Tag Archives: rock

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Sequoia-Kings Canyon, Photographs: Sierra Nevada

Reflected Granite Bench

July 25, 2016 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Soft light on a granite bench and its reflection in a wilderness lake, Kings Canyon National Park

It is hard to believe that three years have passed since this beautiful trip into the Kings Canyon National Park back-country. Four of us schlepped — or more correctly, were schlepped — into a beautiful spot off the main trails where we had the better part of a week to slowly take in beautiful alpine scenery and make photographs.

This was a base-camp photography trip, where we camped in one location and each day wandered out through the spectacular surroundings looking for photographs. Over the time we were there we conditions ranging from typical Sierra sun to rain and rainbows. I made this photograph not far from our camp, and at a time of day before the sun had risen high enough to shine direct light on us — so the water was still, the light was soft.

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

Photographs: Death Valley, Photographs: Desert, Photographs: Nature

Dunes Interrupted

June 27, 2016 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

A curving diagonal of rock across sand dunes, Death Valley National Park

The sand dunes of Death Valley are more complex things than they might appear to be. For example, I have read that beneath their surface they actually hold quite a bit of moisture — quite a contradiction to our intuition about their dryness. (That intuition is based on fact — they can be hot and dry places, and the surface layer of the dunes is quite dry.) At the right times of day and of season they can be cool places, and they support plant and animal life.

These dunes also appear to stand on top of quite un-dune-like features. Around their edges you can find hints. You cross flat playa surface to get to them, and this surface holds abundant evidence of the work of water. In places you can even find areas that mimic perfectly the surfaces of contemporary playas, with their sedimentary formations covered with cracks. Here the edge of what must be a rather old example of this cuts diagonally across the landscape and still manages to poke its edge through the sand.

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

Seepage Stains

December 5, 2015 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Water seepage stains mark a wall of Cathedral Range granite, Yosemite National Park

During a week-long stay at a backcountry Yosemite lake my partners and I had plenty of time to explore our surroundings. A day in such a place is a joy, but we had a string of such days, with conditions ranging from Sierra blue sky, through wildfire smoke, to an early seasons autumn storm that dropped rain on us for a couple of days.

Being in one location for so long provides the opportunity to really get to know the place. After a day or so getting to know the main, iconic features, continuing exploration beings to reveal things that we miss at first. Across the valley from our camp was a long and low rock wall, at the base of steeply sloping granite walls and holding somewhat level basin. Not surprisingly, the evidence of water flowing over this wall was obvious, from the lush plant life to the beautiful water stain patterns.

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Sierra Nevada, Photographs: Yosemite

Seepage Stains, Cathedral Range Granite

November 28, 2015 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Water seepage stains the surface of a Cathedral Range granite face, Yosemite National Park

During our week camped at a Yosemite back-country lake in September we had plenty of time to become intimately aware of the surrounding landscape, to explore its features, and to return to some of them more than once. One photographer who wasn’t with us this time but who has been a fixture on these trips in the past (Hi, Mike!) and shared some general information about a particular feature that intrigued him — and as a result the rest of us also became intrigued by it. The description of the location was a bit vague, but not so vague that a person who knows the area well would be unable to find it. (Think of directions like, “Near some granite to the south of a lake and west of another lake.”) So, once on the scene, this area was one that caught our focus.

Up from where we were camped, through some trees, and near the base of an incline, there is an odd section of cliff. In the sort of spot where you might expect everything to have been ground away by ancient glaciers there is a section of cliff that is hundreds of feet long and perhaps no ore than thirty feet high. A basin lies above it, and it seems that water finds many places to seem over and through these rocks, staining them in all sorts of diverse and amazing ways. This photograph is one of several close up studies I did of small sections of this face, where solid, blocky granite is cut through by cracks and water stains are everywhere.

G Dan Mitchell Photography

Tag Archives: rock

Reflected Granite Bench

Dunes Interrupted

Seepage Stains

Seepage Stains, Cathedral Range Granite

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