Tag Archives: rugged

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Sierra Nevada

Gully, Morning Light

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Gully, Morning Light
“Gully, Morning Light” — A gully with a dusting of autumn snow is reddish in early morning light, Eastern Sierra Nevada.

While camped in the Sierra near the eastern border of Yosemite National Park during the early fall season, I decided to head down to Lee Vining and then turn south. My plan was to do some early morning photography along the base of the Sierra where the mountains begin to rise toward the crest and the boundary of the park. I made this photograph shortly after sunrise as the morning light worked its way down the escarpment.

The intense coloration of the rocky face is from a combination of warm colored rocks and very warm colored morning light. With the exception of a permanent snow field near the top edge, the rest of the white stuff in the photograph came from an early storm that had passed through the area the day before, leaving the sort of dusting that reminds us that winter is coming.

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

Rock and Ice

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Rock and Ice
“Rock and Ice” — A permanent ice field and rugged alpine terrain in the Sierra Nevada.

This is a classic example of alpine Sierra Nevada terrain. At the very bottom is a bit of alpine meadow, located right at the upper edge of the local tree line. Above that we see large expanses of glaciated granite with rounded and smoothed forms that are now cracked and broken by erosion. Still higher, a permanent ice field (one of a diminishing number of them) nestles in a bowl eroded by its glacial ancestor. The ice field sits at the base of very steep and rugged slopes that rise to unseen peaks.

One result of spending a lot of time in the higher reaches of the Sierra Nevada is that it is easy to forget how exotic such landscapes look to those who don’t visit them. To them, this terrain might seem forbidding and out of reach. But the reality is that once you reach this elevation, the land opens up and you can go almost anywhere without trails, limited only by your imagination and you ability to find routes and navigate.

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

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

Point Sur Lighthouse Station

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Point Sur Lighthouse Station
“Point Sur Lighthouse Station” — The historic Point Sur Lighthouse Station with Pacific Ocean fog in the background.

There are several striking hills, rocks, mounds like this along California’s coast, almost isolated from land yet tenuously connected by a low peninsula. I think of them as reminders of where the coast was long ago and of the continuous eroding away of the land. This one is Point Sur, between the Carmel area and the town of Big Sur. It houses the historic Point Sur Lighthouse Station — no longer active, but today a state park.

A drive down the Big Sur Coast on the Pacific Coast Highway makes it clear how rugged and isolated is this section of California’s coast. Even today it can feel remote, and the route is subject to frequent closures due to weather and slides. When the lighthouse was established over a century ago, there was no road here, and access was generally by ship. It was not until decades later that an early road to Big Sur was established.

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

Two Trees, Fog, and Promontory

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Two Trees, Fog, and Promontory
“Two Trees, Fog, and Promontory” — Two trees stand atop a promontory above a foggy Pacific Ocean view, Point Lobos.

This photograph, the final in a set I’ve shared recently, comes from a half-day visit to Point Lobos one foggy late-July morning. Fog is always fun, but in this case it seemed extra special. California suffered through some extremely hot weather back in July, and I headed to the coast to try to find some relief. I found it! While the temperatures back home were rising into the upper nineties, here at the coast it was in the upper fifties under the overcast. I spent the morning and early afternoon wandering through the park.

These trees are Monterey cypresses, native to this region along the rugged coast. Here they grow along the tops of cliffs that drop steeply into the ocean. The promontory is along the north shore of Point Lobos where some of the higher cliffs are found. While the fog here was high enough to reveal the trees, a short distance offshore it was right on the water.

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.