Tag Archives: ritter

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

Ediza Lake, Morning

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Ediza Lake, Morning
Ediza Lake, Morning

Ediza Lake, Morning. Sierra Nevada, California. © Copyright 2007 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Broken clouds cover the sky as morning light comes to Ediza Lake and surrounding peaks, Sierra Nevada.

This is a photograph from about four years ago, when I made a several-day trip into the area around the Minarets and travelled slowly between Ediza Lake and Thousand Island Lake. I was on the trail with my brother’s family, so we took it fairly easy and stayed at Ediza and then Thousand Island for several days. This provide plenty of time for photography, unlike some of my “traditional” trips on which I tended to move every day.

We had “interesting” weather on this trip, in all senses of the word “interesting.” In fact, the conditions really were quite good for photography, ranging from perfectly clear dawns to afternoon thunder showers and everything in between. On one memorable late morning I had hiked up from Ediza to the some higher lakes closer to the Minarets. When I left it was perfectly clear, but by the time I arrived at my destination (or perhaps my new, closer destination once I saw the weather) it became clear that it wasn’t going to remain clear for long. Being a bit too trusting of the earlier clear weather, I had gone out with no rain gear, and by the time I got close to camp very large rain drops were starting to fall.

This photograph was made in the morning from the shoreline of Ediza Lake. It looks back over the lake toward Mount Ritter and Banner Peak, whose two large summits dominate this whole area.

G Dan Mitchell Photography
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Photographs: Night, Photographs: Sierra Nevada

Moonlit Cove, Thousand Island Lake

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Moonlit Cove, Thousand Island Lake

Moonlit Cove, Thousand Island Lake. Ansel Adams Wilderness, California. July 27, 2007. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell.

I spent a few hours on this cold, clear July evening photographing the light of the full moon, star trails, and reflections on the surface of Thousand Island Lake.

When using a digital camera to make such long exposures one must adopt a very patient attitude. First, find the spot for your photograph and set everything up in the dark. Then make an exposure of perhaps 15 minutes. Because DSLRs are subject to noise on these long exposures, you then wait another 15 minutes while the camera completes a “dark frame” exposure to determine how to compensate for the noise in the original exposure. Yes, it takes 30 minutes (and lots of battery power!) to make a 15 minute exposure.

You could become impatient. Or you could, as I do, sit back and enjoy the peace and quite of a beautiful moonlit Sierra night.

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Photographs: Night, Photographs: Sierra Nevada

Moonlight, Thousand Island Lake, Mounts Ritter and Banner

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Moonlight, Thousand Island Lake, Mounts Ritter and Banner
Moonlight, Thousand Island Lake, Mounts Ritter and Banner. Ansel Adams Wilderness, California. July 26, 2007. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell.

Photographed on a full moon summer evening in the Ansel Adams wilderness. Taking these photographs was a wonderful and unusual experience – I had to find the shot and then still silently for many minutes as the camera exposed the frame – as long as 15-20 minutes. It is rare to simply sit quietly for such a long time in such surroundings. :-)

(The posting of this photograph is somewhat timely since I’ll be participating in a night photography shoot a Mare Island Naval Shipyard this weekend sponsored by The Nocturnes.)

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