Tag Archives: stock

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

Small Trees and Plants, Granite Slabs

September 25, 2011 G Dan Mitchell 4 Comments

Small trees and plants grow in a thin crack among stained granite slabs, Yosemite National Park.

Just over a small hill from the campsite on the first nights of my recent Yosemite back-country photography trip, the Tuolumne River cuts down through rocky terrain and past large granite slabs marked by intrusions of red rock. As is often the case in the Sierra, any tiny crack or weakness in the rock is enough for plants to get started. This very think crack supports a “grove” of very small trees, along with some other plants.

The previous week had been a rainy one, including the night before, when I arrived just in time to set up my tent before the rain began. As a result, water had been draining across this granite slope and highlighting the natural seepage lines on the rock and the colors of various deposits from the more colorful rock above and embedded in the granite slabs. I made this photograph in the very soft early morning light before the sun had risen high enough to send direct light down into the canyon.

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

Forest And Cliffs, Evening

September 24, 2011 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Forest trees, lit by evening light, ascend granite cliffs in the Yosemite National Park back-country.

From September 14 through September 21 I spent eight days on the trail in the back-country of Yosemite National Park, starting and ending at Tuolumne Meadows, taking time to photograph some of the areas I passed through. I was fortunate to be able to join up with a group of five outstanding Yosemite photographers on all but the last day – they were to remain in the high country for several more days after I left.

On the second evening of the trip I walked to a nearby rocky area to photograph, well, rocks – granite slabs, actually, that are marked by reddish deposits and broken up by trees struggling to grow in cracks and small pockets of soil in the rock. I also wanted to photograph a nearby section of the Tuolumne River as it descended through some steep areas of granite as it entered a narrower section of canyon. I started working perhaps an hour and a half or so before sunset, and as actual sunset approached I looked up from these subjects to see the light from the lowering sun beginning to backlight trees high on a cliff above my position and to angle across the edges of the cliffs themselves. I switched gears – and lenses – and began to work on finding compositions in this rocky terrain, seen through a bit of haze and lit by increasingly warm light.

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

Building Clouds, Upper Young Lake

September 23, 2011 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Black and white photograph of clouds building in the sky above Upper Young Lake and Ragged Peak, Yosemite National Park.

Young Lakes in general, and the upper lake specifically are among my favorite places in the Yosemite back-country. This little Basin has a lot to offer, especially to photographers. For one thing, it is almost completely open to the west and late day light, and the upper lake is one of my favorite places to be as a summer evening comes to an end. (There is, of course, then the matter of the typical walk back to my campsite at the lower lake in the near darkness, but that just adds a bit of adventure.)

If I recall correctly, this was one of those days when I did not quite predict the weather accurately. I saw these beautiful clouds beginning to build fairly early in the day, but figured that I’d have plenty of time to get to the upper lake and perhaps even investigate some areas beyond before the weather got “interesting,” so I headed off without any real rain gear. (You know where this is leading…) Here at the upper lake, the clouds don’t look bad at all – definitely in the “interesting” category, but not all that threatening. With that in mind, after shooting here a bit I headed on up above the lake to check out some higher ridges and so forth that I’d been thinking about visiting.

Much to my surprise, within a few the wind picked up and giant raindrops began to fall. I heard a few claps of thunder. And there I was at timberline without any rain protection at all. Needless to say, I high-tailed it back down, stopping briefly to get a bit of shelter under a tree near the middle lake. Arriving back at my camp, I had the ever-so-fun opportunity to practice the skills of a somewhat wet me into my bivy sack without totally soaking my sleeping bag…

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Photographs: Architecture, Photographs: New York City, Photographs: Structures and Objects, Photographs: Urban/Street

Fire Escape Ladder, Brick Building

September 22, 2011 G Dan Mitchell 5 Comments

On the final morning of our August (2011) visit to New York City, we took the subway down toward the lower end of the island to meet our son – the plan being to walk though Soho and (I think) the West Village, ending up at a gallery in Chelsea. After taking care of the most pressing bit of initial business – coffee – we wandered on through Soho… and I think this photograph was made there.

New Yorkers undoubtedly know exactly is going on with this light, but for the rest of the world… the morning sun was passing through a relatively narrow gap between buildings to strike this brick wall and partially pick off this green emergency exit zigzagging down the front of this building. In a lot of ways, this isn’t totally different from shooting natural landscapes – go out early, look for interesting subjects, find good light, make photographs. It isn’t totally the same – duh! – either. Not only can you walk here from coffee, but we (my son and I) shot without tripods, and I stuck to a single 50mm prime to keep things simple.

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