Tag Archives: season

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

Spring Trees

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Spring Trees
A rather well-known grove of Yosemite Valley trees, with new spring foliage and photographed from the “wrong” side

Spring Trees. © Copyright 2018 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A rather well-known grove of Yosemite Valley trees, with new spring foliage and photographed from the “wrong” side

Near the end of this spring’s Yosemite Renaissance artist-in-residency in The Valley the early signs of spring were appearing — grass was turning green, rivers and waterfalls were flowing, temperatures were rising, and leaves were appearing on the deciduous trees. I photographed this well-known little grove just a few days after the first spring leaves emerged, when they still had that transitory yellow-green color of early spring.

Almost anyone familiar with Yosemite Valley will know immediately where this grove is located. This photograph was not made from the typical direction — and you may be able to spot the reason it isn’t photographed as often if you just look closely. A careful scan of the scene reveals the presence of a roadway! That is often a complete show-stopper for photographs like this one, but I liked the backlit tree against that darker forest enough to give it a try in this case.

See top of this page for Articles, Sales and Licensing, my Sierra Nevada Fall Color book, Contact Information and more.

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

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

Spring Meadow, Clearing Clouds

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Spring Meadow, Clearing Clouds
Clouds and mist clear above Tuolumne Meadows, still brown and full of spring run-off

Spring Meadow, Clearing Clouds. © Copyright 2018 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Clouds and mist clear above Tuolumne Meadows, still brown and full of spring run-off

Every spring (or early summer in very wet years) I try to head up to Tioga Pass Road, Tuolumne Meadows, and Tioga Pass on the day that this trans-Sierra highway reopens for the season or as soon thereafter as possible. The road opens as early as late April and as late as early July, depending on various factors but mostly on the amount of snow that fell over the winter. In heavy snowfall years, especially when winter conditions last later, even in July there can still be a lot of snow on the ground and there is water everywhere. Two years ago there was still a lot of snow, waterfalls were everywhere, creeks were overflowing, and in places the water flowed right across the roadway.

This was not a very wet winter. Early in the season it looked promising, but then there was an extended warm and dry spell early in 2018. Fortunately there was a second surprise — a wetter and colder end to the winter season. When all was said and done, while the winter wasn’t complete bust it was well below normal. Given those conditions I was surprised when the road didn’t open until the second half of May. I made it up there a few days after the opening and spent a day along the route, enjoying the transitional return to the warm season, watching ephemeral signs of the snow melt, and making a few photographs. Meadows that are lush and green as I write this post were still brown when I visited. It takes a while for the snow to melt, the water to collect, and the grasses to come back to life. This photograph looks across Tuolumne Meadows, across which the Tuolumne River meanders, toward more distant ridge and domes blanketed by clearing mist and clouds.

See top of this page for Articles, Sales and Licensing, my Sierra Nevada Fall Color book, Contact Information and more.

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

Photographs: Coastal Redwoods, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Northern California, Photographs: Redwood National & State Parks

Overlapping Ferns

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Overlapping Ferns
Overlapping ferns grow close together in the springtime redwood forest

Overlapping Ferns. © Copyright 2018 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Overlapping ferns grow close together in the springtime redwood forest

Late in the day, a bit early for golden hour but late enough to start thinking about it, I visited a short trail in Del Norte State Park, along which there was the promise of a few rhododendron blossoms and many, many redwood trees. It was an easy trail, gradually ascending and traversing a low ridge through the forest, and then beginning a descent that led to the beach. Since I was interested in the redwoods and not the beach, I stopped just past the beginning of the descent.

The lighting conditions were just about perfect — thin clouds muted and diffused the light, and it came into the forest from the west at a low angle, side-lighting the redwood trees. While I mostly was there to photograph big, obvious things like blooming rhododendrons and the redwood trees, this forest was full of smaller details, too. As I started back up the trail to return to where I started I saw some thick groups of ferns and I stopped to take a look. This little scene immediately caught my attention, with its nearly symmetrical layers of fern fronds leading down toward the forest floor.

See top of this page for Articles, Sales and Licensing, my Sierra Nevada Fall Color book, Contact Information and more.

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 | Twitter | Facebook | LinkedIn | Email

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

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

Spring Dogwood, Water

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Spring Dogwood, Water
Branches of spring dogwood trees, against a backdrop of the Merced River

Spring Dogwood, Water. © Copyright 2018 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Branches of spring dogwood trees, against a backdrop of the Merced River

Dogwood trees are a spring phenomenon everywhere, but they are a special attraction in the low and middle elevations of the Sierra Nevada every spring. Near the end of April these trees leaf out with flower-like “bracts” soon appearing, and their white or near-white color stands out against the green foliage, especially in low light and shadows.

As so many Yosemite photographers do — it is nearly impossible to resist! — I photographed these branches, leaves, and flowers against the backdrop of the Merced River, its spring flow reflecting the colors of the sunlight on nearby cliffs. I made the photograph at the very beginning of dogwood season, in late April, and a month later I was still able to find trees full of the white flowers in other locations within the park.

See top of this page for Articles, Sales and Licensing, my Sierra Nevada Fall Color book, Contact Information and more.

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 | Twitter | Facebook | LinkedIn | Email

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