Tag Archives: spring

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

Dogwood Blossom, Branches, and Leaves

May 24, 2009 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

A spring dogwood blossom cradled in dogwood leaves and branches, Yosemite Valley.

I photographed this single dogwood blossom nestled among branches and leaves against the background of a shaded tree trunk. I found this flower in upper Yosemite Valley right beside the road/trail to Mirror Lake. Although I shot in the middle of the afternoon – not exactly a time of favorable light – the forest canopy was thick enough here to diffuse the light.

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.

G Dan Mitchell Photography

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

Rocks, Stump, Spring Runoff – Tenaya Creek

May 21, 2009 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Tenaya Creek spring runoff flows over and onto rocks and tree stumps, Yosemite Valley.

This is one more in my sequence of photographs of spring runoff flow in Tenaya Creek below Mirror Lake in Yosemite Valley – photographs made during the second weekend of May. In this one I thought I would combine the flow over the streambed rocks with the water running up against the more or less immovable object of the old tree stump. The colors in the water are a combination of the intrinsic green of the water itself, the colors of the rocks over which the creek flows, and light reflected from sunlit vegetation on the opposite bank of the creek.

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.

keywords: california, sierra nevada, travel, Yosemite, valley, national park, tenaya, creek, stream, flow, runoff, melt, water, rock, stump, tree, trunk, usa, nature, landscape, scenic, season, spring, blur, abstract, sierra, nevada, mountain, range, stock, lichen, green

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

Submerged Rocks and Reflected Light, Tenaya Creek

May 19, 2009 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Two rocks submerged by spring runoff water in Tenaya Creek with reflectioned light from new growth on the opposite bank, Yosemite Valley, California.

This is basically the vertical format version of the scene that I posted earlier – high and fast spring runoff flow in Tenaya Creek just below Mirror Lake, with color reflected from new spring growth on the far bank of the creek.

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.

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

Dogwood Tree in Bloom, Detail

May 18, 2009 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Light filters through the branches of a blooming dogwood tree, Yosemite Valley.

The dogwood trees were blooming all over Yosemite Valley when I was there on May 9. (Unfortunately, the place was swarming with other park visitors as well, but that is a story for another time.) After entering the Valley very early on a Saturday morning I decided to head across to Northside Drive and photograph trees in El Capitan Meadow, one of my favorite photography locations. After finishing up there I thought I’d head back up into the Valley which, with the one-way road layout there, required me to first drive back down the Valley to cross over to Southside Drive. On the way the route passes the famous and iconic "Gates of the Valley" site – and I can hardly ever resist at least a brief stop there. I stopped, got out, and reassured myself that this was not the time to shoot this scene. (I’ll photograph it, but only if the conditions are very, very special.) However, across the road and a bit to the west I spotted several big dogwood trees in full bloom… and in soft partial sun created by the shadows from taller trees nearby. Usually I am not looking for dogwood blossoms so late in the morning, but these looked interesting – I ended up spending some time shooting them from underneath and trying to capture the backlit translucent blooms.

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.

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