Tag Archives: tree

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

Boulders, Cathedral Range, Sunset

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Boulders, Cathedral Range, Sunset
Sunset light on glacial erratic boulders and the distant peaks of the Cathedral Range, Yosemite National Park.

Boulders, Cathedral Range, Sunset. © Copyright 2021 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Sunset light on glacial erratic boulders and the distant peaks of the Cathedral Range, Yosemite National Park.

This backcountry photography trip followed a somewhat different format for our group. It was somewhere between a base camp trip and a through hike. The group often heads into the backcountry, sets up a base camp, photographs the heck out of the surrounding area for a week, and then goes back out. But this time we more or less split the difference between the two modes. First we spent a few days at a lovely, quiet Yosemite backcountry lake, and then we moved on to another location that put us closer to the trailhead of our exit route.

The first location’s lake sits in a bowl high on a forested ridge, dropping off on one side into a very impressive river canyon. The fact that it sits along that river’s drainage means that there is a lot of open country between it and higher Sierra ridges, including the distant peaks in this evening photograph. They belong to the Cathedral Range, a series of ridges and peaks cutting across the Yosemite high country and contributing greatly to the rocky, alpine character of the Tuolumne High Sierra region.

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: Central California, Photographs: Nature

Old Tree in Winter

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Old Tree in Winter
An old and gnarled tree, leafless near the end of winter.

Old Tree in Winter. © Copyright 2021 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

An old and gnarled tree, leafless near the end of winter.

Having a large archive of photographs that are sorted and filed by date proves useful in lots of ways. For example, this past week I wanted to remind myself of the likely conditions of a particular subject I intend to photograph soon, and by looking back a few years I was able to get a pretty good fix on the timing of a pretty significant annual change affecting this subject. It also proves useful for non-photographic purposes… such as remembering how our world was starting to close down in March of 2020 and how we responded to it.

This photograph comes from near the beginning of March last year, at a time when we were well aware that danger was on the horizon, but when we had not yet fully responded as a society. (That was about to happen, and I should be able to share some photographs that remind me of that threshold in the next few weeks.) On this day I recall pausing beneath this sprawling wetland tree and appreciating the layers of curves and various sized branches leading upward toward an extremely bright late-winter sky.

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

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

Tree, Boulders, and Shoreline

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Tree, Boulders, and Shoreline
An old, gnarled tree grows among shoreline boulders, Yosemite National Park.

Tree, Boulders, and Shoreline. © Copyright 2021 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

An old, gnarled tree grows among shoreline boulders, Yosemite National Park.

This photograph comes from a short trip to a popular Yosemite National Park backcountry lake more than a decade ago. It was the very beginning of autumn, and I managed to squeeze in a short escape between back-to-college meetings and the start of a new academic term. A group of fellow photographers was beginning a back-country stay of a bit more than a week, so I decided to join them for the first few days. (It turned out that my need to leave early was perhaps fortuitous — they reported to me that a few days after my departure an early season snow storm came in and dropped temperatures as low as five degrees!)

Autumn is the quiet season in the Sierra, or at least it was a decade ago. The summer crowds begin to thin after Labor Day, and by the end of September and the first half of October the backcountry seems almost deserted. It is a time to sit quietly and take in the scene before the winter snow arrives.

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.

Photographs: Birds, Photographs: Central California, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Wildlife

Yellow-Headed Blackbird

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Yellow-Headed Blackbird
“Yellow-Headed Blackbird” — A yellow-headed blackbird perched on the branch of a Central Valley tree.

This bird was a bit of a surprise. Some large cottonwood trees packed full with a flock of tai-colored blackbirds caught my attention. I pulled over and got out the long lens and began to photograph dense groups of those birds. But as I looked through the telephoto I realized that not all of the birds were the same. Two in particular didn’t quite fit — this yellow-headed blackbird and a nearby European starling.

While the tri-colored blackbirds were clumped closely together in a wildly-singing flock, this bird perched just a bit to the side. It was close enough to initially look like part of the boisterous group, but just far enough away to make a case that “I’m not one of those loud birds!”

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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