Tag Archives: sky

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

Moonrise, Sierra Wave Cloud

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Moonrise, Sierra Wave Cloud
A Sierra wave cloud stretches south along the Sierra Nevada crest as the moon rises.

Moonrise, Sierra Wave Cloud. Yosemite National Park, California. July 15, 2016. © Copyright 2016 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A Sierra wave cloud stretches south along the Sierra Nevada crest as the moon rises.

Spend a bit of time — or a few decades — in and around the Sierra and you begin to be able to anticipate certain events. Nothing is a sure bet when it comes to predicting spectacular visual conditions, but some signs make it very likely that your efforts may be rewarded. The “Sierra Wave” cloud phenomenon is one such condition — common, easy to spot once you recognize the signs, and having the potential to produce very special photographic opportunities.

As on this evening, it often begins subtly. The line of clouds is produced over the crest or on its leeward side as moisture-laden air passes above the crest. The clouds can extend many miles north and south and sometimes stack up in layers. During the day they are impressive, but it is at dusk (or, rarely, at dawn) that they excel. After the last direct sunlight has risen above the highest peaks and the sun has set, brilliant red light may illuminate the clouds from the west, producing an almost unbelievable intensity of color. On this evening I saw the potential as I came over Tioga Pass from the east, and I quickly found a place to stop and watch the show develop. The moon above Kuna Crest was an added bonus!

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: Death Valley, Photographs: Desert, Photographs: Nature

Clearing Dust Storm, Evening

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Clearing Dust Storm, Evening
Translucent atmosphere as the sky clears in the wake of a Death Valley dust storm

Clearing Dust Storm, Evening. Death Valley National Park, California. March 30, 2016. © Copyright 2016 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Translucent atmosphere as the sky clears in the wake of a Death Valley dust storm

This was the tail end of a massive dust storm that was with us in one form or another for an entire day. Very early in the morning we had seen the precursor conditions when we visited a high ridge in the Panamint range before dawn. At that time there was a kind of haze in the atmosphere that I had come to associate with incipient dust storm conditions. By midday the dust was easily seen rising out of the great valleys on either side of the mountains, and before long tendrils of dust were snaking through the air above our position. Returning to Death Vally itself we encountered a wild scene — thick dust everywhere and extremely high winds. We gave up and shut ourselves indoors for a few hours, and then not long before sunset the wind abated a bit, and I ventured outside.

The dust storm was still raging across the valley, but in our location the winds had dropped considerably. But in the interim a weather system had moved overhead, and now it was raining into the dust storm — something I had not encountered here before. I made my way to an elevated location that was above much of the worst of the dust and from which I had wide views across the lower end of the Valley. From there I could see the Cottonwood Mountains to the west, and as the air cleared slightly the light made its way under the clouds and back-lit the dust still floating in the translucent atmosphere.

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: Death Valley, Photographs: Desert, Photographs: Nature

Dunes and Sky

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Dunes and Sky
Morning light and clouds, sand dunes, Death Valley National Park

Dunes and Sky. Death Valley National Park, California. March 30, 2016. © Copyright 2017 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Morning light and clouds, sand dunes, Death Valley National Park

For photographers (and probably for others, too) sand dunes are a source of endless fascination. There is always something interesting, from the smallest scale (footprints of insects?) to the largest, all-compassing landscape. None of this is ever the same twice except in the most general ways. While the general configuration remains from year to year, the specific details change quickly, sometimes as you watch. And because the sand itself is a fairly neutral subject, the effects of light — its angles and qualities and colors — play out in unending ways on the dunes.

As is typical, we had wandered out amongst the dunes before sunrise, beginning to photograph in predawn light and then moving to larger landscape subjects as the first pink sunlight struck distant desert mountains. Before long the sun was up and the light began to lose the early hour color. This can make the scene extremely stark and harsh, but on this morning high clouds muted its intensity and we continued to photograph. I had a vague idea of a photograph combining dune textures and sky in a mostly abstract form, and this area of the dunes provided a subject that fit that concept.

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 | Google+ | LinkedIn | Email

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

Photographs: Death Valley, Photographs: Desert, Photographs: Nature

Panamint Valley and Mountains

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Panamint Valley and Mountains
Looking into Panamint Valley and toward the Panamint Mountain Range

Panamint Valley and Mountains. Death Valley National Park, California. April 7, 2017. © Copyright 2017 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Looking into Panamint Valley and toward the Panamint Mountain Range

When most people think of Death Valley they probably think of incredibly hot desert conditions. Those conditions are real, and are among the reasons that I do not visit the place during the warmer times of the year. But the conditions are quite a bit more varied than that reputation would suggest. I have been snowed on in Death Valley — on one memorable occasion photographic desert wildflowers in a snow storm! — and I have encountered temperatures ranging from over 100 degrees to below freezing. The variations are related to seasons (there are some very cold places here in the winter!) and to elevation, which ranges from below sea level to over 11,000′.

This photograph captures a range of those conditions in one image. It was a pleasantly warm, though cloudy, day as I left the park. The winds were howling down below in Panamint Valley, where a dust storm was beginning to kick up. Winter snow was still thick on the highest peaks of the Panamint range, and an incoming storm was developing and promising more precipitation.

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 | Google+ | LinkedIn | Email

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