Tag Archives: tree

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

Forest Scene

May 5, 2018 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

The trunks of tall conifers trees in afternoon light

I had initially stopped near these trees to photograph an entirely different subject in the opposite direction, behind my position as I made this photograph. I spent a good deal of time on that other subject, but in the end it didn’t (at least not as of this date) end up seeming to “work” quite the way I envisioned. As I finished I saw this row of strong, side-lit tree trunks and thought it might make a photograph. Ironically, I almost didn’t both — at first the light wasn’t remarkable, and I knew that I had photographed similar subjects in the past with success. I wasn’t sure that this version was going to work.

But, this being a cloudy day in the Valley, the variable light began to play on the trees, alternately lighting them and putting them in shade. At the same time, the variability extended to the complex pattern of more distant forest. I’m always intrigued by the challenge of making a workable composition out of very complex and “busy” subjects, and here the momentary light makes all the difference. (And, yes, I do seem to be in a bit of a “black and white mood” with some recent photographs. Maybe this is to balance out some of the other highly colorful images.)

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

Conifer Bark

April 21, 2018 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Close-up of conifer tree bark, Yosemite Valley

I’ve spent a total of perhaps a bit more than a week-and-a-half in Yosemite so far this season, beginning back in late February when I spent an unusually cold and snowy week mostly in Yosemite Valley photographing various aspects of the winter landscape. (An artist-in-residency through the Yosemite Renaissance was an important reason for that visit.) I was back again this past week, mostly thinking that I would be experience the “spring” half of the annual winter to spring transition — but once again arriving to snowy conditions. Yet the signs of spring were everywhere, too. Annual plants are poking up, here and there one can find a few early wildflowers, the dogwoods are just starting to leaf out, and the waterfalls are running strongly.

We often think of the “landscape” as being the immense scale of things in the natural world. But the grand landscape is the sum of many small components, and landscape photography has long paid attention to them individually, too. In a place like Yosemite, with its iconic big features, you might have to remind yourself to go look for the small things. One one recent day with so-so midday light, I put on my camera pack, grabbed my tripod, and just wandered slowly off into the forest, stopping frequently to consider my surroundings. Near the farthest point on this walk, I left the trail and walked into the forest and, for no particular reason, came upon a tree that seemed not all that different from all of the surrounding trees until I looked a bit closer and saw these remarkable bark patterns.

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: Utah, Photographs: Yosemite

Old Tree, Snow Flurries

March 24, 2018 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Snow flurries begin around an old tree, Yosemite Valley

In the latter part of February I was very fortunate to be able to spend a full week in Yosemite National Park, mostly photographing in the Valley. (Thank you to Yosemite Renaissance for sponsoring my stay.) It was a cold week with a fair amount of snowy days — no heavy snow, but with the cold it fell all the way down to the elevation of the Valley and even lower nearby.

Late on this afternoon I had finished up some earlier projects and I was casting about for a final subject before the light faded. Since I was in this area I went to where I knew I could find this magnificent old tree, along with some other smaller trees growing along the Merced River. On this very cold afternoon the scene was quite gray, with clouds above and light snow beginning to fall, muting the details of the background forest and almost completely hiding the granite walls of the Valley.

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

Tree And Boulder

March 5, 2018 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

A curving tree and a large boulder along a Yosemite Valley trail

One of the pluses about having a full week in Yosemite (during my recent Yosemite Renaissance artist residency was that I had more time to slowly explore places I might have otherwise missed during a visit with a more compressed timeline. On a short visit it is easy to feel the pressure to make the very best use of limited time and head straight for (what one hopes will be!) “sure bets.” With more time available that pressure is gone, and there is more time to slow down and give in to the rhythms of the place. On this afternoon I took a slow, relaxed walk along a familiar but less-used trail along the base of granite cliffs. On this winter day I hardly saw anyone else there.

A few other things come to mind as I look at this photograph. One surprise is how much this relatively dry and rock place suggests an almost jungle-like mood! I can assure you that it is not such a place, but right here the terrain and forest is a bit thick and complex. Secondly, it is probably obvious that relationships between shapes play a big role in this photograph. The boulder by itself might not be that remarkable, especially in a landscape littered with such boulders. But located beneath the curving tree, whose form echoes that of the boulder, it becomes more of a focal point.

G Dan Mitchell Photography

Tag Archives: tree

Forest Scene

Conifer Bark

Old Tree, Snow Flurries

Tree And Boulder

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