Tag Archives: rocky

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

Evening Light, Trees

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Evening Light, Trees
“Evening Light, Trees” — Just before sunset, evening light slants across trees high in the Eastern Sierra.

In late July a group of us camped for two nights at a lake just east of the Sierra Nevada crest. The lake is at about 10,000′ of elevation, and peaks to the west tower almost 3000′ higher. That tall ridge (the Sierra crest) begins to block the direct light remarkably early, in some places an hour and a half or longer before actual sunset. To photograph the “late” light close to this ridge I had to start quite early!

I had a rough plan to start closer to the ridge and catch the last direct light there on this rocky rise, and to then work my way to the east, following that edge of the light. This was one of the first photographs I made, and you can see the alpine terrain beyond these trees growing in this rocky landscape..

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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

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

Sea Stacks and Surf

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Sea Stacks and Surf
“Sea Stacks and Surf” — Sea stacks in morning light along the rugged Big Sur coastline.

Way back in June I met up with my friends Franka Gabler and David Hoffman to photograph the upper Big Sur area of the California coast. They were there to see an exhibit of photographs by John Sexton and Anne Larsen, so I did the 90 minute drive down to Big Sur to meet them. After some confusion about who was where — and no cell service to sort it out — I finally figured out that they were on the bluffs above this area where Soberanes Creek enters the Pacific Ocean.

This is a particularly rugged section of the Big Sur coast. While it doesn’t feature the high cliffs that make other areas essentially inaccessible, here there are rugged rocky headlands and many sea stacks, especially in the shallow bay between the Soberanes Creek and Soberanes Point.

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

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Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Sierra Nevada

Evening Shadow

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Evening Shadow
“Evening Shadow” — Evening shadows work their way up the face of a Sierra Nevada ridge, John Muir Wilderness.

This is one of the best times of the day in the backcountry — when the shadows lengthen and fall across the landscape, with nightfall inevitably not far behind. On typical evenings, everything slows down as the winds die and it becomes very quiet — a kind of deep quiet never experienced in our city lives. The light turns golden and we stop to watch the colors on peaks, knowing that the day is almost over.

Our group of photographers was camped in a high Sierra basin for a week a few years ago. By this evening we had adapted completely into the rituals and slower time of the backcountry, and as the quiet evening approached we set about slowly looking for a few last photographs.

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.

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Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Sierra Nevada

Two Trees, Sierra Rain

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Two Trees, Sierra Rain
“Two Trees, Sierra Rain” — Two trees standing on a rocky outcropping as a Sierra Nevada summer rain storm sweeps across the mountains.

In some ways I was surprised to find these two trees standing here, among high rocks not far from our campsite. After a day of heavy weather, I thought about how they had managed to escape significant damage from years of exposure to winds, precipitation, and lightning strikes. But there they were, standing tall on this little ridge above a small meadow as another storm cleared.

These are not my favorite weather conditions for photography. While clear, blue-sky mountain days don’t usually excite me, photographing in the rain is challenging, too. And it was still raining when I made this photograph. After being tied down by the storm for the better part of a day, I think I was anxious enough to get out and photograph that I was willing to work in the wet.

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 | Instagram | Flickr | Facebook | Threads | Post | Email

Links: Articles, Sales and Licensing, my Sierra Nevada Fall Color book, Contact Info.

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