Tag Archives: storm

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

Oak in Winter

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Oak in Winter
Light snow covers a meadow and the branches of an oak tree during a spring storm, Yosemite Valley

Oak in Winter. © Copyright 2018 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Light snow covers a meadow and the branches of an oak tree during a spring storm, Yosemite Valley

I went back and forth on the question of whether this photograph should be black and white or color. When I made the photograph, in light snow flurries and soft and low light, there was hardly any color in the scene, and I imagined the “I might as well” go with monochrome. I toyed with the idea of doing a color rendition and leaving the viewer to figure out if it really was in color or not. Finally, I simply decided that color wasn’t a particularly important aspect of the image… and here you are.

The scene might be just a bit deceiving. It is clearly a winter-like scene (though photographed in early spring) with new fallen snow. However, a closer look reveals that the snow is quite light — perhaps no more than an inch or so — yet it is fresh enough to cling to branches and cover the ground. It was snowing lightly as I made the photograph, in fact.

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

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

Conifers, Snow, Cliff

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Conifers, Snow, Cliff
A group of conifer trees at the edge of a meadow during Yosemite Valley snow flurries

Conifers, Snow, Cliff. © Copyright 2018 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A group of conifer trees at the edge of a meadow during Yosemite Valley snow flurries

During the two-plus months of my Yosemite Renaissance artist-in-residency in the park I made hundreds of photographs. Some of those made it into a show that is now going on at Gallery 5 in Oakhurst, on the southern park boundary: “Transitions: Winter Into Spring — Yosemite Renaissance Artist-In-Residence G Dan Mitchell And Friends.” (The show continues until the end of this month, and it features the work of several fellow artists I invited to join me: Jerry Bosworth, Franka Mlikota Gabler, Charlotte Hamilton Gib, David Hoffman, Vidya Kane, and Kerby Smith.) I mention this because I am still working on photographs from this project even now — and this is one of them.

I made this photograph on a mid-April day when winter seemed to want to hang on just a bit longer. Near the start of this visit a small but energetic weather front swept through, raising the wind, dropping the temperature, and leaving behind a layer of new snow. I made this photograph as the storm passed, with snow flurries muting the features of more distant trees and the huge granite cliffs beyond. The snow also mutes the colors, and unless you look closely you might mistake this for a monochromatic photograph.

See top of this page for Articles, Sales and Licensing, my Sierra Nevada Fall Color book, Contact Information and more.

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

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

Mountains, Spring Snow

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Mountains, Spring Snow
New snow from a spring storm blankets high ridges near the Sierra Nevada crest

Mountains, Spring Snow. © Copyright 2018 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

New snow from a spring storm blankets high ridges near the Sierra Nevada crest

There is no question that for me and many others the sight of high, rocky, snow-covered alpine ridges, especially when backed by dramatic clouds and their racing shadows, is a compelling thing. I know it is true, but I often wonder why it is. Logically, such places are not pleasant or comfortable. In Darwinian terms, it is hard to see how an attraction to these places is logical — you aren’t going to find food or shelter there, and the conditions can be life-challenging. Yet we — or at least a pretty big percentage of “we” — find them appealing and even heart-stirring. I suppose that some things must remain mysteries.

This scene looks like winter, but it was photographed during spring. And, despite the alpine appearance, the photograph was made from a road — during my annual first trip over Tioga Pass via Tuolumne Meadows. As can happen at this time of year, one of those dying-gasp-of-winter weather fronts was in the process of moving through, it had left snow on the highest peaks and ridges, and its clouds were still blowing across the mountaintops.

See top of this page for Articles, Sales and Licensing, my Sierra Nevada Fall Color book, Contact Information and more.

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 | Twitter | Facebook | LinkedIn | Email

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

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Sierra Nevada

Afternoon Light, Lee Vining Canyon

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Afternoon Light, Lee Vining Canyon
Clouds from a dissipating storm, afternoon haze and light, spring aspens and meadows in Lee Vining Canyon

Afternoon Light, Lee Vining Canyon. © Copyright 2018 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Clouds from a dissipating storm, afternoon haze and light, spring aspens and meadows in Lee Vining Canyon

This is another photograph from my marathon one-day trip from the San Francisco Bay Area over Tioga Pass and back earlier this week. This was as close to Monday’s opening of Tioga Pass Road as I could make it. In some ways it may have turned out for the best to not go on the actual opening day. I suspect that there were more people up there that day, and it was fairly deserted a couple of days later. I think that the weather was probably a bit more cooperative when I went, too — it was mostly fair, but with some interesting clouds and even a couple of drops of rain.

By mid-afternoon I had crossed the pass and dropped down to Lee Vining. The midday light isn’t generally my favorite for photography, so I went for a hike near Mono Lake before swinging back to Lee Vining to grab an early dinner before starting my return trip. The plan was to start back up through Lee Vining Canyon as the light was starting to become interesting, giving my as much as a couple of hours of potential photography time along Tioga Pass Road. It was somewhat hazy — a slightly thick atmosphere left behind in the wake of a weather front. This can produce dramatic lighting sometimes, but it can also lower contrast, mute colors, and generally make photography a bit tricky. (One option is to shoot for black and white!) As I started the climb up into Lee Vining Canyon, some beams of light came down from dissipating clouds and began to light the new growth of meadows and aspen trees at the bottom of the canyon.

See top of this page for Articles, Sales and Licensing, my Sierra Nevada Fall Color book, Contact Information and more.

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 | Twitter | Facebook | LinkedIn | Email

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