Tag Archives: shore

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Sierra Nevada

Talus, Cliff, Shoreline

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Talus, Cliff, Shoreline
A talus field of giant boulders tumbles to the edge of an alpine lake at the foot of a cliff

Talus, Cliff, Shoreline. © Copyright 2018 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A talus field of giant boulders tumbles to the edge of an alpine lake at the foot of a cliff

There are multiple ways to look at this photograph. One is to think of it as a record of a specific place at a particular time. That is perhaps important to me and to the others with whom I shared this week in the Sierra Nevada backcountry, but I think it is far less important to others who may view it. Another way to view it is as an example of a particular kind of landscape — the subalpine terrain of the eastern slope of this mountain range — and to note the cliff face at the left, the base of the talus field that reaches to the shoreline, and the lake itself. Sierra travelers probably have their own collection of memories of similar places.

A third way to view it is to try to step back from the seeming objective reality of location and subject, and to try to look at it as a structure of colors and forms and textures. This isn’t always easy, and it perhaps it isn’t for every viewer… though the elements mirrored in the reflective surface of the lake may encourage a viewer to try. In fact, this gets a little closer to how I see such things and such places. Yes, I do respond to them a real locations and as examples of the Sierra terrain I love. However, in most cases that isn’t enough for a photograph, at least not to me. I’m always looking for shape and texture and color and relationships in these subjects. (Of the recent photographs of talus slopes, water, and soft light, this may be my current favorite.)

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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: Sierra Nevada

Sierra Light, Reflection

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Sierra Light, Reflection
First light on a backcountry Sierra Nevada lake and ridge

Sierra Light, Reflection. © Copyright 2018 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

First light on a backcountry Sierra Nevada lake and ridge

This is an older photograph that I recently came across as I went back through old image files. (I do this from time to time, and I invariably find something that I missed the first time around. ) We were on a pack trip out of the Mammoth Lakes area and on the trail for perhaps five days, moving among a series of lakes that all were under the watchful eye of the peaks in the photograph.

I was up early and perhaps a bit disappointed in the perfectly blue sky. However, as the first dawn light struck the peaks, it produced a perfect reflection in the surface of the lake, broken only by the pair of boulders, placed here in the composition to break up the mirror-image symmetry. While clouds in the sky might have been interesting, the smooth blue gradients reflected in the water make the peaks seem to float.

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: Central California, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Ocean & Coast

Coastal Bluffs, Clearing Fog

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Coastal Bluffs, Clearing Fog
A coastal inversion layer is visible as fog thins above the rugged Big Sur coastline

Coastal Bluffs, Clearing Fog. © Copyright 2018 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A coastal inversion layer is visible as fog thins above the rugged Big Sur coastline

The quality of the Big Sur coast is, I think, the sum of a lot of contributing factors. As you drive south (my usual direction of approach, as a San Francisco Bay Area resident), the expanse of the Pacific Ocean extends to your right, and it may be brilliantly lit, completely fogged in, full of storm clouds, or just plain blue. Because the route alternately drops to the water level and climbs up above the headlands, this view expands and contracts. Surprisingly, it can be quite warm here, especially when the fog clears on a summer day and the road climbs. Views may be intimate as you pass through forested sections and around tight turns, or they may stretch to the horizon and far to the north and south.

On this mid-summer visit remnants of fog were still dissipating as I passed through. In places it sat thickly on hilltops, while elsewhere it had cleared and the light was brilliantly bright. This view appeared as I began my descent from one of the high places, and the top of the coastal inversion was clearly visible.

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

Wildflowers, Lake, Peak

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Wildflowers, Lake, Peak
Paintbrush flowers in the lakeshore meadow of a subalpine lake below the Sierra Nevada crest

Wildflowers, Lake, Peak. © Copyright 2018 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Paintbrush flowers in the lakeshore meadow of a subalpine lake below the Sierra Nevada crest

This is pretty much a classic Sierra Nevada high country scene, from the zone this is my favorite — the region just below the tree line, where there the landscape is usually open and filled with rocky meadows and lakes and towering peaks. The intimate shorelines of the small high-country lakes and tarns are special, and more than once I’ve managed to spend a significant amount of time simply lounging by them in the middle of the day.

I reached this spot by way of a longer hike around a large lake, starting my walk close to sunrise. One side of the upper end of this lake features open forests, while the other side is an area of meadows and boulders, though which flows the outlet of the smaller lake in this photograph. I arrived by myself and went to work making photographs, mostly of the lake itself and the surrounding alpine scenery. After a while I finishing that work and commenced the serious business of sitting on a large rock and staring for a while. Finally, it was time to start thinking about my return hike, but before I departed I wandered over to this shoreline where these brilliant red flowers had caught my attention.

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.