Tag Archives: storm

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Sierra Nevada

After the Rain

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After the Rain
“After the Rain” — Rain-slicked rocks in a subalpiine meadow as a Sierra storm clears.

This photograph evokes memories of a whole range of sensory experiences in the Sierra. Some are specific to the time and place where the photograph was made, but others are more generalized. There’s something compelling about backcountry rain and the experience of its passage. We think of the Sierra as the “range of light,” but a storm changes everything — the light, the colors, the air, the smells, and even the sound.

This time it had rained since the previous afternoon, hard enough to keep us in our tents and away from photography. Shortly after midday it slowed to a light drizzle, and we were able to escape the tents and head out with camera gear. Nearby was an outcropping where the rocks where still shiny with rain, and in the distance post-rain fog was drifting among the peaks.

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

Clearing Storm, Lake, and Fog

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Clearing Storm, Lake, and Fog
“Clearing Storm, Lake, and Fog” — Evening fog drifts over moutains around a Sierra Nevada mountain lake as storm clouds clear.

I made this photograph on a rather remarkable Sierra evening. Late the previous day it had started to rain. Contrary to my expectations and experience, this turned out to not be just another afternoon shower — it absolutely poured, confining us to tents for hours and restricting our photography well into the next day. Finally the rain began to let up and we got out, though everything remained gray and wet. It wasn’t until the second evening, right around sunset, that the clouds finally broke enough to let in some light. But what light it was — perhaps a reward for our forbearance during the storm!

This photograph has been sitting in the archives for quite some time. I have looked at it in periodically and puzzled over how to handle it. The challenge was that the sky color was bright and extremely intense, so my exposure had to leave the foreground in deep shadow. This week I came back to the photo and figured out how to process it. Part of the challenge was technical, but it was also aesthetic — a question of how bright to make things and still retain the sense of oncoming twilight.

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: Articles, Sales and Licensing, my Sierra Nevada Fall Color book, Contact Info.

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

A Storm Approaches

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A Storm Approaches
“A Storm Approaches” — Forest trees stand in sunlight while distant ridges are darkened by the clouds of an approaching Sierra storm.

At first look this might just seem like a photograph of a row of trees. It is late in the day, and the warm light lends color to this forest at Tuolumne Meadows, and it looks like a pleasant early evening. But that bluish strip at the top of the frame tells a different story. Look closely and you can make out a peak, and the peak is backed by higher peaks that are partially obscured by the dark clouds from an incoming storm.

We hear all the time that photography is about light, and there’s truth to that claim. (I would hold that it isn’t always “just” about light, but subjects usually benefit a lot from wonderful light.) One of my favorite situations is the one shown here — something nearby in lovely, warm light, but in the background a darker and more dramatic effect.

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: Articles, Sales and Licensing, my Sierra Nevada Fall Color book, Contact Info.

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Photographs: Architecture, Photographs: Desert, Photographs: Southern California

Desert Church, Cloud-Filled Sky

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Desert Church, Cloud-Filled Sky
“Desert Church, Cloud-Filled Sky” — Cloud-filled skies above the St. Madeleine Sophie Barat Roman Catholic Church in Trona, California

This is not the first time I have photographed this striking desert church, and isn’t even the only photograph of the subject from my visit to this area earlier this year. Trona is a small, hard-scrabble town in the desert between Ridgecrest and Death Valley. It is build around extraction industries, primarily based on “mining” the mineral deposits left behind when water evaporates from nearly Searles Lake. It is a tough place, full of abandoned buildings, and terribly hot at times.

The church has caught my attention for years as I’ve passed through on my way to Death Valley. It is one of the most unusual Catholic churches I have seen. Its construction seems entirely utilitarian, and its shape is notable blocky and square. There’s nothing colorful or soaring about its structure. This all seems fitting in this harsh environment. On this visit I paused to photograph it again, this time with an impressive cloud-filled sky from a departing late-winter storm.

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 | Instagram | Flickr | Facebook | Threads | Post | Email

Links: Articles, Sales and Licensing, my Sierra Nevada Fall Color book, Contact Info.

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