Tag Archives: storm

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Sierra Nevada

Evening Light, Clearing Storm

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Evening LIght, Clearing Storm
Summer storm clouds clear in the evening over the John Muir Wilderness

Evening Light, Clearing Storm. © Copyright 2019 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

One of the advantages of setting into one backcountrylocation for an extended stay is that I often get to experience the location in a variety of circumstances and conditions. I get to shoot in morning, midday, and evening light; in “perfect” blue-sky sunshine and thunderstorm conditions. And because the seasonal changes happen so rapidly in the high country, with its shortened growing season, I can watch wildflowers bloom and meadows transition from green to golden.

Along with fellow photographers, I spent a week in this spot two summers ago. On most days the sky was that Sierra Nevada “perfect blue…” that may not thrill photographers who are looking for something more interesting. But over the course of the stay those conditions changed. There was a morning with a deck of broken clouds, an night of thunderstorms, and this evening when clouds caught the light and high country pastels replaced the often stark

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 and Amazon.

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

Dunes, Mountains, Sand Storm

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Dunes, Mountains, Sand Storm
A sand storm blows a cloud of dust into desert mountains at sunset

Dunes, Mountains, Sand Storm. © Copyright 2019 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A sand storm blows a cloud of dust into desert mountains at sunset.

This early-April afternoon and evening produced remarkable conditions in Death Valley. I had seen the advance warnings of high winds and sand storms so I was already thinking of the potential conditions beforehand, but late in the day I noted that dust clouds were already visible far to the north. But the wind-driven sand and dust wasn’t the only interesting element — a weather front was also moving through, stacking up spectacular clouds, some of which were managing to drop some rain.

We did a big loop northward along the eastern slopes of the valley, climbing a ways into the Amargosa Range before coming back down to the valley, where the winds continued and dust and sand were blowing everywhere. We stopped in the thick of it, and I thought about a technique I often use in these conditions: photographing with a long lens from inside the vehicle. But that presented two problems: opening a window even a crack quickly let in piles of sand, and the subjects I was interested were in all directions. So I got out, cowering in the leeward side of the vehicle, and photographed as the sand blew, clouds to the west began to thin, and sunset light struck the mountains to my east.

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 and Amazon.

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

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

Photographs: Central California, Photographs: Nature

Spring Meadow, Passing Storm

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Spring Meadow, Passing Storm
Sunlight on a flower-filled spring meadow with storm clouds in the distance

Spring Meadow, Passing Storm. © Copyright 2019 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Sunlight on a flower-filled spring meadow with storm clouds in the distance.

This spring I was fortunate to be able to chase the spring wildflower bloom over a period of more than two months. (And I’m not done yet!) I visited this location twice, once near the end of March and again a few weeks later in early April when this wet-year bloom was more or less reaching its peak in this area. In some ways the springtime transformation in California areas like this one is doubly impressive, as these places are generally brown (or as we say, “golden”) during the majority of the year.

On the day of this visit there were scattered springtime rain squalls moving across the landscape. One moment it was sunny, and the next moment the sky was darkened by clouds and rain fell. Distant landscapes combined the patterns of shadows and the light. I had just made my camp in the hills and was descending back to the valley to chase the wildflowers when I stopped briefly to photograph this sunlit meadow backed by the dark skies of one of the passing showers.

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 and Amazon.

Blog | About | Flickr | Facebook | Email

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

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

Sunlit Mountains, Sand Storm

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Sunlit Mountains, Sand Storm
A desert sand storm spreads dust high into the air above a sunlit mountain range

Sunlit Mountains, Sand Storm. © Copyright 2019 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A desert sand storm spreads dust high into the air above a sunlit mountain range.

You might imagine that this was a quiet and peaceful landscape scene, judging by the sort light and static nature of the photograph. You would be wrong. I was standing in gale force winds, with windblown sand flying everywhere, out of my vehicle just long enough to make a few exposures.

The haze filling the air is from a sand storm that was emanating from more or less my location, and which then carried the blown sand and dust northeast into desert mountains. In some places the cloud seemed to make it all the way to the summit of the mountain range, but in this spot it was clear, even through this thick air, that the sun was still shining on the ridgeline.

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 and Amazon.

Blog | About | Flickr | Facebook | Email

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

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