks at center right.

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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

All media © Copyright G Dan Mitchell and others.

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Sierra Nevada

Pond and Peaks, Evening

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Pond and Peaks, Evening
“Pond and Peaks, Evening” — Eveing light on a subalpine pond beneath Sierra Nevada crest peaks.

This seems like a classic Sierra Nevada backcountry scene — a lovely subalpine lake (or in this case pond), soft and warm evening light, a bit of meadow, a forest, boulders, and the highest peaks looming beyond, still holding a bit of snow from the past winter. There is hardly anything finer than to find a comfortable rock, lean back, and simply watch such a scene as day transitions to night.

Truth be told, while I do certainly get to experience these scenes — as I did on this late-July backpack trip earlier this summer — I almost never sit back and just watch at this time of day. While I deeply appreciate all of the sensations evoked by a scene like this one, something familiar to me from decades in these mountains, the camera calls… and you are far more likely to find me out exploring with my camera than sitting back against that comfortable rock!

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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

All media © Copyright G Dan Mitchell and others.

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Sierra Nevada

Tioga Crest, Evening

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Tioga Crest, Evening
“Tioga Crest, Evening” — Tioga Crest in sunset light, reflected in a small pond.

This ridge lies a bit east of the actual Sierra Nevada Crest, just outside of Yosemite National Park’s eastern boundary. The peaks along the park boundary are magnificent examples of the rugged, rocky landscape that characterizes the highest parts of the range. But the ridge in this photograph is different. Despite being over 11,000′ high, on its western side it looks like… a really big hill, with little of the rocky, rugged alpine quality that we expect from these high mountains.

After my early backcountry dinner (as usual, eaten from the bag into which I had poured the cup of boiling water), I headed out for my evening photography. As the last sunlight left the lake where we camped I looked to distant high points where that warm light still shone. Here I lined up the peak with its reflection in a small pond only steps from my campsite.

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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

All media © Copyright G Dan Mitchell and others.

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

Two Shorelines

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Two Shorelines
“Two Shorelines” — Shoreline trees, meadows, and rocks reflected in the water of a small subalpine Sierra lake.

Many of my photographs from this July backpack trip in the Eastern Sierra featured views of the “grand landscape” — long and high mountain ridges, lakes backed by tall mountains, and so forth. This one focuses on closer subjects including the shoreline that I was standing on and the meadow and sparse forest on the other side of this small bay.

I made the photograph early in the day, at just about the end of my morning photography. The soft and warm light of early morning was fading away and beginning to be more harsh. I was first interested in the little rocky outcropping just to the left of center, and I thought it would be interesting to juxtapose that with the further forest across the water.

Leave a comment or question using the form. (If you are reading this on the home page, click the article title to see the full article and the comment form.

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

All media © Copyright G Dan Mitchell and others.