Tag Archives: ridges

Photographs: Death Valley, Photographs: Desert

From Panamints To Death Valley

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From Panamints To Death Valley
The view down into Death Valley from high along the summit of the Panamint Mountains

From Panamints To Death Valley. © Copyright 2018 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

The view down into Death Valley from high along the summit of the Panamint Mountains

Death Valley National Park — like virtually all national parks — contains a few features that have become iconic. These are the places everyone goes, and I probably don’t have to name them here. I would not dismiss such places — many of them, as we say, “are icons for a reason.” When I first visited this part two decades ago, I started with a few of those locations and I was thrilled to do so.

But now, after many, many visits to the place, I have pushed out my boundaries more and more. This is a huge and diverse park, with everything from the familiar low desert to high mountain ranges reaching above 11,000′ of elevation. While the better known locations can be a bit crowded, especially during the ideal season (when it isn’t so hot!), it doesn’t take a lot of exploring to find solitude. The location where I made this photograph isn’t the most isolated in the park, but it does afford a different view of the main valley.

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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” is available from Heyday Books and Amazon.
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Photographs: Coastal Redwoods, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Northern California, Photographs: Redwood National & State Parks

Ridges and Redwoods

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Ridges and Redwoods
Old-growth and second-growth redwood forests on successive ridges

Ridges and Redwoods. © Copyright 2018 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Old-growth and second-growth redwood forests on successive ridges

The drive from my location in the San Francisco Bay Area to the Redwood National and State Parks is a long one. One can either take the slower, shorter, and arguably more scenic route up US 101 or the faster, longer, and less visually interesting way up Interstate 5. On this visit, my first serious foray into these parks, I went up 5 to Redding, then headed west for another 3 hours to reach the coast, and finally turned north towards the actual Redwood National Park.

I have previously mentioned that I usually don’t exactly over-plan when I visit a new location, preferring to give myself a chance to discover things on my own terms. (To be honest, I’ve been accuses — accurately — of under-planning!) By the time I arrived it was too late to do a lot of scouting, so I headed up into the park to a well-known grove, made a brief stop there, and then continued on up a tiny, twisting road. Eventually I arrived at a large hilltop clearing, probably the unfortunate left-over of decades-earlier clear-cutting but today offering an expansive view across valley and hills in the very late afternoon light. Just below me was a ridge topped by second-growth trees, in the middle distance was a less-accessible ridge with huge old-growth trees, and on the far side of the valley the effects of that old clear-cutting is still visible.

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, Photographs: Yosemite

Mountains, Spring Snow

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Mountains, Spring Snow
New snow from a spring storm blankets high ridges near the Sierra Nevada crest

Mountains, Spring Snow. © Copyright 2018 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

New snow from a spring storm blankets high ridges near the Sierra Nevada crest

There is no question that for me and many others the sight of high, rocky, snow-covered alpine ridges, especially when backed by dramatic clouds and their racing shadows, is a compelling thing. I know it is true, but I often wonder why it is. Logically, such places are not pleasant or comfortable. In Darwinian terms, it is hard to see how an attraction to these places is logical — you aren’t going to find food or shelter there, and the conditions can be life-challenging. Yet we — or at least a pretty big percentage of “we” — find them appealing and even heart-stirring. I suppose that some things must remain mysteries.

This scene looks like winter, but it was photographed during spring. And, despite the alpine appearance, the photograph was made from a road — during my annual first trip over Tioga Pass via Tuolumne Meadows. As can happen at this time of year, one of those dying-gasp-of-winter weather fronts was in the process of moving through, it had left snow on the highest peaks and ridges, and its clouds were still blowing across the mountaintops.

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

Alpine Meadow, Mountains, Storm Clouds

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Alpine Meadow, Mountains, Storm Clouds
An alpine meadow as storm clouds build over mountain peaks

Alpine Meadow, Mountains, Storm Clouds. John Muir Wilderness, California. August 28, 2017. © Copyright 2017 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

An alpine meadow as storm clouds build over mountain peaks

Over the next week or two, sandwiched between photographs of other subjects, I will share a set of at least four photographs from more or less this same spot, all made the same day. The location was quite special, a broad meadow just a bit below 11,000′ with views toward an impressive range of peaks on the other side of a river valley. The meadow itself was still green, even though it was the end of August, with wildflowers everywhere. Everyone in our party returned to it frequently, morning and evening, and tried to work with its many subjects.

As I introduce the several photographs of the spot, I’ll try to say something about each one, including something about the vision of the mountains that was on my mind as I created it. There were several things at work in this version. The meadow itself is what initially brought me here, of course, and the bright light that fell on it is beautiful, but the photograph includes other elements. The primary secondary element — or is it actually primary? — is the range of jagged, alpine peaks in the distance. I placed the group of small trees in the foreground to balance the image and to lead the viewer into the scene — from the trees, across the meadow to the small pond, then past the small band of further trees and on to the peaks, and then to the sky. The sky is another important element, and emphasizing it was the reason that I used a wider lens and put the horizon relatively low in the frame. (My skies are frequently constrained to the very top of the image… if I include sky at all.) I was struck by the contrast between the sharp peaks and foreground light and how these elements contrasted with the dark and brooding quality of the sky beyond the peaks, where a large thunderstorm was brewing.

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.