This spot and this view have long intrigued me. The lines and curves lead from the shoreline forest at left, past that talus-covered slope on the right, across the water to another peninsula, and finally to the massive face rising beyond. The personality of this view can change remarkably — I’ve photographed during storms, under the full moon, in direct sunlight.
Continue reading Soft Light, Ellery Lake
The Sierra Nevada is a place of diverse terrain — rugged alpine ridges and summits, gentle meadows, both dense and open forests, streams and rivers, and more. But my favorite places are mostly like this one, where the last trees are about to give way to barren alpine country, and where meadows, running water, and lakes are plentiful.
This scene is typical of that region. It is along the shoreline of a moderate-sized lake at just over 10,000′ of elevation. Away from the meadow and the lake, forests of good-sized lodgepole pines grow, but here in the open it is all about the light, meadows, rocks, sparse trees, and water.
Leave a comment or question using the form. (If you are reading this on the home page, click the article title to see the full article and the comment form.
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” (Heyday Books) is available directly from him. Blog | Bluesky | Mastodon | Substack Notes | Flickr | Email
All media © Copyright G Dan Mitchell and others.
Reflections in the waters of high country lakes always provide interesting photographic subjects. This lake, located just outside the northeast boundary of Yosemite National Park, produces some of the largest and most abstract shapes that I know of. The combination of open terrain and huge talus slopes are the keys.
I photographed here in the early morning, while my non-photographer backpacking partners were still snug and warm in their sleeping bags. The light had worked its say down the distant slope and across most of the lake — you can see the edge of the shadow on the rocks at center right.
Leave a comment or question using the form. (If you are reading this on the home page, click the article title to see the full article and the comment form.
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” (Heyday Books) is available directly from him. Blog | Bluesky | Mastodon | Substack Notes | Flickr | Email
All media © Copyright G Dan Mitchell and others.
Getting out of your tent before dawn isn’t easy when it is cold and dark outside and you have to leave a warm sleeping bag. But if you don’t rise early you miss some of the most sublime moments of the day in the high country. And, I promise, once you are up and about you’ll be glad that you made the effort.
On this morning it was almost too dark to photograph when I unzipped the tent, and for the first half hour or longer I photographed in the soft blue hour light. Eventually the first direct sunlight touched peaks high above me and gradually worked its way down the steep slopes toward “my” lake. (At about the time I made this photograph, my non-photographer backcountry partners were starting to awaken in their tents on the peninsula at the right.)
Leave a comment or question using the form. (If you are reading this on the home page, click the article title to see the full article and the comment form.
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” (Heyday Books) is available directly from him. Blog | Bluesky | Mastodon | Substack Notes | Flickr | Email
All media © Copyright G Dan Mitchell and others.