Tag Archives: rocks

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

Autumn Oak Grove, El Capitan Meadow

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Autumn Oak Grove, El Capitan Meadow

Autumn Oak Grove, El Capitan Meadow. Yosemite Valley, California. November 2. 2008. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Autumn colors come to the oak groves in El Capitan Meadow with Cathedral Rocks in the distance – Yosemite Valley, California.

I think I hit this meadow at pretty much the peak of the fall color this year when I visited during the first week of November. The light rain that was falling also helped saturate the colors. El Capitan Meadow is near the base of El Capitan and is full of beautiful, large oak trees and meadow grasses and plants. Beyond the edge of the meadow the lower face of Cathedral Rocks (on the south side of the Valley, opposite El Capitan) is visible.

keywords: autumn, fall, season, el capitan, meadow, grass, leaves, oak, tree, grove, forest, yellow, brown, gold, cloud, rain, cathedral, rocks, cliff, face, mountain, mist, fog, trunk, branch, silhouette, yosemite, valley, national park, california, usa, landscape, scenic, travel, nature, stock

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

Star Trails and Surf, Pacific Ocean

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Star Trails and Surf, Pacific Ocean

Star Trails and Surf, Pacific Ocean. Pigeon Point, California. November 15, 2008 © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Night photograph of glowing surf and star trails above the Pacific Ocean coastline of California at Pigeon Point.

Every autumn the old beacon at the Pigeon Point Lighthouse south of Half Moon Bay, California is re-lighted for one evening. I first heard of this event last year, and I drove over only to arrive late and find that the lighthouse was fogged in. This year the event occurred on an unusually clear and warm evening so I headed over once again to photograph the lighthouse. We arrived early enough to join the throngs of photographers set up to shoot the amazing beacon from the original fresnel lens… but my heart just wasn’t in it when it came to photographing this scene. It happens. So instead of photographing the lighthouse we decided to wander around and just take in the scene.

A bit later I thought it might be interesting to walk up the coastline a bit and try a shot pointed back at the lighthouse from a greater distance. We found a nice flat spot along the top of the low bluffs north of the lighthouse and set up. But I still just couldn’t see the shot I was looking for, so I decided to instead turn my attention to the ocean itself. I thought that a long exposure capturing the star trails heading for the horizon and the foreground cove might be interesting. I set up and made one 15 minute (!) exposure in landscape orientation, but a couple of offshore boats with lights slowly moved across the scene – not what I had in mind. Having time for one more shot I decided to try one in portrait orientation with the same foreground cove. This time I had better luck. First, no boats! But even better, about 4 or 5 minutes from the end of the exposure the nearly-full moon topped the low ridge behind us and began to add its glow to the atmosphere and the surf! I wish I could say I planned this – but the best I can claim is that when I realized what was happening I modified my plans a little and took advantage of the situation.

keywords: night, photography, surf, star, trails, pacific, ocean, coast, coastline, shore, rocks, sky, glow, pigeon, point, mist, rocks, cove, sea, seascape, landscape, travel, scenic, stock, california, usa, highway, one, 1

Photographs: Sierra Nevada, Photographs: Yosemite

Autumn Oaks in Rain, El Capitan Meadow

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Autumn Oaks in Rain, El Capitan Meadow

Autumn Oaks in Rain, El Capitan Meadow. Yosemite Valley, California. November 1, 2008. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Brightly colored autumn oak trees in El Capitan Meadow with fog shrouded cliff face of Cathedral Rocks beyond – Yosemite Valley, California.

El Capitan Meadow, beneath the face of El Capitan and across the Valley from Cathedral Rocks (see in beyond the trees in this photo) is one of my favorite spots in the Valley. The meadow itself is beautiful in almost any season – green and lush in spring, colorful in fall, and sometimes snow covered in winter – and the backdrop formed by any of several large nearby rock faces is impressive. I shoot here every time I’m in the Valley – even last winter when I had to hike across this narrow section of the Valley in snow to get there.

In this early November photograph the trees are in full fall color and the meadow grasses and plants have gone dormant – and fog hugs the face of Cathedral Rocks in light rain.

keywords: oak, black, tree, fall, autumn, color, leaf, leaves, gold, yellow, fog, mist, rain, el, capitan, meadow, grass, plant, branch, forest, grove, nature, yosemite, valley, national park, california, usa, stock, scenic, travel, landscape, cliff, mountain, cathedral, rocks

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

Autumn Foliage and Rain, Merced River Near Cathedral Rocks

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Autumn Foliage and Rain, Merced River Near Cathedral Rocks

Autumn Foliage and Rain, Merced River Near Cathedral Rocks. Yosemite Valley, California. November 1, 2008. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Autumn foliage lines the riverbanks as rain falls on the Merced River near Cathedral Rocks – Yosemite Valley.

One more – probably the last – in the series of photographs* of this scene made from the bridge near El Capitan Meadow. In this one the rain, which had diminished to mere sprinkles when I began to shoot from this location, began to return in earnest. The surface of the river has lost is reflectivity and is cloudy in this photo. If you look closely (or inspect the print) you can see the raindrops on the surface of the water. This was pretty much the story of this entire weekend of photography. It rained most of the time, occasionally hard. I did quite a bit of my photography between showers and under improvised rain protection.

Although this was photographed near El Capitan Meadow, the rock face beyond the river and the trees is not El Capitan. It is Cathedral Rocks, a large formation that is almost directly across the Valley from El Capitan and a bit east of Bridalveil Fall. If it were located anywhere else where it was not dwarfed by El Capitan, it would be regarded as a very imposing face it its own right.

* The previous two related photographs are here and here

keywords: fall, autumn, foliage, leaves, trees, forest, grove, bank, river, bank, merced, cathedral, rocks, cliff, face, rain, precipitation, drops, grass, el capitan, meadow, float, yosemite, valley, national park, california, usa, sierra, nevada, mountains, nature, scenic, travel, landscape, stock, mist, cloud