Tag Archives: sage

Photographs: Desert, Photographs: Mono Lake Basin, Photographs: Owens Valley, Photographs: Sierra Nevada

Evening, Eastern Sierra Near Lee Vining

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Evening, Eastern Sierra Near Lee Vining

Evening, Eastern Sierra Near Lee Vining. Sierra Nevada Mountains, California. June 7, 2009. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Evening light and afternoon clouds over the high desert of the eastern Sierra Nevada range near Lee Vining, California.

I’m finally finding a bit of time to go back to some photographs I made in June this year, including a series from the eastern Sierra that I’ll present in black and white. I made this photograph on an early June trip, the first of the year on which I was able to cross the Sierra on the newly opened Tioga Pass Road. It was something of a “random trip,” as I initially thought I might end up shooting spring subjects in Yosemite Valley – until I figured out that it was going to be way too crowded there and just headed over Tioga Pass instead to camp in Lee Vining Canyon. On this evening I drove out toward Mono Lake and “chased the light” as a storm broke up over the Sierra crest. Not finding quite what I was looking for at this exact hour at Mono I headed back toward highway 395 and took a little gravel road towards the upper end of the June Lakes Loop. As I came to the top of the hill I saw this wonderful view looking north across the high desert and sagebrush towards the hills around Lee Vining with the light shining onto the valley floor below the clouds that were just starting to thin.

This photograph is not in the public domain. It may not be used on websites, blogs, or in any other media without explicit advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

keywords: eastern, sierra, nevada, range, mountains, lee vining, california, usa, sage, high, desert, hills, road, pole, utility, telephone, electric, clouds, owens valley, june lake, loop, gravel, brush, afternoon, evening, sierra, nevada, range, eastern, escarpment, lee vining, stock, light, overcast

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Sierra Nevada

Aspen Grove, Lee Vining Canyon, Spring

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Aspen Grove, Lee Vining Canyon, Spring

Aspen Grove, Lee Vining Canyon, Spring. Near Lee Vining, California. June 7, 2009. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

An aspen grove and grassy meadow in Lee Vining Canyon come to life in late spring.

I often visit this little aspen grove in Lee Vining Canyon when I head to the “east side” to photograph Sierra Nevada fall colors in early October. On this trip in early June I camped at nearby Aspen campground and rose very early to photograph dawn light at the South Tufa area of Mono Lake, after which I headed back into Lee Vining to grab a coffee at Latte Da before heading back up Lee Vining Canyon to break my camp. Just before the campground as I passed this spot I noticed the there was a diffused glowing light coming from across the canyon and that no direct sun was yet hitting the grove – and just before the sun rose over the canyon walls and lit up the scene I managed to make a few photographs of this spring version of the scene.

This photograph is not in the public domain. It may not be used on websites, blogs, or in any other media without explicit advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

keywords: aspen, tree, grove, forest, leaf, green, trunk, white, brown, grass, sage, spring, season, lee vining, canyon, eastern, sierra, nevada, mountains, range, morning, landscape, nature, foliage, scenic, travel, national, stock

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Ruins, Dawn, Rhyolite

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Ruins, Dawn, Rhyolite

Ruins, Dawn, Rhyolite. Rhyolite, Nevada. April 1, 2009. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Cloud-filtered dawn light washes over crumbling ruins in the ghost town of Rhyolite, Nevada with Death Valley National Park, California and snow-capped Telescope Peak in the distance.

(More of my Death Valley photographs)

Looking back through my photos from Rhyolite in early April of this year, I found this image of several ruined and crumbling buildings against the backdrop of Amargosa Valley, Death Valley National Park and Telescope Peak, and an cloudy interesting dawn sky. One reason I thought I’d share this one is that it is a somewhat different image of the Rhyolite ghost town in that it doesn’t really include any of the iconic structures – just a more typical scene of buildings in a state of ongoing desert decay.

This photograph is not in the public domain. It may not be used on websites, blogs, or in any other media without explicit advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

keywords: cloud, filtered, sky, blue, morning, dawn, sunrise, light, wash, abandoned, building, structure, wall, window, school, crumbling, ruins, ghost, town, rhyollite, nevada, mining, desert, amargosa, valley, mountains, panamint, range, telescope, peak, death valley, national park, california, usa, landscape, scenic, travel. stock, sage, brush

Photographs: Death Valley, Photographs: Desert, Photographs: Structures and Objects

Sunrise – Telescope Peak, Amargosa Range, Bank Ruins of Rhyolite

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Sunrise - Telescope Peak, Amargosa Range, Bank Ruins of Rhyolite

Sunrise – Telescope Peak, Amargosa Range, Bank Ruins of Rhyolite. Rhyolite, Nevada. April 1, 2009. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Sunrise on Telescope Peak and the Amargosa Range of Death Valley with the ruins of the Rhyollite Nevada bank building in the foreground.

This photograph attempts to pull together three iconic elements of the Rhyolite ghost town experience: the ruins of the old bank building, the view across the Amargosa Valley to the Amargosa Range (just inside Death Valley National Park), and the snow-capped summit of Death Valley’s Telescope Peak in the first light of dawn. This photograph was made just a moment before one that I earlier posted that showed the first direct light hitting the front of the bank, and in this one I was trying to nestle the distant mountains in the curve created by the top of the old wall of the weathered bank building.

This photograph is not in the public domain. It may not be used on websites, blogs, or in any other media without explicit advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

keywords: rhyollite, ghost, town, mining, abandoned, ruins, nevada, california, usa, death valley, national park, telescope, peak, amargosa, range, mountains, valley, desert, wall, brick, sage, sky, pink, firsts light, sunrise, dawn, stock, landscape, scenic, travel