Tag Archives: season

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

Cathedral Peak, Autumn Sunset

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Cathedral Peak, Autumn Sunset
Cathedral Peak in early autumn sunset light.

Cathedral Peak, Autumn Sunset. © Copyright 2021 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Cathedral Peak in early autumn sunset light.

Everyone needs a photograph of Cathedral Peak at sunset, right? Although I’ve been to this place quite a few times — in a wide range of circumstances — I haven’t photographed the peak all that much. Perhaps it is because I haven’t often climbed up these slopes above the lake at this time of day. But on this visit some years ago, I did find myself in the right spot at the right time as a result of doing a bit of late-afternoon exploration.

The peak presents lots of opportunities for beautiful late-day light essentially at the end of the Cathedral range, leaving lower terrain open to the west and allowing the evening sun to shine directly on the mountain. Because the bowl is higher than surrounding terrain, gaining a it of elevation reveals lots of distant peaks, too, and the lake can reflect the mountain’s colors. Because this visit was late in the season — just a few days before the end of September — the meadows are golden-brown, too.

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: Fall, Photographs: Fall Color, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Sierra Nevada, Photographs: Yosemite

Autumn Shoreline

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Autumn Shoreline
Early autumn colors, granite slabs, and low water levels at a Yosemite backcountry lake.

Autumn Shoreline. © Copyright 2021 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Early autumn colors, granite slabs, and low water levels at a Yosemite backcountry lake.

Recently I have been going through a large body of work created on backcountry photography trips with a group of fellow photographers. The photographs begin in 2008, when I first encountered them near a favorite Yosemite high country location. It continues over the next few years when I packed myself fin and briefly joined them each season, and then over a longer period when I fully integrated with the group and began spending a week or so photographing with them (almost) every summer. It has been a wonderful experience with a great group of photographers and friends, and I’m hopeful that the story will be shared more widely in the future.

This photograph comes from 2009, the second summer that I joined them, albeit briefly. They base-camped for more than a week in this area when I backpacked in to join them for a few days. (My early departure may have been a blessing in disguise, since shortly after I left the temperatures dropped close to zero!) A benefit of settling into one location for a few days is that I have the time to slowly wander the area, a photographic opportunity that is not available on typical backpacking trips where the need to make mileage leaves far less time for photography.

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: Birds, Photographs: Central California, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Wildlife

Wetland Menagerie

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Wetland Menagerie
A small collection of shallow water feeders in Central Valley wetlands.

Wetland Menagerie. © Copyright 2021 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A small collection of shallow water feeders in Central Valley wetlands.

Today’s photograph is something that is a bit more of a record perhaps — a photograph of three sorts of wetland birds that are not among those that typically loom largest in our attention. The long-beaked birds at the left are white-fronted ibises. I think that the brown birds are teals — perhaps cinnamon teals? The taller black and white birds are black-necked stilts.

All of these are shallow-water feeders. The ibises and stilts give this away with their long legs and beaks, while the ducks dispense with the dignity that comes from standing erect and simply get up close and personal with the water and the muck beneath it. I’ve written before about how I came to photograph such critters not from an initial attraction to birds, but more to discovering them in the landscape. This leads to several aspects of my relationship to birds: I’m not an expert on them, and I’m still learning new things about them all the time. (This week’s new nugget is that there are “diving ducks” and “dabbling ducks.” Who knew?)

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

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

Photographs: Birds, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Wildlife

Sandhill Cranes, Winter Morning

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Sandhill Cranes, Winter Morning
A large flock of sandhill cranes in a wetland pond on a winter morning.

Sandhill Cranes, Winter Morning. © Copyright 2021 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A large flock of sandhill cranes in a wetland pond on a winter morning.

The routine on this (almost certainly ) final day of migratory bird photography for this season was much as it always is, though it started at an earlier hour to accommodate the late winter sunrise. Up at three-something AM and on the road after a quick cup of coffee, I arrived here before dawn. I was pleasantly surprised to find a bit of fog in the air as I began to look for a sunrise subject, and before long I found a very large group of sandhill cranes. When everything works out just right there is a short period of beautiful, warm light as the sun comes up, especially on a morning when a bit of fog or haze softens the light.

This group of cranes was part of an extremely large group of them — perhaps as many as I’ve seen at one time. They have a routine, too. At some point around sunrise they typically begin to take to the air in small groups and fly away, and that process began soon after I started to photograph them.

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 | Flickr | Facebook | Email

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

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