Tag Archives: storm

Photographs: Sierra Nevada

Subalpine Lakes, Afternoon Showers

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“Subalpine Lakes, Afternoon Showers” — Sun breaks through the clouds to illuminate lakes and surrounding meadows in a valley near Mammoth Lakes, California

This is an older shot that I recently realized has not yet been posted here. There is a bit of an ironic story behind it. A few days earlier some friends and I had started on a 14-day backpack trip along a long section of the John Muir Trail. (It included the one remaining short section that I have not hiked!) After about four days on the trail we arrived at Purple Lake, a bit south of Mammoth, where I began to feel a bit under the weather. Because the next portion of the hike was across a section of the JMT that doesn’t provide many quick exits in case of emergency, I decided that I would evaluate my condition the next morning before continuing.

I still didn’t feel great when I awoke so I regretfully left my group and backtracked towards Duck Pass to exit to Mammoth Lakes and head home. It was only due to this situation I found myself descending this trail below Duck Pass in wonderful weather of mixed thundershowers alternating with bursts of sunlight — which put me in the right place at the right time to see this beautiful scene as sunlight and rain alternately swept across these lakes.

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: Ocean & Coast

Coastal Meadow and Clouds – Davenport, California

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Coastal Meadow and Clouds - Davenport, California
Coastal Meadow and Clouds. Davenport, California. March 1. 2008. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

This simple minimalist landscape juxtaposes the horizontal form of coastal fields and meadows with interesting cloud formations in the wake of a late-winter storm along the California coast.

The location is just outside of the small coastal town of Davenport, just north of Santa Cruz on the coast between San Francisco and Monterey – an area that combines coastal scenery with farmland.

keywords: davenport, california, pasture, meadow, headlands, dirt, road, sky, clouds, ocean, coast, pacific, usa, sea, coastline, highway, one, grass, storm, passing, landscape, seascape, travel, scenic, stock

Photographs: Owens Valley

Pastures Near Bishop, California

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BishopPasture2005|08|06: Pastures and Eastern Sierra Nevada near Bishop. August 6, 2005. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell.

Pastures and Eastern Sierra. Bishop, California. August 6, 2005. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

There were thunderstorms up and down the eastern Sierra on this late August afternoon.

A little story about getting this photo: I had spent the day up in the White Mountains visiting and photographing the famous Bristlecone Pines. It had been a long day – longer than expected – and I had finally made my way back to Owens Valley to begin the long drive back to the San Francisco Bay area. I had done so much photography already that I was feeling burned out when I saw this lovely light in the pasture area just north of Bishop. I almost drove right past it, but at the last minute took a quick exit from the highway and drove off onto a side road where I found this wonderful scene.

keywords: pasture, bishop, california, eastern, sierra, nevada, mountain, range, highway, 395, owens, valley, thunder, storm, clouds, dark, meadow, tree, agriculture, usa, travel, scenic, landscape