Tag Archives: shoreline

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Sierra Nevada

Shoreline Tree, Evening Light

August 14, 2017 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

A sturdy tree at sunset on the rocky shoreline of a subalpine Sierra Nevada lake

In a previous post I described how this short eastern Sierra backpacking trip transitioned from seriously challenging weather on day one to seriously lovely weather on the evening of day two. The onset of sudden, heavy, and long-lasting rain on day one created challenges for all of us, and caused me to make camp before getting to my intended destination. (Others in my group spent hours waiting out the storm under a rocky overhang, which yet other group members got quite wet trying to set up camp in the rain.) Day two started out looking like rain, but the clouds cleared and left us with pleasant, beautiful, and quite benign weather in the evening.

There is something extra peaceful about a beautiful evening following one that was distinctly not so pleasant, and we were in a relaxed frame of mind. We had a nice, spacious camp in flat, open forest, and nearby we found a flat area above the lake to sit and enjoy dinner with a view. As we ate I eyed some shoreline trees, including this one, that grew out of rocky outcroppings next to the water. Just before the final sunlight left us for the day I climbed up above this tree to position it against the evening-blue water of the lake.

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

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Sierra Nevada

Shoreline and Evening Reflection

August 13, 2017 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Sunset colors reflected from high peaks along the rocky shoreline of a backcountry High Sierra lake

The second evening of this brief eastern Sierra pack trip was much different from the first. On the previous day, as we began our hike, it was already cloudy early in the morning. By mid-afternoon it was apparent that we were in for some weather — thunder clouds were building and spreading across the sky, and soon we began to hear distant thunder. I was at the back of the pack as we headed towards a high lake. I switched from boots to water shoes to wade a river, briefly considering whether to make camp right there before crossing. As I reached the other side and got back into my trail shoes the light sprinkles began. Another ten minutes up the trail I came to a second, deeper and faster crossing just as the rain began in earnest. A choice: Spend 10-15 minutes doing the footwear switch and getting into full rain gear for self and pack? Or make a stand right there and set up camp? I chose the latter, quickly finding a tiny flat (enough) spot to set up my tent in the rain — always an “interesting” task! — and then climbing inside. It rained for the next three hours!

The next morning — the day I made this photograph — I got up slowly, waiting until a few minutes before sun reached my camp and I could start the work of drying things out. I finally packed and headed on up the trail, planning to rejoin my group at the lake where we planned to camp on the second night. Clouds began to appear once again, and it briefly looked like the weather might repeat the show of the previous afternoon, but by the time I arrived at this lake, found the rest of my party, and set up camp… the skies were clearing, and we ended up having a beautiful and peaceful evening. After dinner I took my camera equipment and headed to a high point over the shoreline to photograph. Our camp was a distance above the shoreline at the left side of the photograph, and from this spot I could trace the rocky edge of the water towards the far side of the lake. The blue of evening light and reflected sky contrasts with the warm, saturated color of the reflection from peaks still in the evening sun.

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

Shoreline, First Morning Light

July 1, 2017 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

First morning light comes to the forested shoreline of a Sierra Nevada backcountry lake

Near the end of the summer of 2014 I ventured into the Yosemite backcountry with a group of friends and photographers for a week of landscape photography work, first at a somewhat isolated lake and then near a more popular location. Although I’ve been a backpacker for years, accustomed to slogging along with a big backpack carrying all of my own gear, on this trip we were supported by pack train. In fact, we had stupendous support. All of our non-photographic gear was packed in to the first location. A few days later a pack train returned and moved our gear to the next location. (Meanwhile we hiked a cross-country route to get there, following a trajectory that stock could not use.) And finally at the end of the trip the packers came back again and schlepped our gear back out to civilization. I think I could get used to this — though I still very much enjoy the quiet and slow pace of self-contained backpacking.

We were at the lake for three or four days, long enough go venture beyond the obvious things that one sees when first arriving at a place. We had time to return to subjects and reconsider them a few days later, possibly in different light or at a different time of day. We were also able to push out boundaries outward a bit from the lake itself, climbing a few of the nearby promontories. And, always, we had the luxury of rolling out of sleeping bags before dawn, walking a few steps to the lakeshore, and beginning the day’s work. This photograph was made not more than five minutes from camp as the first light began to work down to lake level.

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

Lake Shore, Autumn Morning

December 19, 2016 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Morning light strikes grass on the shoreline of a Sierra lake reflecting autumn aspen color

Some photographs have to age for a while before I go back and figure out how to “see” them. This is one of those. I made the photograph a few months ago on a lovely autumn morning high in the Eastern Sierra, at a corner of a well-known location from which people frequently photograph a rather different view. I had begun the morning near this lake, looking for ways to see the landscape in this location in ways that weren’t quite as familiar to me, partly with photographic intent and partly out of not wanting to be part of the assembled crowd!

A bit later, once the expected light show had ended and those who came only for that had departed, I wandered down along the shore of the lake. Where there had been dozens a bit earlier, there were now only two, myself and one other photographer. I’ve been intrigued by these grassy areas along the edge of this lake, but I had not thought to photograph the scene from quite this direction before — and my timing was either perfect or, more likely, lucky in that the first beams of morning light to find their way through surrounding trees were just beginning to strike the patch of grass.

G Dan Mitchell Photography

Tag Archives: shoreline

Shoreline Tree, Evening Light

Shoreline and Evening Reflection

Shoreline, First Morning Light

Lake Shore, Autumn Morning

Photographer and visual opportunist. Daily photos since 2005, plus articles, reviews, news, and ideas.