Tag Archives: slopes

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Sequoia-Kings Canyon, Photographs: Sierra Nevada

Alpine Tarns

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Alpine Tarns
Alpine tarns at the base of talus slopes, Kings Canyon National Park

Alpine Tarns. Kings Canyon National Park, California. September 15, 2013. © Copyright 2013 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Alpine tarns at the base of talus slopes, Kings Canyon National Park

The meaning of the term “tarn” is somewhat varied. Two technical definitions I’ve heard include (rather precisely) a small lake in a depression scooped out by glacial action, or (more informally perhaps) simply any very small body of mountain water too small to qualify as a real lake. Yes, that’s pretty subjective! Aside from their tendency to produce mosquitos, I love tarns, and I especially love areas where they are embedded in a rocky landscape broken by small meadows and occasionally trees.

I photographed this spot with its tarns (or small lakes, if you prefer) in shaded, soft light. There was sun, but it was low enough in the sky that its direct light was blocked by a tremendous rocky ridge to our west. Down here at the base of the small valley where we camped, everything was quiet and soft, including the light.

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

Barren Slopes

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Barren Slopes
Boulders scattered across the slopes of a rocky desert landscape

Barren Slopes. Death Valley National Park, California. March 31. 2015. © Copyright 2015 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Boulders scattered across the slopes of a rocky desert landscape

This bit of landscape is a familiar one for me. An odd hill stands in the middle of mostly level playa and near drifting sand — the hill is composed of a different and darker material and is in other ways not like the surroundings. A number of years ago I discovered that place provides some panoramic views of surrounding terrain that stretch off into the distance, and I often go there early in the morning or in the evening to photograph when conditions seem right.

On this evening I did go there, but decided to wander along its flank rather than go to the top. At the base of the western slopes the rugged and rocky terrain faced the sunset sky, muted by high clouds, and presented a series of shallow valleys leading off into the distance, punctuated by boulders.

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

Aspen Forest and Hills

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Aspen Forest and Hills
Ranks of autumn aspen trees ascend the slopes of the Eastern Sierra toward the crest in afternoon light

Aspen Forest and Hills. Sierra Nevada, California. October 2, 2015. © Copyright 2015 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Ranks of autumn aspen trees ascend the slopes of the Eastern Sierra toward the crest in afternoon light

This is a photograph of brilliantly colorful eastern Sierra fall foliage… in black and white. Because I can! The location is along US 395 as it passes along the eastern escarpment of the range, and in this spot the hills are terraced upward toward the Sierra crest, high above and out of sight in this photograph. Aspens grow in abundance on these lower slopes, interspersed with grasslands, and leading to more aspens up higher and eventually to conifer forests.

I like to photograph in this area in the late afternoon, when low angle sun light comes streaming over the top of the mountains and backlights the trees and accentuates the effect of haze. While the close trees probably first got my attention, it was the little row of trees in the far distance, seen near the upper margin of the photograph, that eventually intrigued me the most. Why black and white? To be honest, one reason that I thought of this at the time I made the exposure was that, frankly, the colors were not yet at their peak. As I though about that it became clear to me that this photograph was not so much about fall color as it was about fall atmosphere — that softening and warming of the light, the gentle haze that mutes the details of more distant subjects. And I thought of this as just a little bit of a personal challenge. Frankly, it is probably easier to make a photograph in color that says “autumn.” But I know that black and white photographers have been able to accomplish the same thing, and I thought it would be interesting to give it a try myself.

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

Forest Edge, Mountain Slopes, Evening

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Forest Edge, Mountain Slopes, Evening
Forest edge in evening light with forest sloping upwards toward Sierra crest peaks

Forest Edge, Mountain Slopes, Evening. Yosemite National Park, California. July 13, 2015. © Copyright 2015 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Forest edge in evening light with forest sloping upwards toward Sierra crest peaks

This is most certainly not an iconic view, but I’m sure that many fellow Yosemite high country aficionados have been to this spot and gazed at this and the surrounding view. (Part of one Yosemite high country icon does appear in this photograph, but it is the bottom part.)

Earlier on this visit to the park I had walked out into this landscape to photograph in the meadow, on low hills, among trees, and alongside a river. As I passed by here again on this early evening I stopped and was entranced by the warm evening light on the trees at the edge of the meadow and by the further forest-covered slopes rising into the alpine zone and eventually above tree line to the elevations where there is little but rock and tundra plants. While the landscape often seems rather static during the day, at moments like this near the beginning and ending of the day the landscape changes dynamically as light shifts and highlights and then shadows subjects.  I had only a brief moment to make this photograph (and a couple of others) before the light lifted from the trees and left them in shadow.

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+ | 500px.com | LinkedIn | Email

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