Tag Archives: snow

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

Almost Without Form

March 9, 2015 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Winter storm clouds, mist, and snow obscure the upper rim of Yosemite Valley

I have an idea that one kind of better photograph is a photograph that is as minimal as possible, perhaps so minimal that the viewer has to guess at and perhaps fill in details that are implied but not literally present in the image. I’m also intrigued by subjects that are on the edge of being (or not being) visible — how little can be present in the image and still have it be an image of something. And I’m also fascinated by luminous atmosphere — clouds and fog and mist made to glow softly by sunlight.

Near the end of February we were in Yosemite Valley for a few days in connection with the opening of the 30th Yosemite Renaissance exhibition. We were hoping for a real snow storm, and early encouraging predictions suggested snow all the way to the Valley floor. The way things have gone this year, it was little surprise when that did not happen — but there were beautiful clouds drifting around the upper reaches of the Valley’s cliffs and pinnacles, and snow did fall at higher elevations. Partially because we were with a person who had never been to the Valley before we stopped more than once at some of the popular and iconic spots — and this photograph, though it does not show the famous iconic view, was made at one of the best known as think clouds and light snow passed across the upper rim of the Valley, nearly rendering granite towers and solitary trees invisible.

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

Storm Clouds, Pinnacles

March 2, 2015 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Winter storm clouds swirl around pinnacles above Yosemite Valley

We were in Yosemite Valley during the late-February season so that we could attend the opening reception for the 30th Yosemite Renaissance exhibit reception. For three decades this juried exhibition has been presenting work by a wide range of wonderful artists who focus on Yosemite and the Sierra. I am grateful that one of my photographs was included in the show again this year. It was wonderful to see so many Yosemite artists of all sorts, their beautiful work, and the large group of art lovers who came to view the opening.

Since we were in the Valley for the exhibit, we figured we might as well make some photographs! The weekend brought the promise of some much-needed snow in the Valley and the higher country. In the end the amount of precipitation was woefully small, yet colder temperatures, and small amounts of snow, and the swirling clouds reminded us of what Sierra winters are supposed to look like. As I stood at a famous overlook, in the company of many other people, I aimed my camera away from the main scene before us, angled it up toward the upper rim of the many, and captured this little scene.

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Sierra Nevada

Morning Snow, Eastern Sierra

January 23, 2015 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Sunrise snow along the eastern escarpment of the Sierra Nevada

This is a part of California that probably impresses newcomers as being more of a desert than anything else, with rugged high elevation sagebrush country standing in front of the rocky and even more rugged eastern escarpment of the Sierra, where the creeks and lakes and forest glades of the range’s intimate landscape are too far away to be visible. I first loved the Sierra for its alpine wilderness, and back then I was not interested in places like this, but today I find them as much part of the Sierra experience as any alpine lake.

As I do every year at about this time, I was on the “east side” for the fall aspen color. And, as happens at least once every year, I was so distracted by some other element of the terrain that I forgot about aspens for a moment and went off to photograph something else. This “something else” was a combination of things. A light morning snow storm was clearing away from the highest peaks in the early morning light of this autumn day. This light was soft on the thinning clouds and snow flurries was stronger, direct, and more stark on the foreground of sage-covered desert hills

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

Autumn Snow, Bear Creek Spire

January 17, 2015 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Early season autumn snow below Bear Creek Spire, Eastern Sierra Nevada

This little lake might be familiar to a number of viewers who hike in the eastern Sierra, as it is not too far up a popular trail to other east side access points for backpackers and day hikers. I have been there quite a few times over the years, though rarely with the lake itself as the objective. There is one exception. I recall one pack trip quite a few years ago, when a friend and I had arrived at the trailhead quite late in the day. We wanted to get a head start on the next day’s hike, so we headed out and dusk and got just far enough up the trail to set up a crude camp (I was just using a bivy sack, if I recall correctly) after dark.

The story behind this photograph is a different one. As I often do in October, I headed to the eastern Sierra to photograph that annual fall aspen color show. My plans are usually quite general, and I prefer to sort of follow my hunches as I poke around in various east side locations looking for photographs. I had been working with a client who wanted a photograph of a peak that appears in this photograph, and when I saw the conditions (nice weather and new snow) it occurred to me that I might quickly find something that would work better for my client than the photos I had already proposed. So I drove up to the trailhead (which I often visit anyway), shouldered my camera pack, and headed to this quiet spot where the scene look at lot more like winter than early autumn!

G Dan Mitchell Photography

Tag Archives: snow

Almost Without Form

Storm Clouds, Pinnacles

Morning Snow, Eastern Sierra

Autumn Snow, Bear Creek Spire

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