Tag Archives: storm

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

Lenticular Clouds, Alpenglow Reflections

Image 2 Comments
Lenticular Clouds, Alpenglow Reflections
“Lenticular Clouds, Alpenglow Reflections” — Two lenticular clouds in the alpenglow above the Sierra Nevada crest, Yosemite National Park.

This photograph comes from her the end of the spectacular afternoon and evening that I’ve been posting about recently. To quickly recap, I saw lenticular clouds forming over the crest earlier in the day, headed to this spot that I had scoped out previously, then photographed all the way from pre-golden hour through sunset and on into the early dusk. This photograph was made just after sunset, when the pink light was still coloring the sky and the landscape but the blue of evening was gradually taking over.

If you head out into the landscape often to photograph, you will experience a lot of fine but unremarkable days. With care, you can make good photographs in those conditions. You’ll also experience a few “meh” days when nothing happens. (Deny all you want, but you’ve experience it!) But it seems like this earns you an occasional luminous miracle, when everything comes together and amazement ensues. If there is a downside to this, it might be having to explain to people that, “yes, this really happened!” That’s a small price to pay.

Leave a comment or question using the form. (Click the title to see the full article and to comment if you are viewing it on the home page.)

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” (Heyday Books) is available directly from him. Blog | Bluesky | Mastodon | Substack Notes | Flickr | Email

All media © Copyright G Dan Mitchell and others.

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

Clearing Storm, Evening

Image 1 Comment
Clearing Storm, Evening
Summer thunder storm clouds clear at sunset above the Sierra Nevada crest, Yosemite National Park.

Clearing Storm, Evening. © Copyright 2022 G Dan Mitchell.

Summer thunder storm clouds clear at sunset above the Sierra Nevada crest, Yosemite National Park.

Photographic prospects seem to be distributed across a sort of bell curve. Most of the time the opportunities are fine and interesting, and it is possible to make decent photographs from what you find. Occasionally I find myself at one of the sharp ends of the curve. When at the end where nothing much seems to be happening, I remind myself that I’m storing up karma for those moments when the opposite happens. And if you are out there enough, these unbelievable moments will happen from time to time — and they are enough to keep you coming back.

This was a truly memorable evening that provided an embarrassment of visual riches. Soon after this trip, I came up with a series of four photographs in landscape orientation that traced the astonishing evolution of the light from late afternoon through dusk. Four seemed like plenty at the time, so I left the rest behind — some of which would normally have been keepers. This is one of those, made when I briefly shifted the camera to portrait orientation.

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, Amazon, and directly from G Dan Mitchell.

Blog | About | Twitter | Flickr | Facebook | Email

Links to Articles, Sales and Licensing, my Sierra Nevada Fall Color book, Contact Information.

Scroll down to leave a comment or question. (Click this post’s title first if you are viewing on the home page.)

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

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Sierra Nevada

Clearing Storm, Sierra Crest

Image Leave a comment
Clearing Storm, Sierra Crest
A late-spring storm clears along the Sierra Nevada crest near Bloody Canyon.

Clearing Storm, Sierra Crest. © Copyright 2022 G Dan Mitchell.

A late-spring storm clears along the Sierra Nevada crest near Bloody Canyon.

This photograph comes from an early-season trip across the Sierra crest a few years ago. It must have been quite a day. The first photographs from the set were in springtime Yosemite Valley. By the end of the day I had crossed Tioga Pass and headed out to the east of the range and into high desert near Mono Lake, the location from which I made this photograph late in the afternoon.

If only I kept a diary of these things! My hunch is that this was my “first trip of the season” across recently-cleared passes, on which I often take stock of the conditions at the beginning of a new summer season. From the looks of the clouds hugging the crest along the eastern Yosemite boundary, winter had not yet quite let go. There was still a decent amount of snow, clouds draped the crest, and it looks like there is some active precipitation.

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, Amazon, and directly from G Dan Mitchell.

Blog | About | Twitter | Flickr | Facebook | Email

Links to Articles, Sales and Licensing, my Sierra Nevada Fall Color book, Contact Information.

Scroll down to leave a comment or question. (Click this post’s title first if you are viewing on the home page.)

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

Photographs: Death Valley, Photographs: Desert, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Southern California

Dunes and Blowing Sand

Image Leave a comment
Dunes and Blowing Sand
Streamers of blowing sand from a rising dust storm along the edges of a tall sand dune.

Dunes and Blowing Sand. © Copyright 2022 G Dan Mitchell.

Streamers of blowing sand from a rising dust storm along the edges of a tall sand dune.

The desert landscape has a way of reminding us how small we are. Sometimes this happens in unexpected ways, perhaps in a moment when the air is still in a quiet, lonely place and a sense of deep time may become overwhelming. More familiar manifestations are common, including such things as the nearly unbearable power of a desert wind storm, or standing on a peak and overlooking hundreds of square miles of what appears to be “empty” terrain.

I photographed these dunes on a windy afternoon and evening. The winds increased as I worked alone At times streamers of sand blew past me, over the lips of folds in the dunes, and sometimes even uphill. I would pause, hunch my shoulders a bit, steady tripod and camera, and resume photographing a moment later. I made this photograph from near the bottom of a tall dune, angling the camera slightly upwards to include its windward face.

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, Amazon, and directly from G Dan Mitchell.

Blog | About | Flickr | Facebook | Email

Links to Articles, Sales and Licensing, my Sierra Nevada Fall Color book, Contact Information.

Scroll down to leave a comment or question. (Click this post’s title first if you are viewing on the home page.)

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