Tag Archives: storm

Photographs: Central California, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Ocean & Coast, Photographs: Travel

Approaching Storm, Big Sur Coast

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Approaching Storm, Big Sur Coast
Haze and fog along the mountain tops as a storm approaches along the rugged Big Sur coast of California.

Approaching Storm, Big Sur Coast. © Copyright 2021 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Haze and fog along the mountain tops as a storm approaches along the rugged Big Sur coast of California.

This photograph actually from a couple of years ago. (More on that subject in a moment.) I made it on one of my Big Sur day trips, on which I leave home early, photograph before the crowds arrive, and then head home by early afternoon. Yes, I’m fortunate to live close enough to do that. If I recall correctly, on this day I was hoping to beat a weather front to the coast, expecting to photograph the sunny boundary just ahead of the clouds. Conditions were different from what I expected — by the time I arrived at this point the front’s cloud shield was moving over the coastline, becoming more dramatic by the moment. Fog along the coastal hills was dissipating and there was still some haze.

Not only is this photograph from two years ago, but it is a fresh rendition of a scene that I shared at that time, based either on the very same exposure or one made at almost the same time. I went with an (unusual for me) square crop in order to contrast the dark mass of the steep cliffs rising from the sea and the more distant and lighter water, mountains, and sky. For those of you who may occasionally have dreams about where you would like to live, if you look very closely at the dark foreground ridge you might spot a place that could make you very jealous.

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.

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Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Sierra Nevada

Storm Clouds Above The Crest

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Storm Clouds Above The Crest
Dark clouds beyond the crest while morning light shines on the east slope of the Sierra Nevada.

Storm Clouds Above The Crest. © Copyright 2021 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Dark clouds beyond the crest while morning light shines on the east slope of the Sierra Nevada.

This should be a fine photograph in this series made in early morning light in the eastern Sierra Nevada above Bishop, CA. The morning began before dawn in extremely soft and blue-tinted light. Then the first direct light came through a narrow gap between the White Mountains and the clouds behind me and gradually spread down the escarpment of the Sierra. I continued photographing as this process unfolded, and by the time I made this photograph the direct light had arrived at my location and the deep golden color of the dawn light was dissipating.

Locations like this one are among the best to understand the immense size of the Sierra and the height of the crest. Far behind my camera position and quite a bit lower lies the Owens Valley, but even from this higher vantage point the steep faces of the peaks are formidable. On this morning the clouds added another dimension to the show. Up higher, above the area of this composition, gently curving clouds mirrored the shapes of the ridges. Below those clouds lay the dramatically dark form directly above the peaks, as seen in the photograph.

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.

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

Evening Storm, Sierra Crest

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Evening Storm, Sierra Crest
An evening thunderstorm dissipates over the Sierra Nevada crest in Northern Yosemite.

Evening Storm, Sierra Crest. © Copyright 2021 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

An evening thunderstorm dissipates over the Sierra Nevada crest in Northern Yosemite.

The Sierra Nevada crest runs just northwest of this area in northern Yosemite National Park, and the mountains here rise to rugged, rocky heights, in places high enough to be topped by the older geological layers that were lifted up on top of the material that produced the range. This is alpine country — in places it is easy to travel since the landscape is so open, but eventually you’ll run up against these jagged peaks.

On this evening I had ascended some gentler — though still quite rocky — terrain not far from our camp, originally with the idea of photographing a large valley to our west and the peaks beyond it. Just before sunset I started to descend, coming back around the shoulder of “my” ridge and turning toward this line of peaks to the east and the remnants of a huge dissipating thunderhead on the other side of the crest.

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.

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

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

Dunes, Sandstorm, and Mountains

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Dunes, Sandstorm, and Mountains
A Death Valley sandstorm builds above sand dunes, obscuring distant desert mountains.

Dunes, Sandstorm, and Mountains. © Copyright 2013 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A Death Valley sandstorm builds above sand dunes, obscuring distant desert mountains.

Once again I am discovering how many promising photographs get left behind when I first assess them shortly after making the photographs… and how valuable it is to revisit the original files later on. I typically do a year-end review of the previous year’s raw files, but even then I miss a few. So I suppose that there is at least one good thing to come from the limits on photography in the pandemic era — the extra time available to go back and take a look at the old files with new eyes.

For the past week or two I have been digging into photographs from the late winter and early spring of 2013. These images include Death Valley photographs from that year’s annual visit to the park. On this day the ubiquitous Death Valley winds had risen, and a sandstorm was developing above the upper valley, blowing sand and dust southward toward these dunes. The wind was gusty, and rather than filling the atmosphere with uniform haze, tall clouds of dust and sand rose high into the sky as they traversed the landscape.

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.

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