Tag Archives: shore

Photographs: Fall, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Sierra Nevada

Forest, Boulder, and Pond

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Forest, Boiulder, and Pond
A tree grows in a crack in a large boulder set in forest and reflected in a quiet Sierra Nevada pond.

Forest, Boulder, and Pond. © Copyright 2020 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A tree grows in a crack in a large boulder set in forest and reflected in a quiet Sierra Nevada pond.

Although the indications are more subtle than in the wildly colorful aspen groves, this is also a Sierra Nevada fall color photograph. It is not a familiar icon — not remotely so! — but it seems to be “iconic” to me, in the sense that it captures something of the quality of this season when things seem to slow down in preparation for the coming winter.

What are the subtle autumn signifiers in this photograph? There is one obvious feature in the tiny patch of yellow leaves at the far right. But those grasses lining the banks of this small pond are another indicator — while they are still green at their bases, the upper tips have gone to yellow and brown. There is something about the quality of the light, too. It always seems softer to me at this time of year, especially in shaded areas like this one.

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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Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Sequoia-Kings Canyon, Photographs: Sierra Nevada

Outcropping and Reflection

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Outcropping and Reflection
The reflection of a massive outcropping at the edge of an alpine lake nestled in a rocky Sierra Nevada basin.

Outcropping and Reflection. © Copyright 2013 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

The reflection of a massive outcropping at the edge of an alpine lake nestled in a rocky Sierra Nevada basin.

Back in the summer of 2013 a group of us spent a week base-camped within a five minute walk of this feature and an entire landscape filled with equivalent wonders. It was a high place (roughly 12,000′) filled with lakes and surrounded by forests of small trees and rocky slopes and peaks. We spent that week getting to know this area intimately and photographing it in all kinds of light and conditions.

I suppose that most people must have a carry in their minds a visual symbol for their special places — perhaps a giant tree, a waterfall, a coastal bluff, and so on. When it comes to the Sierra Nevada, the image that comes to mind is usually a high place much like this one, where the trees begin to thin, lakes are often rockbound, and talus slopes rise to alpine ridges and peaks.

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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Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Sequoia-Kings Canyon, Photographs: Sierra Nevada

Alpine Lake, Storm, and Rainbow

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Alpine Lake, Storm, and Rainbow
A trail crosses a rise beyond an alpine lake as rain begins and a rainbow appears against stormy skies, Kings Canyon National Park.

Alpine Lake, Storm, and Rainbow. © Copyright 2013 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A trail crosses a rise beyond an alpine lake as rain begins and a rainbow appears against stormy skies, Kings Canyon National Park.

This photograph comes from a wonderful trip into the Kings Canyon backcountry seven summers ago. A group of five photographers who have been doing such things for almost twenty years (I’ve been going along for a decade) packed in to a remote location at 12,000′ and set up a basecamp. We spent a week there photographing the heck out of the nearby landscape of granite, lakes, and peaks — and enjoying the camaraderie that comes from working together in the wilderness.

By the time I made this photograph I had settled thoroughly into the routines of living and photographing in such a place. I’ve often photographed while hiking through the Sierra, but working from a base-camp gives me time to explore more carefully, to get to know the character of a place, and to experience it in a variety of conditions. Although it was the tail-end of a drought season, we had rain from time to time, and on this afternoon I photographed an area full of lakes as the afternoon showers arrived.

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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Photographs: Desert, Photographs: Mono Lake Basin, Photographs: Nature

Shoreline, Mono Lake

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Shoreline, Mono Lake
A hazy summer morning along the shareline of Mono Lake.

Shoreline, Mono Lake. © Copyright 2012 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A hazy summer morning along the shareline of Mono Lake.

Perhaps you see a few of my photographs and read the accompanying text… in which case you may already know my Mono Lake story: I’m attracted to the immense space and profound quite and stillness of the place, more so than specific features such as tufa towers. Perhaps because I’ve been to those popular features many times, I now tend to poke around in somewhat more obscure places or try to see other aspects of the lake and its surrounding basin.

I made this photograph on a clear sky day when haze — perhaps from wildfires? — was obscuring distant features on the far side of Mono Basin. With the light come from above and beyond those far ranges the atmosphere was luminous and seemed to almost glow. Winds were creating patterns on the surface of the lake. I included some of the near shore, too, perhaps to more clearly show the immense size of the lake.

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 | 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.