Tag Archives: shadow

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: People, Photographs: Sierra Nevada

Backpackers Near Milestone Basin

3 Comments
Backpackers, Near MIlestone Basin
Backpackers, Near MIlestone Basin

Backpackers, Near Milestone Basin. Sierra Nevada, California. August, 2010. © Copyright 2010 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved

Two backpackers descend through sub-alpine meadows toward the peaks of the Great Western Divide near Milestsone Basin, Sequoia National Park.

My two friends, Caroline and Owen, head through a lovely sub-alpine meadow toward the peaks of the Great Western Divide and the upper Kern River drainage of the Sierra Nevada in early August. (When doing backpacking photography it is always good to be accompanied by friends with colorful gear! My clothing color scheme is not conducive to photography, consisting mostly of colors that match the rocks, grasses, and dirt…)

This is a spectacular and less-visited area of the Sierra, being very high and at least two days from any trailhead – and those trailheads lead over very high Sierra crest passes. We hit it at perhaps the peak of its seasonal beauty – despite the clouds of mosquitoes, everything was tremendously green. Even in the late morning hour – not typically the time for photography – the scene was quite something. Our trail here passed through a succession of small, intimate meadows surrounded by rolling hills and filled with scattered glacial rocks, occasionally passing by small lakes and tarns — perhaps my favorite kind of Sierra terrain!

G Dan Mitchell is a California photographer and visual opportunist whose subjects include the Pacific coast, redwood forests, central California oak/grasslands, the Sierra Nevada, California deserts, urban landscapes, night photography, and more.
Blog | About | Flickr | Twitter | Facebook | Google+ | 500px.com | LinkedIn | Email

Text, photographs, and other media are © Copyright G Dan Mitchell (or others when indicated) and are not in the public domain and may not be used on websites, blogs, or in other media without advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

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

Trees and Granite Slabs

Leave a comment
Trees and Granite Slabs
Trees and Granite Slabs

Trees and Granite Slabs. Near Olmsted Point, Yosemite National Park, California. July 23, 2010. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Trees growing in granite slabs in the Yosemite high country stand in morning light.

Scenes like this are, for me, among those that most strongly characterize the Sierra Nevada mountains of California, and specifically the portion of the range found in Yosemite National Park. There are many mountain ranges that have their own attractions, but the combination of large swaths of glacially formed and polished granite with open forests filled with light immediately shouts “Sierra Nevada” to me. I used to be attracted most to the highest alpine peaks, but more and more I like the more intimate landscapes of the parts of the Sierra in which small ponds and tarns are placed among little meadows separated by trees and bits of granite.

Scenes like this one are not, frankly, all that hard to find in Yosemite and elsewhere in the Sierra. I photographed these trees and boulders in this expanse of glaciated granite near Olmsted Point in the early morning when the light was still warm and the shadows long.

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

G Dan Mitchell Photography | Twitter | Friendfeed | Facebook | Facebook Fan Page | Email

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

First Light Above Tenaya Lake

4 Comments
First Light Above Tenaya Lake
First Light Above Tenaya Lake

First Light Above Tenaya Lake. Yosemite National Park, California. July 23, 2010. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

The first morning light begins to light the granite domes and peaks above Tenaya Lake in the high-country of Yosemite National Park, California.

Although it is still more or less pre-dawn in the forest down around Tenaya Lake, morning is well underway above where the distant summit of Mount Conness is in full sun and the light is beginning to strike the granite ridges and domes above the lake. I’m always amazed at how few people who are in the area manage to get out and see the special beauty of dawn in the Sierra.

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

G Dan Mitchell Photography | Twitter | Friendfeed | Facebook | Facebook Fan Page | Email

keywords: tenaya, lake, first, light, dawn, morning, sun, shadow, pywiak, dome, peak, face, cliff, granite, ridge, conness, mount, forest, tree, tioga, pass, road, highway 120, yosemite, national, park, california, usa, north america, landscape, nature, scenic, travel, sierra, nevada, mountain, range, high, stock

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

First Light, Tioga Meadows

6 Comments
First Light, Tioga Meadows
First Light, Tioga Meadows

First Light, Tioga Meadows. Yosemite National Park, California. July 24, 2010. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

The first morning light touches trees at the edge of Tioga Meadows, Yosemite National Park.

I always enjoy photographing the light at the edges of shadows as they move across the landscape early and late in the day, and I especially like the way that this light can gradually pick out subjects like these trees against a still-unlit background. With this in mind I was near Tioga Pass early in the morning as the light began to work its way down into Tioga Meadow as the sun rose above the ridges of Mounts Dana and Gibbs.

A bit of an ironic note: I was so focused on the light and the trees that I failed to notice that two deer were grazing in the scene until I began working on the photograph after returning home! If you look very closely you may be able to find one that is right at the shadow/sun edge, but I’d be surprised if anyone can find the second one.

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

G Dan Mitchell Photography | Twitter | Friendfeed | Facebook | Facebook Fan Page | Email

keywords: first, light, morning, tioga, meadows, pass, forest, mount, dana, lodgepole, tamarack, pine, deer, yosemite, national, park, california, usa, north america, sierra, nevada, mountain, range, alpine, black and white, monochrome, nature, landscape, scenic, travel, stock, shadow, hill, grove