Tag Archives: summit

Photographs: Germany, Photographs: Nature

Alpine Valley, Bavaria

July 22, 2013 G Dan Mitchell 6 Comments

Sun dappled alpine scenery in the Bavarian Alps above Königssee, Germany

We have been traveling. After a week in London, we spent two weeks in Germany, one of which was in the Königssee area of Bavaria, Germany, where we stayed in an old farm-house. I’ll have more to say about this trip as I post more photographs over the coming days and weeks, both landscape and distinctly urban photographs. But for now, something from the Bavarian Alps.

As some of you know, I’m a long-time “Sierra Nevada guy,” who is very accustomed to hiking long distances in somewhat undeveloped areas in order to do photography. The landscape here is no less spectacular, but the experience is in many ways quite different. Take this day’s hike for example… It began with a ride on the Jennerbahn (ski lift) up to a point high up in the mountains, with scenery that reminded me in some ways of parts of “my” Sierra, but even more of some places I have visited in the Pacific Northwest. From there we hiked downhill for a kilometers, first across the top of a high ridge and then dropping down into a beautiful alpine Valley – complete with the Mahlerian sound of a chorus of cowbells. Halfway down we stopped for (fellow Sierrans, eat your heart out!) a lunch of bier und käsebrot before continuing on down to where we began at the base of the lift. The light in this part of Bavaria, at least during our visit, was very different from the clarity that I often seen in the Sierra – here the atmosphere was often thick with moisture, creating a soft quality. On this day, this was enhanced to a gradual build-up of thunderclouds that led to a spectacular evening lightning show, which we enjoyed outdoors at a picnic table back at our lodgings.

Text, photographs, and other media are © Copyright G Dan Mitchell (or others when indicated) and are not in the public domain and may not be used on websites, blogs, or in other media without advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Sierra Nevada

Autumn Aspens, Sabrina Basin

October 21, 2012 G Dan Mitchell 2 Comments

Aspen trees with golden autumn colors, Sabrina Basin near North Lake

I had heard reports that the eastern Sierra aspen color was not very good at the beginning of October this year, and I already know that it was an unusual season with an earlier-than-normal color change. (I had seen some early color back in the middle of September while on a short backpack trip.) People I trust and whose reports I read had visited the area shortly before I did, and some of them had reported poor color and even trees that can lost leaves at the start of the month. Since I only really had a single day for Sierra aspen photography this year I was hopeful that they were wrong or at least that I could find a few trees in good shape, since sometimes a single branch with colorful leaves can be enough.

Much to my surprise, when I traveled up into the Bishop Creek drainage on October 3, I found a lot of excellent color. Maybe I just looked in the right places or perhaps I got lucky, but I found wonderful opportunities to photograph the aspens, and in many places I found trees at their peak of color. (This was, indeed, perhaps a week earlier than what I would expect in a more typical year.) These trees are part of a well-known group that is not far from the North Lake area – the morning light just clearing the ridge to the left of this scene and the wispy clouds were pluses.

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Sierra Nevada

Beaver Pond, McGee Creek

October 17, 2012 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

A beaver pond floods a low area of McGee Creek below the peaks at the edge of Pioneer Basin.

Unlike some so-called beaver ponds in the Sierra, this one really does appear to be the home of beavers. If you look closely near the far bank of the pond, just left of center, you can see the distinctive peaked beaver den.

This spot was a bit of a landmark on the trail up McGee Canyon on my mid-September backpack trip to Steelhead Lake. Before this the trail mostly crossed relatively dry and open terrain, but starting at this point there was more forest cover, and the valley gradually began to become more rocky and narrower. There is just a bit of early fall color in this photograph. The plants around the pond have obviously gone brown, and some of the aspens and other brush ascending the slopes of the canyon are just barely beginning to change – what I sometimes call the “lime green” stage where it starts to become clear that the real color change is not far away. The distant tall ridge marks the boundary between the McGee Creek drainage and Pioneer Basin. I’m not positive, but I think that the two high points on the ridge might be Mounts Stanford and Crocker, part of a group of four peaks ringing Pioneer Basin that are named after the four “railroad barons, the other two being Huntington and Hopkins.

Unlike most of my mountain photographs, this was essentially a handheld “snap” – though made with a good camera and lens. When I’m hiking I carry my camera and two lenses in a chest strap mounted front carrier so that I can make some photographs while on the move without having to remove my pack. This sort of shot, made at a time of less than optimum light, is an example of the sort of thing that I’ll occasionally shoot that way.

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

Aspens and Sage

October 12, 2012 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Aspens grow against sage covered hills near Conway Summit in the eastern Sierra Nevada, California.

If you want colorful aspen photographs, there are several things that may help. First, you need to be where the aspens are when they turn colors! (Obvious, huh?) In the eastern Sierra Nevada, this means roughly the first two weeks of October in a typical year, though you can often find some color a week or so either side of that period – but be aware that every aspen season is different, so there are no guarantees. And where are they? They can be found all up and down the east side of the Sierra. At their peak, you can find them by simply driving along highway 395 along the eastern slope of the range and looking west. For somewhat more specific information, take a look at this post of mine. Second, you’ll need to look around a bit for great trees. Photographs of aspen color can often make it seem like there is astonishing color everywhere – but the reality is often a bit more complicated. Trees will often be in various stages of transition, and the timing varies according to such things as elevation and local soil moisture. On top of that, not just any aspen trees will do – so you can count on doing a bit of searching to find that perfect tree or grove or colorful slope. Third, it helps a lot to consider the light. Often grove of trees that may look fairly drab when front lit can turn into an amazingly colorful wonder when the light comes toward you from behind the trees.

That is precisely what is happening in this photograph, taken at one of the well-known aspen color spots near Conway Summit just north of Lee Vining. On the right few days each fall, there are huge swaths of wonderful aspen color on the eastern slopes of the Sierra here. I often shoot here in the late afternoon, just before the sun drops behind the crest. This may mean that I’m shooting almost directly into the sun, but it also means that the leaves are brilliantly lit by light that comes from behind and passes through the leaves. This photograph captures a type of grove that always intrigues me, namely one that sits apart from the iconic alpine scenery and instead is in rangeland and sage brush country.

G Dan Mitchell Photography

Tag Archives: summit

Alpine Valley, Bavaria

Autumn Aspens, Sabrina Basin

Aspens and Sage

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