Tag Archives: rocks

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Sierra Nevada

Trees, Meadow and Path

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Trees, Meadow and Path
“Trees, Meadow and Path” — A wilderness path leads past a small creek, meadow, and trees to the shoreline of a subalpine Sierra Nevada lake.

In late July I headed into the Sierra Nevada backcountry on a short backpack trip with a group of friends. The trip was special, as I first backpacked with some of them decades ago. It had been quite a while since I went into the wilderness with this gang — so it was something of a reunion. Of course, being the only photographer on the trip meant that I did end up spending some time alone, especially in the early mornings.

Why is that? Well, apparently normal people do not climb out of their sleeping bags when it is still cold and dark outside, and then head out carrying photography gear to look for composition in the pre-dawn light. I hear that most o them, in fact, stay in their sleeping bags, waiting for the sun to warm their tents! I spent a couple of early hours wandering this alpine landscape, making this photograph before the direct sunlight had yet arrived here.

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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” (Heyday Books) is available directly from him. Blog | Bluesky | Mastodon | Substack Notes | Flickr | Email

All media © Copyright G Dan Mitchell and others.

Photographs: Central California, Photographs: Ocean & Coast

Sea Stacks and Surf, Big Sur

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Sea Stacks and Surf, Big Sur
“Sea Stacks and Surf, Big Sur” — Rough surf and rugged sea stacks along the Big Sur coastline.

California’s coast is quite varied — in places you can find classic wide beaches, but there are impossibly rugged, inaccessible areas, too. (One section in far-northern California is so rugged that engineers were forced to divert the route of Highway 1 far inland.) This photograph comes from a section of the upper Big Sur coast that combines that ruggedness with a degree of accessibility.

I visited on the late-June morning because friends and fellow photographers were visiting the area — so it was a chance both to photograph and to meet up with them. We arrived very early, before the tourist crowds, and photographed soon after the sun cleared the coastal hills and light arrived on the rugged, rocky shoreline and surf.

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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” (Heyday Books) is available directly from him. Blog | Bluesky | Mastodon | Substack Notes | Flickr | Email

All media © Copyright G Dan Mitchell and others.

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

Two Shorelines

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Two Shorelines
“Two Shorelines” — Shoreline trees, meadows, and rocks reflected in the water of a small subalpine Sierra lake.

Many of my photographs from this July backpack trip in the Eastern Sierra featured views of the “grand landscape” — long and high mountain ridges, lakes backed by tall mountains, and so forth. This one focuses on closer subjects including the shoreline that I was standing on and the meadow and sparse forest on the other side of this small bay.

I made the photograph early in the day, at just about the end of my morning photography. The soft and warm light of early morning was fading away and beginning to be more harsh. I was first interested in the little rocky outcropping just to the left of center, and I thought it would be interesting to juxtapose that with the further forest across the water.

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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” (Heyday Books) is available directly from him. Blog | Bluesky | Mastodon | Substack Notes | Flickr | Email

All media © Copyright G Dan Mitchell and others.

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

Afternoon Light

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Afternoon Light
“Afternoon Light” — Storms build as late afternoon light shines on a Sierra ridge, across the water from a rocky bluff and a patch of snow.

In the backcountry I usually spend the first and last few hours of the day photographing. In the morning I’m up before sunrise and not back in camp for hours. I head out again hours before sunset and usually keep at it until it is nearly dark. I made this photograph near the start of one of those afternoon sessions, as shadows lengthened and clouds from nearby storms added drama to the landscape.

The parallel forms of the very close and very distant ridges caught my attention, along with the beautiful green color of the inclined meadow on the other side of the lake. Technically this was a fairly difficult exposure, due to the difference between the brilliant white of sunlit clouds and the deep shadows in the left foreground exceeded that capabilities of my (or just about any) camera.

Leave a comment or question using the form. (If you are reading this on the home page, click the article title to see the full article and the comment form.

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. Blog | Bluesky | Mastodon | Substack Notes | Flickr | Email

All media © Copyright G Dan Mitchell and others.