Tag Archives: ridge

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Sierra Nevada

North Lake and the Sierra Crest, Fall

November 16, 2010 G Dan Mitchell 1 Comment

Brilliant gold and red fall aspens ring the upper shore of North Lake as the Sierra Crest towers above.

Somewhat past the “golden hours” of first light I investigated a hill above this lake as a possible shooting location. Because this was a morning of mixed clouds and sun, the time for good light was more extended than it might otherwise have been. The clouds began thicker and gradually began to thin, and as they did so the mixed sun and cloud shadows moved continually across the landscape, spotlighting different parts of the scene. This was one of those situations that puts the lie to the notion that the landscape is a fixed and static thing – from my perspective the entire scene was in a constant state of flux and photographing it required full attention. Here most of the shadows had cleared from the scene, with the exception of some over the foreground lake and a few scattered among the peaks, and beams of light slanted into the scene to light up the grove of brilliantly colorful fall aspens.

This photograph is not in the public domain and may not be used on websites, blogs, or in other media without advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: People, Photographs: Sierra Nevada

Photographer, Sabrina Basin

November 14, 2010 G Dan Mitchell 15 Comments

I wandered out onto this ridge above Sabrina Basin, a spot that I know for its unobstructed view of the valley and the peaks of the Sierra crest above Sabrina Lake, far up the canyon. I had my eyes on some rocky benches that run along the top of the ridge As I approached I saw that I wasn’t the only photographer with this idea. As I crossed the rocks toward the overlook, he was working my intended camera position, so I decided to sit back and let him finish. (The ridge wasn’t wide enough for both of us to work together there.)

As I waited, I thought there was something interesting about his position above the valley, his concentration on shooting, his all-blue outfit (shirt and jeans, on a cold and rainy day!), and that wide brimmed hat. So I decided to make a few photographs of him. We barely talked at all. I hoped to get his name, but that didn’t happen. The best I was able to do was give him a card, and offer him a copy of the photo if he contacted me. Never heard from him…

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.

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

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Sierra Nevada

Autumn Sunrise, Piute Crags

November 13, 2010 G Dan Mitchell 4 Comments

Autumn morning light on Piute Crags, reflected in the shoreline waters of a Sierra Nevada lake.

I made a lot of photographs during the past few months, traveling to the Sierra and a number of other places frequently. I often go through the photographs from the most recent shoot and post images soon after, but when I’m on to the next adventure fairly quickly I don’t always have time to get to everything in one batch before I shoot the next one. Inevitably, some images get “left behind.” Things have slowed down just a bit, and now I’m finding time to go back through some of that earlier work and pull out a few more images that I like. This is one of them.

Folks who photograph in the eastern Sierra will likely recognize this location. The long, rugged ridge of Piute Crags is striking, especially in the morning light, more so in the fall when the aspens change color, and double-especially on such a fall morning when clouds are moving in and out of the scene. I’m not going to say much more about the location beyond telling a little story. As I made this photograph there were perhaps 50 photographers set up more or less tripod-to-tripod a ways away shooting the same general subject from the place where almost everyone shoots. Their location is, indeed, a beautiful spot and I’ve shot there myself. (Heck, I shot there later on this same trip, though at a time of day when the workshops had gone elsewhere.) But there is more than one way to photograph a scene, and with a bit of thought and some wandering around it is usually possible to find a perspective that isn’t quite the same as the familiar one.

(If you know where I stood, please resist the temptation to say too much. This precise spot could not withstand the stress of dozens of photographers. Thanks!)

This photograph is not in the public domain and may not be used on websites, blogs, or in other media without advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

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

Tree-Covered Ridge, Mist

November 6, 2010 G Dan Mitchell 1 Comment

Mist from an autumn storm obscures trees growing on a steep ridge near the rim of Yosemite Valley.

Since I’ve written about this series of photographs of cloud- and fog-shouded subjects in Yosemite Valley several times during the past week, I’ll keep the background short on this one. I used a long lens to isolate small scenes in which the clouds of an autumn storm alternately hid and (sometimes barely) revealed trees, cliffs, and rocky spires along the rim of Yosemite Valley.

In a few of the photographs I was thinking about how close I could get to having very little or almost no detail in the photograph and still make it work. Here the only real detail is in the diagonal of trees and rocks that is mostly obscured by the clouds, with only a few bits of tree being a bit darker. What I’m thinking of is more along the lines of suggesting the presence of the bit of cliff and trees than actually trying to show it explicitly.

This is, for me at least, a tricky thing! The temptation is to boost contrast in post to get more definition from the tree shapes, but that quickly leads to something that has a very different mood than that of the actual scene – and which can easily look phony. I think I’m heading in a direction I like here, but I don’t think I’ll know for sure until I have a chance to try a print in a week or so.

(By the way, if your monitor is even a little bit “off,” you may see some colorations in this monochrome image that aren’t really there. Sorry! :-)

This photograph is not in the public domain and may not be used on websites, blogs, or in other media without advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

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