Tag Archives: talus

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Sierra Nevada

Late Afternoon Shadows, Subalpine Lake

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Late Afternoon Shadows, Subalpine Lake
Long late-afternoon shadows stretch across a subalpine Sierra Nevada lake in the Hoover Wilderness.

Late Afternoon Shadows, Subalpine Lake. © Copyright 2021 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Long late-afternoon shadows stretch across a subalpine Sierra Nevada lake in the Hoover Wilderness.

During mid-July I managed to get to the East Side of the Sierra fora few days of photography, hiking, and camping. Given the complexities of access to Yosemite right now I decided to go elsewhere — even though my usual “go to” for an initial summer trip like this tends to be the Tuolumne Meadows high country. I spent a bit of time in the Sonora Pass area and then headed further south to a location in the Bridgeport/Lee Vining region, where I found a campsite near a trailhead leading to high country lakes.

Since my schedule is prejudiced by my preference for early and late day light, I spent the early afternoon in camp. But by mid-afternoon it was time to load up the pack of camera equipment and head out. My trail passed several lakes as it ascended, each a bit more alpine than the last. At my scheduled turn-around time I reached a meadowy area with running water, several small lakes and tarns, and the small trees characteristic of near-timberline Sierra locations — in other words, my favorite terrain! I paused to make a few photographs there before starting back down the trail. As expected, the low-angle afternoon light began to distract me from hiking, and I stopped frequently. The first stop was at this small, shallow lake where the shadows were beginning to extend across the water.

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, Amazon, and directly from G Dan Mitchell.

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Cirque In Shadow

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Cirque In Shadow
A high country cirque in shadows, surrounded by a landscape of talus, cliffs and late-season patches of snow.

Cirque In Shadow. © Copyright 2021 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A high country cirque in shadows, surrounded by a landscape of talus, cliffs and late-season patches of snow.

Over the past decade-plus I have traveled into the Sierra backcountry almost annually with a group of fellow photographers each summer. We’ve photographed from Yosemite to Sequoia-Kings Canyon and some non-park areas along the eastern edge of the range. Our practice has been to take a day or two to get to a suitable spot where we set up a basecamp and then photograph the heck out of the surrounding area. One plus of this approach, as contrasted with trying to cover more ground by moving daily, is that we get to become more intimately familiar with the rhythms of the place.

I made this photograph a few years ago on one of these trips. We camped in thin forest at a nice high-country lake mostly surrounded by rocky terrain. Over the course of the week we explored the surroundings, gradually uncovering what the area had to offer. This lake is one of several along the course of a small stream coming down from much higher country, and it lies in an east-facing cirque more or less at timberline. The late-season snow field in the talus field attracted me from the first time I saw it, and it was only after several visits that I decided to try photographing it in the deep shade from the surrounding peaks and ridges.

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, Amazon, and directly from G Dan Mitchell.

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Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Sierra Nevada

Rocky Shoreline, Reflections

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Rocky Shoreline, Reflections
Talus boulders and their reflection at the edge of a Sierra Nevada lake.

Rocky Shoreline, Reflections. © Copyright 2021 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Talus boulders and their reflection at the edge of a Sierra Nevada lake.

Three summers ago a group of us (yes, THAT group) spent a week camped at a little backcountry lake on the east side of the Sierra Nevada. The lake is a pretty one, with forest on one side, rocks on the other, and a few areas of meadow and granite slabs here and there. All in all, a fairly typical sort of scene in the range. Beyond the lake itself, the valley that holds in also contains many other small lakes and is surrounded by ridges and peaks, all of which gave us plenty to photograph.

This photograph comes from the rocky side of this lake. A common pattern with high country lakes is for there to be some flat area(s) along one side and perhaps at the inlet and outlet streams, and for one side to be close to some sort of slope. Anyone who tries to circumnavigate such lakes is familiar with the difficulties of finding a way along that rocky side. The rocky slope next to this lake was exceptionally rough, with large boulders extending right down to the shoreline. What it lacked in “walkability” it made up for in reflections. A much higher ridge above the rocks left this area in shadow late in the morning, producing a nice blue tonality to the light.

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, Amazon, and directly from G Dan Mitchell.

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Links to Articles, Sales and Licensing, my Sierra Nevada Fall Color book, Contact Information.

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

Alpine Lake Reflections

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Alpine Lake Reflections
Morning light on an alpine lake, a tree-covered peninsula, and a shaded talus slope in the distance.

Alpine Lake Reflections. © Copyright 2021 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Morning light on an alpine lake, a tree-covered peninsula, and a shaded talus slope in the distance.

This photograph takes us back to the northern reaches of the Yosemite backcountry, off of a trail that ultimately heads further north and out of the park. We left the main trail in this area and wandered up into a valley with a series of beautiful subalpine and alpine lakes below high ridges and peaks near the Sierra crests. The group set up camp here and photographed for days.

This lovely lake with its far talus-slope shoreline was moments from our campsite; we photographed it often and passed it every time we went off to more distant locations. Perhaps because it was so convenient, but also because it was so beautiful, we often ended up photographing along its shoreline in the morning. I made this photograph shortly after the sun had cleared the ridge on the far side of the lake, sending beautiful backlight down onto the trees on the peninsula.

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, Amazon, and directly from G Dan Mitchell.

Blog | About | Flickr | Facebook | Email

Links to Articles, Sales and Licensing, my Sierra Nevada Fall Color book, Contact Information.

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All media © Copyright G Dan Mitchell and others as indicated. Any use requires advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.