Tag Archives: sierra

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

Spire, Mist, and Snow

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Spire, Mist, and Snow
A Yosemite spire briefly emerges from mist and snow

Spire, Mist, and Snow. © Copyright 2018 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A Yosemite spire briefly emerges from mist and snow

During winter conditions, with snow and clouds and mists, interesting details appear all around Yosemite Valley, often in places that we might pay almost not attention to in more benign conditions. It is possible to think of the granite walls of the Valley as being monolithic, but the reality is the they are full of texture and detail that simply gets overlooked against the monumental scale of the most famous features. But when the dramatic conditions of winter (and late fall and early spring) arrive, bits and pieces of the landscape can briefly emerge from obscurity.

I don’t know if this feature even has a name, but I’ve been watching it in such conditions for a while, trying to figure out how to photograph it. For one thing, it requires a long lens — from a distance the area encompassed by this photograph is small. For another, it requires special light and atmosphere — ideally muted by ever-so-slightly directional light plus swirling mists and clouds. Both were present on this day as an early spring snow storm passed through the Valley.

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, Photographs: Yosemite

Spring Meadow, Clearing Clouds

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Spring Meadow, Clearing Clouds
Clouds and mist clear above Tuolumne Meadows, still brown and full of spring run-off

Spring Meadow, Clearing Clouds. © Copyright 2018 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Clouds and mist clear above Tuolumne Meadows, still brown and full of spring run-off

Every spring (or early summer in very wet years) I try to head up to Tioga Pass Road, Tuolumne Meadows, and Tioga Pass on the day that this trans-Sierra highway reopens for the season or as soon thereafter as possible. The road opens as early as late April and as late as early July, depending on various factors but mostly on the amount of snow that fell over the winter. In heavy snowfall years, especially when winter conditions last later, even in July there can still be a lot of snow on the ground and there is water everywhere. Two years ago there was still a lot of snow, waterfalls were everywhere, creeks were overflowing, and in places the water flowed right across the roadway.

This was not a very wet winter. Early in the season it looked promising, but then there was an extended warm and dry spell early in 2018. Fortunately there was a second surprise — a wetter and colder end to the winter season. When all was said and done, while the winter wasn’t complete bust it was well below normal. Given those conditions I was surprised when the road didn’t open until the second half of May. I made it up there a few days after the opening and spent a day along the route, enjoying the transitional return to the warm season, watching ephemeral signs of the snow melt, and making a few photographs. Meadows that are lush and green as I write this post were still brown when I visited. It takes a while for the snow to melt, the water to collect, and the grasses to come back to life. This photograph looks across Tuolumne Meadows, across which the Tuolumne River meanders, toward more distant ridge and domes blanketed by clearing mist and clouds.

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.

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

Conifers, Snow, Cliff

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Conifers, Snow, Cliff
A group of conifer trees at the edge of a meadow during Yosemite Valley snow flurries

Conifers, Snow, Cliff. © Copyright 2018 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A group of conifer trees at the edge of a meadow during Yosemite Valley snow flurries

During the two-plus months of my Yosemite Renaissance artist-in-residency in the park I made hundreds of photographs. Some of those made it into a show that is now going on at Gallery 5 in Oakhurst, on the southern park boundary: “Transitions: Winter Into Spring — Yosemite Renaissance Artist-In-Residence G Dan Mitchell And Friends.” (The show continues until the end of this month, and it features the work of several fellow artists I invited to join me: Jerry Bosworth, Franka Mlikota Gabler, Charlotte Hamilton Gib, David Hoffman, Vidya Kane, and Kerby Smith.) I mention this because I am still working on photographs from this project even now — and this is one of them.

I made this photograph on a mid-April day when winter seemed to want to hang on just a bit longer. Near the start of this visit a small but energetic weather front swept through, raising the wind, dropping the temperature, and leaving behind a layer of new snow. I made this photograph as the storm passed, with snow flurries muting the features of more distant trees and the huge granite cliffs beyond. The snow also mutes the colors, and unless you look closely you might mistake this for a monochromatic photograph.

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.

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

Spring Dogwood, Water

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Spring Dogwood, Water
Branches of spring dogwood trees, against a backdrop of the Merced River

Spring Dogwood, Water. © Copyright 2018 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Branches of spring dogwood trees, against a backdrop of the Merced River

Dogwood trees are a spring phenomenon everywhere, but they are a special attraction in the low and middle elevations of the Sierra Nevada every spring. Near the end of April these trees leaf out with flower-like “bracts” soon appearing, and their white or near-white color stands out against the green foliage, especially in low light and shadows.

As so many Yosemite photographers do — it is nearly impossible to resist! — I photographed these branches, leaves, and flowers against the backdrop of the Merced River, its spring flow reflecting the colors of the sunlight on nearby cliffs. I made the photograph at the very beginning of dogwood season, in late April, and a month later I was still able to find trees full of the white flowers in other locations within the park.

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.