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

Forest, Soft Light

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Forest, Soft Light
Soft early morning light on dense trees of a Sierra Nevada forest

Forest, Soft Light. Yosemite National Park, California. July 14, 2015. © Copyright 2015 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Soft early morning light on dense trees of a Sierra Nevada forest

There are three things — perhaps among quite a few potential other — that come to mind for me when I think of this photograph. First, it could be almost any vignette of a forest scene, at least within the limitations of places where these sorts of trees grow. Second, and in opposition to the first thought, it is a very specific place — not a place that anyone else would likely afford any special attention, but because I have given it that attention for some time it has become a special spot for me. Third, it is the opposite of a sort of photograph that we often try to create — rather than being one that simplifies by minimizing content an leaving things out, it tries to find some order and form in a small scene that is extraordinarily complex, yet which follows familiar patterns.

It is also perhaps “about” (insofar as a photograph can be “about” anything) this light, from the early morning of what will become a sunny day, when the light is still soft and diffused. It is also about the nature of forests I think. I remember one very specific moment on a backpacking trip many years ago when I was heading up Rafferty Creek toward Fletcher Lake, a hike I have done many, many times. For some reason, on that morning, I had one of those occasional and powerful epiphanies that occasionally come when I’m on the trail alone. I saw the forest in ways that are not easy to describe. I felt that I wasn’t just walking past “the forest” — I was among a community of living things, and for a moment I became aware of the deep stillness of trees, the tremendous amount to almost static time through which they live, and that they stood still and rooted through blizzards and wind and rain and sunshine.

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

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

Cascade, Boulders

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Cascade, Boulders
Cascade, Boulders

Cascade, Boulders. Yosemite National Park, California. May 4, 2014. © Copyright 2014 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A seasonal waterfall cascades past granite boulders, Yosemite National Park

I guess I’ll go ahead and make this a “waterfall weekend” by posting a second photograph of the same little cascading creek that was featured in yesterday’s photograph. This small beauty is a seasonal cascade that is right next to the roadway—I’m definitely not taking any “wilderness photography” credit for this one. (Though the character if the creek is very similar to and remiss me of many such rocky creeks found in less accessible locations.) As is the case with some many such small creeks, this one comes and goes quickly in most years. It does not necessarily dry up completely, but it often diminishes to an unimpressive trickle later on.

Although the accessible location makes photographing this fall easy, there are still a few challenges. Perhaps the most mundane is that, given that one is photographing from the shoulder of a highway, you have to watch out for passing vehicles! From a photographic perspective there are a few more interesting challenges. One is that of composition. This section of the waterfall is some distance above the camera position, and there are only a few clean shots of it. I wanted some of the curving and flowing shapes at the top along with the faster moving, and hence narrower, section at the bottom, and I wanted to include the blocky, wet, and reflective rocks. The light is a bit tricky here, too. Fortunately, the cascade remains in shadow well after sunrise, but the best light seems to come at just about the moment when the sun starts to rise above the ridge behind the fall. Consequently, though it isn’t visible in this tightly cropped composition, I was shooting almost straight into the sun!

G Dan Mitchell is a California photographer and visual opportunist whose subjects include the Pacific coast, redwood forests, central California oak/grasslands, the Sierra Nevada, California deserts, urban landscapes, night photography, and more.
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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.