Tag Archives: storm

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

Mountains, Spring Snow

May 27, 2018 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

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.

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

May 25, 2018 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

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.

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

Snow-Covered Trees, Cliff

May 20, 2018 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Spring snow blankets trees in front of a Yosemite Valley granite cliff face

This past few days has been pretty busy, as I work on making prints for an exhibit that opens on June 2. It looks like the prints are now all made — but the work of trimming, matting, framing, and otherwise preparing them continues over the next few days. The exhibit is “Transitions: Winter Into Spring — Photographs by G Dan Mitchell and Friends.” It features photographs that I made during this year’s winter and spring Yosemite Renaissance artist-in-residency in the park, and photographs by a group of talented photographers and friends including Jerry Bosworth, Franka Mlikota Gabler, Charlotte Hamilton Gibb, David Hoffman, Vidya Kane, and Kerby Smith. The show opens at Gallery 5 in Oakhurst, just outside the park, on June 2 and runs through the end of the month. There is a public reception at the gallery on June 9. If you are in the area, please come and visit!

This photograph is not in the show, but it was made during the project. As the “Winter Into Spring” title of the show suggests, I was in the park frequently from February through the April, working in conditions that ranged from freezing cold and wintry right on through warm and sunny. This photograph came from an early spring day when one of the last snow storms of the season passed through the valley and dropped a few inches of snow — just enough to frost the trees and turn the meadows white. It didn’t last long – most of it melted by the following day, and when I returned a week later I photographed in warm spring sunshine.

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

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

Oak Trees, Spring Snow

May 18, 2018 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Snow storm clouds obscure cliffs behind black oak trees

I’ll continue by string of winter(-ish) photographs with another in what is getting close to the end of the new work I produced during my Yosemite Renaissance artist-in-residency this past winter and early spring. I always photograph in the park during these seasons, but this year’s residency provided me with far more opportunities — ranging from utterly freezing winter snow storm days to the sunny and warm early days of spring.

I made this photograph on a spring day, believe it or not — one of those early spring days during the transition from the cold season toward the coming warm season when winter reasserts itself. A small snow storm was passing though Yosemite Valley, and it dropped a thin layer of snow down to this low elevation. Although this snow did not last long, while it fell the Valley was briefly transformed back into a winter landscape. When I think of winter in the Sierra, conifer trees tend to come to mind, so this scene with oak trees under a thin layer of snow was special, with dark trunks and branches set against the snow and cloud-filled sky and a muted view of Valley cliffs.

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

G Dan Mitchell Photography

Tag Archives: storm

Mountains, Spring Snow

Afternoon Light, Lee Vining Canyon

Snow-Covered Trees, Cliff

Oak Trees, Spring Snow

Photographer and visual opportunist. Daily photos since 2005, plus articles, reviews, news, and ideas.