Tag Archives: sky

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

El Capitan, Mist

March 4, 2013 G Dan Mitchell 3 Comments

Winter mist shrouds the immense granite face of El Capitan, Yosemite Valley

One of the major attractions of Yosemite in the winter – for me, at least – is the variety of fog, mist, clouds, and all sorts of other weather conditions and their associated possibilities of light. (Frankly, I rarely go to the Vally in the summer any more.) The diversity of conditions seems infinite, especially when combined with variations in terrain and vegetation and, of course, light as it changes throughout the day and due to weather. At one extreme, a clear winter day can almost be more clear than you can imagine, with bright, crystalline sunlight everywhere. At the other extreme, low clouds dropping rain or snow can mute the visibility of anything more than a few feet away. In between lie atmospheric haze that mutes details and reveals shadows; clouds drifting along the Valley floor, rising up its walls, or floating among the tops of cliffs; rain or snow showers seen from a distance, and much more.

El Capitan seems like a cloud magnet in the winter. Because of its size the conditions at its base can be quite different from those above, and the lower face may be clear while the summit is wreathed in clouds. Evening fog often develops and drifts across the valley, sometimes seeming to slosh back and forth like a slow motion sea, rising against El Capitan’s base. This February day saw high clouds above the entire valley, but mists were developing and clinging to every level of El Capitan and sliding across and up its face, alternately obscuring and revealing bits and pieces of the mountain. I could sit and watch this for a long time – as I did, in fact! Using a long lens I isolated a section of the prow of the monolith and then watched as the cloud show unfolded.

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

Winter Moon, Clouds, and Granite

February 28, 2013 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Winter moon rises through post-storm clouds above Yosemite Valley, California

On this winter evening, photographing the “usual subjects” in Yosemite Valley was not easy. This was the weekend of the Horsetail Falls pilgrimage, and hundreds or perhaps thousands of people were lined up with cameras in hopes of making their photograph of this thing/event – but for most this was not to be as the water fall was almost dried up and clouds blocked the sunset light. It had been a cloudy day, starting out with rain and staying that way for a good part of the day, with even a bit of light snow at times. As evening approached it looked like the cloud deck was going to remain thick and low and that it would likely be a gray evening.

With it looking like the potential for inspiring light was quite low, we went to Tunnel View – it seemed as good as any other option, it can be an inspiring place even when it doesn’t provide inspiring photographic opportunities, and I was with someone who had not really tried to photograph there. When we arrived there was some clearing, though the clouds seemed to remain thick to the west, meaning the no brilliant light was likely to be seen. I put a long lens on my camera and worked the upper rim of the Valley to my right, about 90 degrees away from the direction most were shooting, but where fog and mist drifted across the rim, granite pinnacles and cliffs, and among trees. As I watched this I noticed the nearly full moon occasionally poke out from behind clouds above Sentinel Rocks as the clouds and mist drifted this way and that. Since it was that early twilight time when a good exposure for the light of the moon can also work for other subjects such as clouds, sky, and mountains, I swung the camera around and watched the drifting clouds, waiting or moments when the took on interesting shapes and when the moon was visible.

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: The Southwest, Photographs: Utah

Sandstone Tower, Fruita District

February 21, 2013 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

A sandstone tower stands above the Fruita District orchards in early evening light, Capitol Reef National Park

These sandstone plateaus and mesas seem characteristic of this front-country area of Capitol Reef National Park, and they are perhaps the most striking visual icon of your approach to the park from the town of Torrey, Utah, to the west. The Fruita District is the most accessible area of the park, being right alongside the main east-west highway that passes through the park. It features some picturesque sites and sights that are enough to make almost anyone pull over and look, including the old orchards that apparently gave the area its name and the accessible petroglyphs on low cliffs that run along the road. (Although this portion of the park is quite accessible once you are out here and driving across Utah, most of the park is anything but easily accessible, and getting to other places within its boundaries can involve some very long drives on some fairly bad roads, plus some hiking. I’m fine with that! ;-)

I made this photograph late in the day, after we had done a bit of exploring along the main tourist route into the park, the largely paved road towards Capitol Gorge and other nearby points. Late in the day I happened to spot this little conjunction of creek and fall-color tree and green grass and red rock cliffs as we were about to leave the park.

Photographs: Death Valley, Photographs: Desert, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Southern California

Dawn Sky, Panamint Range

February 16, 2013 G Dan Mitchell 2 Comments

First dawn light on clouds above Death Valley, as seen from high in the Panamint Range

I recently “discovered” (or perhaps “remembered?”) this photograph that I made nearly a year earlier during an early January 2012 trip to do winter photography in Death Valley National Park. Winter is a wonderful time in Death Valley, though the season can present its own challenges – not the same as summer, but challenges nonetheless. The challenges include, believe it or not, the possibility of some very, very cold weather, especially in some of the higher outlying areas of the park an up in the mountains, such as here in the Panamint Range. But there are special rewards, too, including the possibility of snow among the peaks and the more interesting skies that can come with the passage of winter low pressure systems that originate in the Pacific Ocean.

On this morning I had gotten out of my sleeping bag well before dawn so that I would have time to drive to this overlook high in the Panamints before sun rise. It was still dark as I drove the last section of the gravel road approach, and its wasn’t until after I arrived that there was enough light to see that this might turn out to be a spectacular sunrise. (When you get up in darkness and drive many miles, you have to take it on faith that something special might occur, and accept the possibility that it might not.) My original subject ideas for this location were not so much about sky as about deep valleys and receding ridges, but when the first sun hit these high clouds I was willing to angle the tripod up a bit to photograph them! This light on the clouds only lasted a few minutes, and after that I turned my attention back to the landscape below.

G Dan Mitchell Photography

Tag Archives: sky

El Capitan, Mist

Winter Moon, Clouds, and Granite

Dawn Sky, Panamint Range

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