Tag Archives: rocks

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

Trees and New Snow

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Trees and New Snow
Trees with new snow in sun and shadow at the base of a Yosemite Valley cliff

Trees and New Snow. © Copyright 2018 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Trees with new snow in sun and shadow at the base of a Yosemite Valley cliff

During this weeklong late-February visit to Yosemite National Park (thanks to an artist-in-residency from Yosemite Renaissance) the weather was quite cold, even for the Sierra Nevada in winter, and there was light snow at times throughout the period. In many ways, this is almost idea for photography in Yosemite Valley — although the snow and cold complicate the process of making photographs, they also have some beneficial effects. Obviously, the snow changes the appearance of the landscape in many ways, and the cold weather tends to reduce the number of people who are out and about.

It had snowed a few inches in the Valley since the previous afternoon. (The storm was varied, and I work up to considerably more snow than that where I was staying, outside the Valley.) Because of the unusual cold — it barely got out of the teens — the snow stayed “dry” and didn’t immediately melt out of the trees. In the photograph you can see a bit of snow in the meadow on the Valley floor, but there was more up higher, and the trees ascending the further slope all were fringed with it.

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: Central California, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Ocean & Coast

Coastal Cliffs, Mist And Shadows

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Coastal Cliffs, Mist And Shadows
Morning light illuminates ocean mist between cliffs descending to the Pacific Ocean

Coastal Cliffs, Mist And Shadows. © Copyright 2018 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Morning light illuminates ocean mist between cliffs descending to the Pacific Ocean

While spending a February morning and early afternoon photographing along the Big Sur coastline I passed by a rather famous and often crowded spot. Having visiting and photographed there many times, I wasn’t all that interested in stopping this time. However, I did look as I passed by, and I thought I saw some interesting light and spray down at the base of these cliffs.

By the time I saw it, there was no time to stop, so I continued on a bit, found a turnout, reversed direction and came back to look more closely. At this morning hour the western-facing cliffs are usually still in shadow, but the sun begins to rise high enough to send beams of light between them, lighting the mist and spray from surf and intensifying the color or the near-shore waters.

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: Fall, Photographs: Fall Color, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Sierra Nevada, Photographs: Yosemite

Autumn Light, Trees and Meadow

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Autumn Light, Trees and Meadow
Autumn afternoon light falls on meadow and trees in Yosemite Valley

Autumn Light, Trees and Meadow. Yosemite Valley, California. October 21, 2017. © Copyright 2017 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Autumn afternoon light falls on meadow and trees in Yosemite Valley

These trees and I have become old friends. I have photographed the trees and the meadow in which they are located many times over the years. (I don’t generally name places, but I wouldn’t be surprised if a number of fellow Yosemite visitors recognize them.) I’ve been there in every season — summer (fighting crowds!), fall (with oaks turning golden brown), spring (with green meadows and new leaves the trees), and winter (when I hiked across closed roads to get here, and had the meadow to myself).

When photographing in Yosemite Valley I almost always pay close attention not only to my immediate subjects but also to the atmospheric conditions and the light. On this day smoke from wildfires filled the valley. At first that might seem rather unpleasant — and it certainly is not good for eyes or lungs! — but it also can create some beautiful atmospheric effects, from muting colors to glowing in the light. At this time of year the sun passes lower in the sky and the edges of shadows move across the Valley floor and create changing and beautiful conditions. At this location the first light arrives late and leaves early since there are very tall granite faces nearby that block the sun. I arrived here just at the moment before the shadow moved over these trees, but while a shaft of light came through a cleft in the upper cliff walls and fell on the trees.

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

Early Season Alpine Terrain

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Early Season Alpine Terrain
A lakeside meadow is begins its short summer period of growth as snowpack melts along the Sierra Nevada crest

Early Season Alpine Terrain. July 26, 2017. Eastern Sierra Nevada, California. © Copyright 2017 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A lakeside meadow begins its short summer period of growth as snowpack melts along the Sierra Nevada crest

I think I can use this photograph to tell a story or two. In late July of this much wetter than normal year, I visited the Sierra in the area roughly between Tuolumne Meadows and Lundy Canyon over a period of four days. After five years of California drought, the balance tipped the opposite direction this past winter, and did so with a vengeance. Many areas got as much a twice the normal amount of precipitation this season. Many areas opened late, lots of facilities were damaged, and a number of places (such as Tuolumne Meadows campground) were still not open when I visited. But I managed to find a high elevation campsite just outside the park, and I decided to mix a little hiking with my photography.

This lake is perhaps a couple of miles from a trailhead that offers two relatively easy ways to get there. I took a familiar one along a north-facing slope above the shoreline of a big lake, because it is shorter than the alternative and in some ways easier. Or so I thought. It turned out that the snow from this big winter is still thick in areas above 10,000′ of elevation — like this one — and more than half of my little hike turned out to be on snow. There was also water everywhere — waterfalls and cascades visible high up on mountain slopes, streams dashing madly down below, flooded meadows, and more. My second challenge turned out to be this water — and I finally came up against a creek that I wasn’t willing to try crossing while hiking solo — a bit too dangerous. The lake in this photograph lies in a subalpine basin below peaks on the Sierra crest. The snow had just (for the most part) melted out of this sodden meadow near the lake’s outlet stream, so I decided to make a few photographs that included the large blocks of granite standing in the meadow along with the very tall alpine ridge in the background.

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.
Blog | About | Flickr | Twitter | Facebook | Google+ | LinkedIn | Email

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