Tag Archives: rocks

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

Aspen-Lined Creek

Image Leave a comment
Aspen-Lined Creek
A creek lined with autumn aspen trees flows over rocks in the Eastern Sierra Nevada.

Aspen-Lined Creek. © Copyright 2023 G Dan Mitchell.

A creek lined with autumn aspen trees flows over rocks in the Eastern Sierra Nevada.

This photograph deserves another (semi-)apology. (Well, sort of…) This is another of those spots that I’ve passed for decades but never (at least that I recall) stopped to photograph. It isn’t that I never noticed it — rather, it is one of those places that almost everyone stops to photograph. Sometimes, almost out of sheer stubbornness, I refuse to join the throngs at such places.

But then, every so often, I do stop and perhaps find something interesting in such a place. In this case it was the colorful reflection on the water that picked up the colors of a sunny hillside and aspens beyond the border of the photograph… combined with the lovely color in the trees that line the creek.

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, Amazon, and directly from G Dan Mitchell.

Blog | About | Twitter | Flickr | Facebook | Email

Links to Articles, Sales and Licensing, my Sierra Nevada Fall Color book, Contact Information.

Scroll down to leave a comment or question. (Click this post’s title first if you are viewing on the home page.)

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

Photographs: Northern California, Photographs: People, Photographs: Sierra Nevada, Photographs: Sports, Photographs: Yosemite

Climbing Rescue

Image Leave a comment
Climging Rescue
A helicopter hovers next to a cliff above climbers in Yosemite Valley.

Climbing Rescue. © Copyright 2023 G Dan Mitchell.

A helicopter hovers next to a cliff above climbers in Yosemite Valley.

If you visit places like Yosemite often enough, the sight of helicopters doing rescue operations almost becomes a normal part of the experience. I saw this helicopter parked in a Valley meadow, surrounded by climbing rangers and crew, but I didn’t stop. Instead I went up the road a bit to photograph some spring trees. But soon I heard the thing take off and saw it rise up toward this face on the far side of the Valley, so I quickly swapped in a long lens and make a few photographs as it ferried climbers back and forth.

I’ve watched a few of these operations over my years visiting the park. We once witnessed a rescue off the top of a dome near Toulumne in electrical storm conditions, and a few years ago we got buzzed by a helicopter looking for a missing person in the backcountry. But the drama of “parking” the helicopter so close to the rock face caught my attention here. I kept thinking that it was great that there was no wind! If you look closely you can see a group of climbers on a ledge in the shaded vertical crack system near the right side of the photograph.

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, Amazon, and directly from G Dan Mitchell.

Blog | About | Twitter | Flickr | Facebook | Email

Links to Articles, Sales and Licensing, my Sierra Nevada Fall Color book, Contact Information.

Scroll down to leave a comment or question. (Click this post’s title first if you are viewing on the home page.)

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

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

Trees, Merced River, Bridal Veil Fall

Image Leave a comment
Trees, Merced River, Bridal Veil Fall
Bridal Veil Fall, beyond the Merced River and silhouetted trees.

Trees, Merced River, Bridal Veil Fall. © Copyright 2023 G Dan Mitchell.

Bridal Veil Fall, beyond the Merced River and silhouetted trees.

Something tells me that I am not the first person to photograph this waterfall between these trees — but it was there and I was there, so I made a photograph. I like the fact that the waterfall is almost an afterthought, a minor element in a scene that is mostly about other things — especially the silhouettes of these trees and the reflections on the high water in the Merced River.

Speaking of that water… near the end of spring the water levels in Yosemite Valley were nothing short of amazing. There have been past floods when the water levels were a bit higher, but I’m not aware of a recent season when sustained water flow was this powerful or high. Everywhere meadows are flooded, rivers are nearly out of their banks, and waterfalls are roaring.

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, Amazon, and directly from G Dan Mitchell.

Blog | About | Twitter | Flickr | Facebook | Email

Links to Articles, Sales and Licensing, my Sierra Nevada Fall Color book, Contact Information.

Scroll down to leave a comment or question. (Click this post’s title first if you are viewing on the home page.)

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

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: New York City, Photographs: Travel

Central Park, Spring

Image Leave a comment
Central Park, Spring
A meadow and trees in spring, Central Park, Manhattan.

Central Park, Spring. © Copyright 2023 G Dan Mitchell.

A meadow and trees in spring, Central Park, Manhattan.

This photograph is evidence. Allow me to explain. We frequently visit New York City, as our sons and their wives live and work there. The running joke is that we always go in the two worst months, August and December. And on every visit they tell us that “you should really come in fall or spring when it is beautiful.” So a few weeks ago I took them up on this and visited at the end of April. You know… spring. It rained almost the entire time. There was thunder and lightning. Roads flooded. Until the last morning.

I had a few hours on my final morning since I didn’t need to get to the airport until afternoon. So I headed toward Central Park and found… sunshine, pleasant temperatures, clear skies, and spring greenery. It was quite pleasant — for a few hours. I headed to the airport and flew back to the West Coast where… it was raining. Someone is playing a cruel joke on me. ;-)

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, Amazon, and directly from G Dan Mitchell.

Blog | About | Twitter | Flickr | Facebook | Email

Links to Articles, Sales and Licensing, my Sierra Nevada Fall Color book, Contact Information.

Scroll down to leave a comment or question. (Click this post’s title first if you are viewing on the home page.)

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