Tag Archives: slope

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

Lodgepole Grove and Boulders – Lembert Dome

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Lodgepole Grove and Boulders - Lembert Dome
Lodgepole Grove and Boulders - Lembert Dome

Lodgepole Grove and Boulders – Lembert Dome. Tuolumne Meadows, Yosemite National Park, California. June 5, 2010. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Glacial erratics and a grove of lodgepole trees along the lower slopes of Lembert Dome, Tuolumne Meadows, Yosemite National Park.

As I drove down into the Tuolumne Meadows area from Tioga Pass in the early evening I caught a brief glimpse of some interesting diffused light on boulders lying across the lower slopes of Lembert Dome and decided to stop. On a typical high-season summer evening this would be a very crowded place, but on this early June evening most people had left and I had it almost to myself.

By the time I parked and unloaded my gear and walked up this slope the light was not quite what I had seen from the car. The clouds to the west had thickened a bit and the glow that I had originally seen in the light was dissipating. I decided to stay to see if the light would come back, since I could see that the clouds might move enough to let the scene brighten a bit. In the end I didn’t get the light I had in mind, but I think this photograph may serve as a study that let me work out a few things I’ll do differently when I return to shoot this subject, perhaps later this summer.

This photograph is not in the public domain and may not be used on websites, blogs, or in other media without advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

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Technical Data:
Canon EOS 5D Mark II
Canon EF 70-200mm f/4 L USM at 87mm
ISO 200, f/16, 1/15 second

keywords: yosemite, national, park, sierra, nevada, mountain, spring, nature, lembert, dome, glacial, erratic, polish, rock, boulder, lodgepole, tamarack, pine, grove, trees, evening, light, late, slope, texture, landscape, nature, california, usa, north america, lichen, stock

Photographs: Northern California, Photographs: People, Photographs: San Francisco, Photographs: Structures and Objects, Photographs: Urban/Street

Man With Cell Phone, Maroon Wall

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Man With Cell Phone, Maroon Wall
Man With Cell Phone, Maroon Wall

Man With Cell Phone, Maroon Wall. San Francisco, California. March 6, 2010. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A man with a cell phone walks along a San Francisco sidewalk past maroon wall.

For the first time, I went out and did street photography with my two sons in San Francisco during the first weekend in March. It was fun, though I’m not used to shooting street (or much else) with other people, and I think my work habits may have a tendency to drive others slightly crazy. (Sons, thanks for putting up with me! :-) When I shoot street and urban subjects I tend to wander about rather slowly, looking at everything, getting distracted while I stop to shoot something, and then heading off in an unpredictable direction when something else catches my attention!

We took BART to the downtown area of the City and wandered up toward Union Square along with the rest of the horde, finally heading out into some less traveled streets where there weren’t quite so many people. We photographed various back streets and then descended through the fringes of the Tenderloin to end up at the Civic Center.

One irony is that while I am fully digital these days – though I did go with the traditional approach and shoot with only a 50mm prime – both of my sons prefer to shoot film now! There is no explaining some things! :-)

When I shoot street I tend to approach it somewhat as a landscape photographer, first looking for interesting light, patterns, colors, and so forth. At that point I often square up a composition and then look for the right person or people to walk through the scene, and I try to time the exposure to put the figure in an interesting place in the composition. In this case I think it got quite lucky with the colors of the fellow’s clothing against the maroon wall!

This photograph is not in the public domain and may not be used on websites, blogs, or in other media without advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

G Dan Mitchell Photography | Twitter | Friendfeed | Facebook | Facebook Fan Page | Email

Technical Data:
Canon EOS 5D Mark II
Canon EF 50mm f/1.4 USM
ISO 200, f/11, 1/100 second

keywords: man, person, walking, cell, phone, talking, maroon, yellow, tan, arch, circle, patterns, window, reflection, fire, alarm, parking, meter, sidewalk, manhole, cover, design, gate, door, vent, address, hill, slope, san francisco, california, usa, north america, street, urban, downtown, city, stock

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Northern California, Photographs: Owens Valley, Photographs: Sierra Nevada

Autumn Storm Clouds at Dawn – Basin Mountain and Mount Humphreys

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Autumn Storm Clouds at Dawn - Basin Mountain and Mount Humphreys

Autumn Storm Clouds at Dawn – Basin Mountain and Mount Humphreys. Sierra Nevada, California. October 3, 2009. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Early morning light above the Buttermilks illumunates Basin Mountain and Mount Humphreys under the clouds of an early autumn storm over the Sierra Nevada crest.

This is another of several exposures I made on this beautiful early October morning when I decided to abandon my plans to be at North Lake for dawn after spotting these astonishing clouds over the eastern Sierra as I drove through the Buttermilks on my way up into the Bishop Creek drainage. I drove out on gravel roads into the high desert until I found what looked like an interesting juxtaposition of near hills, mountains beyond, the peaks of the Sierra in the distance, and the clouds that were dropping light snow up higher in the range above.

Needless to say, the light and the cloud forms were constantly changing as I watched this scene. I waited until the closer rocky hills began to pick up a bit of a glow from the sun low in the eastern sky, and then I made a number of exposures as the sun struck lower on the mountains and as the patterns of light and shadow from racing clouds moved across the peaks.

This photograph is not in the public domain. It may not be used on websites, blogs, or in any other media without explicit advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

Web: G Dan Mitchell Photography
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keywords: basin, mountain, mount, humphreys, sierra, nevada, mountain, range, crest, buttermilk, high, desert, owens, valley, trees, rocks, boulders, morning, dawn, light, illuminate, black and white, dramatic, ridge, peak, shadow, storm, clouds, patterns, bishop, california, usa, eastern, slope, escarpment, season, fall, autumn, early, stock

Photographs: Northern California, Photographs: Owens Valley, Photographs: Sierra Nevada

Basin Mountain, Morning Light

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Basin Mountain, Morning Light

Basin Mountain, Morning Light. Sierra Nevada, California. October 3, 2009. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Early morning light with clearing clouds above Basin Mountain and the Sierra Crest near the high desert of the Buttermilks, Sierra Nevada, California.

I awoke well before dawn in Bishop on this early October morning with intentions of being at a location such as North Lake for dawn, but as I ascended the road into the Sierra from Bishop I was distracted by impressive cloud formations over the Sierra crest around Basin Mountain and the peaks of the crest. I spontaneously made a change in plans and turned off the main road towards the Buttermilks to see if I could find a place to photograph this scene before it all ended.

There is a small “village” up Starlite Road from 168, and a gravel road continues beyond it. This road soon took me to the top of a small hill before a big drop-off and once I spotted the way the peaks lined up and the location of the trees I decided to stop here, set up, and be ready to shoot dawn light.

While the light itself seems quite interesting, one of the most unusual features is seen in the shape of the clouds above the crest – they almost trace the rough outline of the high peaks.

This photograph is not in the public domain. It may not be used on websites, blogs, or in any other media without explicit advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

Web: G Dan Mitchell Photography
Twitter: http://twitter.com/gdanmitchell
Friendfeed: http://friendfeed.com/gdanmitchell
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keywords: basin, mountain, sierra, nevada, crest, range, peak, ridge, escarpment, morning, dawn, early, light, glow, alpenglow, buttermilk, country, hills, high, desert, pink, cloud, pattern, lenticular, sunrise, trees, rocks, sage, sky, blue, clearing, weather, california, usa, bishop, starlite, tree, forest, slope, landscape, stock, owens, valley