Tag Archives: summer

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Northern California, Photographs: Ocean & Coast

Summer Evening, Scott Creek Beach

June 24, 2010 G Dan Mitchell 4 Comments

Fog rolls in on a summer evening at Scott Creek Beach, on the Pacific Ocean coastline near Davenport, California.

I’m fortunate to live close enough to the California coastline that I can occasionally just decide on the spur of the moment to “drive over the hill” and step out of the world of work to watch the sunset over the Pacific. This is what I decided to do yesterday. I drove over that hill with only a vague plan to see what conditions looked like and then most likely head north from Santa Cruz toward and perhaps beyond Davenport.

I almost never know exactly what I’ll find on the coast until I get there. Yesterday I had suspicions about the possibility of fog, but I also thought that clear sky might linger a while before the fog rolled in. For the most part it turned out that there was fog but that in most places it was a good distance offshore though starting to form in closer. However, it also turned out that there was a good amount of high cloudiness blocking the sunlight. In other words, the prospects were mixed – might be interesting light at the last minute, fog might roll in and cover everything, the clouds might thicken instead of thin. So I continued with no specific images in mind, driving past various familiar locations. As I descended toward Scott Creek Beach I caught a quick glimpse of a panorama across the beach that seemed like it might work as a wide angle shot, so I quickly turned around and returned to the spot. Once I got set up I realized that while it was a beautiful scene it wasn’t going to work as a photograph. But this scene, which required a longer focal length, caught my attention instead.

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Photographs: Central California, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Northern California, Photographs: Sierra Nevada, Photographs: Yosemite

Dry Creek and Late-Season Meadow

December 11, 2009 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Morning light illuminates a dry creek bed winding though late season meadow grasses and trees near Fletcher Lake, Yosemite National Park, California.

As the trail at Fletcher Lake heads upward to begin the climb towards Evelyn Lake there is an area in the meadow to the left of the trail where small trees have begun to infiltrate the meadow and there is now a “mini-forest” of sorts. I’ve photographed this spot – this exact spot, actually! – before, and I often like to shoot it in the morning light when the low angle sun first hits the meadow. Here a dry seasonal runoff creek winds between the trees in this section of mixed meadow and young forest.

This photograph is not in the public domain and may not be used on websites, blogs, or in other media without advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

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Photographs: Central California, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Northern California, Photographs: Sierra Nevada, Photographs: Yosemite

Late Season Subalpine Meadow and Creek

December 9, 2009 G Dan Mitchell 1 Comment

A dry creekbed meanders through a boulder-filled golden late-season Sierra Nevada meadow at sunset near Evelyn Lake, Yosemite National Park, California.

This is another view of the “backyard” of my solo-backpacking camp site near Evelyn Lake back in early September of this year. Dusk has fallen across the meadow and the twisting creekbed leading to the lake, but a bit of alpenglow lingers on the clouds beyond the tree-lined ridge.

This photograph is evidence of the early onset of “fall” in the high country. Although the equinox was still nearly two weeks away, the plants here had lost their summer appearance – the meadow was almost entirely brown or golden and the small creek, which would contribute to the flooding of this lakeside meadow earlier in the season had already stopped flowing.

(By starting my “fall” season in late summer in the high country I can manage to experience fall colors for at least three months every year!. I often see the first hints of the change in the highest country even earlier than the date of this photograph. Then by late September and early October the Sierra aspen color show is in full swing. By the end of the month I can find great colors at lower elevations on the west side of the range, such as in Yosemite Valley. After that the colors continue to develop through November in the coastal areas of central and northern California, and here in the SF Bay Area there are still a lot of fall colors to be seen.)

This photograph is not in the public domain and may not be used on websites, blogs, or in other media without advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

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Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Northern California, Photographs: Sierra Nevada, Photographs: Yosemite

Runoff Pool, Evening – Tuolumne Meadows

December 3, 2009 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Grass bordered early summer runoff pool in Toulumne Meadows reflects sunset clouds and the summit of Ragged Peak, Yosemite National Park, California.

I made this photograph on a very early-season visit to the Tuolumne Meadows area in early July of this year. Since this was a below-normal precipitation year, the road to the pass cleared a bit on the early side and by early July almost all of the snow was gone at road level – but there was still a good amount of run-off water in Tuolumne Meadows. (Though nothing like in the big precipitation years, when portions of the meadow become more lake than solid ground.) There were some interesting clouds this evening so I wandered out into one of my favorite areas in the lower end of the meadow as the day ended and photographed the new grasses and pools of water that reflected sky, clouds, and surrounding peaks. In the distance the summit of Ragged Peak marks the location of Young Lakes.

This photograph is not in the public domain and may not be used on websites, blogs, or in other media without advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

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