Tag Archives: rocky

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

Alpine Lake, Reflections

Image Leave a comment
Alpine Lake, Reflections
Alpine terrain reflected in the surface of a small mountain lake, Kings Canyon National Park.

Alpine Lake, Reflections. © Copyright 2013 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Alpine terrain reflected in the surface of a small mountain lake, Kings Canyon National Park.

This complex landscape is another from my 2013 summer expedition into the Kings Canyon National Park backcountry with a group of fellow photographers. Every summer (but not this past one, unfortunately) we have made our way to some interesting Sierra Nevada backcountry location and marooned ourselves there for a week or more, spending the time carefully exploring the surrounding terrain and photographing the heck out of it.

This particular trip took us into a high region of alpine and subalpine landscapes full of lakes, and required us to cross two very high passes to get there. We set up our base camp at the end of a lake in a small valley filled with similar lakes, and every day I wandered out into this increasingly familiar terrain. This photograph was made perhaps 10 or 15 minutes from my tent, in a place that was close to timberline. There were still some small trees here, but the surrounding slopes and ridges were almost entirely rocky.

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 | Facebook | Email

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

Scroll down to leave a comment or question.

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

Dark Forest and Pond

Image 2 Comments
Dark Forest and Pond
Beyond a small subalpine pond, dark forest rises into rocky terrain, Eastern Sierra Nevada.

Dark Forest and Pond. © Copyright 2020 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Beyond a small subalpine pond, dark forest rises into rocky terrain, Eastern Sierra Nevada.

The main fall color show in the Eastern Sierra Nevada (and in other higher portions of the range) comes from the October aspen color. But this most certainly is not the only Sierra Nevada Fall color. I always mark the start of the color season by the corn lilies taking on yellow and brown hues, and not long after that the bilberry plants turn areas (often around lakes) deep red in just the right light. Willows are some of the first plants to get real yellow leaves. Grasses begin to transition from green to yellow to brown.

Most of the autumn colors in this photograph are a bit more subtle than the brilliant aspen leaves. The beds of grass are well along on that transition from green through yellow to tan and brown. A few small plants along the base of the rocks are showing yellow. And beyond that, the overall sense is that of a scene of end-of-season quiet and stillness. There were fewer people than usual up in this area due to fires and the pandemic, and as I continued photographing into the dusk hours I was almost the only person left here when I arrived, and by the time I finished I had the silence of this scene to myself.

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 | Facebook | Email

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

Scroll down to leave a comment or question.

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

Photographs: Central California, Photographs: Ocean & Coast

Rocky Coastline, Surf and Mist

Image Leave a comment
Rocky Coastline, Surf and Mist
Big winter surf raises spray and mist along the Big Sur coastline at the Rocky Point Bridge.

Rocky Coastline, Surf and Mist. © Copyright 2013 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Big winter surf raises spray and mist along the Big Sur coastline at the Rocky Point Bridge.

As many times as I have photographed this subject, you might think that I would eventually have had enough of it and just pass it by. But when I visit the Big Sur coast it is almost inevitable that I’ll stop here at least briefly, and as a result I have photographed this scene in lots of different conditions — stormy surf, brilliant sun, fog, and more. Once I even angled the camera down just a bit to include the but of pasture that I usually keep outside the frame… and some cattle made an appearance in my photograph.

If you look closely through the mist raised by the gigantic winter surf you can make out the Rocky Point Bridge in the distance, one of the famous bridges on this old highway. It is not the most famous structure on this route — that reputation belongs to a different bridge a bit further to the south. On this morning there was big winter surf, and sometimes waves arrived that were big enough to almost overwhelm the foreground rocks.

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 | Facebook | Email

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

Scroll down to leave a comment or question.

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

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

Alpine Lake, Storm, and Rainbow

Image Leave a comment
Alpine Lake, Storm, and Rainbow
A trail crosses a rise beyond an alpine lake as rain begins and a rainbow appears against stormy skies, Kings Canyon National Park.

Alpine Lake, Storm, and Rainbow. © Copyright 2013 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A trail crosses a rise beyond an alpine lake as rain begins and a rainbow appears against stormy skies, Kings Canyon National Park.

This photograph comes from a wonderful trip into the Kings Canyon backcountry seven summers ago. A group of five photographers who have been doing such things for almost twenty years (I’ve been going along for a decade) packed in to a remote location at 12,000′ and set up a basecamp. We spent a week there photographing the heck out of the nearby landscape of granite, lakes, and peaks — and enjoying the camaraderie that comes from working together in the wilderness.

By the time I made this photograph I had settled thoroughly into the routines of living and photographing in such a place. I’ve often photographed while hiking through the Sierra, but working from a base-camp gives me time to explore more carefully, to get to know the character of a place, and to experience it in a variety of conditions. Although it was the tail-end of a drought season, we had rain from time to time, and on this afternoon I photographed an area full of lakes as the afternoon showers arrived.

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 | Facebook | Email

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

Scroll down to leave a comment or question.

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