Tag Archives: trees

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

Two Trees, Granite, and Forest

August 25, 2017 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Two trees stand at the base of a granite dome with forest ascending further hills

When I first photographed this pair of trees some time ago, I thought I had discovered something special. From my perspective that was true — my personal discovery was special. But it wasn’t too long afterwards that I “discovered” a beautiful print of these same trees by photographer and friend Charles Cramer, at which point I recognized that perhaps my photograph was just a bit less unique than I imagined! Yet, something about these trees and their surroundings sticks in my mind, and from time to time I stop and photograph them again.

That was the case on this late-July morning, when I passed by on my way to some other place. I noticed that the morning light seemed just about perfect, and that the slight haze produced a bit of atmospheric recession to add depth to the subject. So, once again, I stopped and made a few photographs. In this one I decided to include just a bit of the foreground trees, one on either side, so that I could also include a bit more of the forest zigzagging up the side of the more distant slopes in the morning light.

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

Shoreline Forest With Snags

August 24, 2017 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Several skeletal dead trees stand among the trees of a living forest, Yosemite National Park

This is another of my early morning photographs in the greater Tioga Pass & Tuolumne Meadows area. When photographing here I may head out on foot, especially if I’m camped in the Tuolumne Meadows campground. On the other hand, many interesting subjects are too far to walk and/or sometimes the campground is full and I end up camping outside the park. the latter was the case on this trip — I was camped a couple of miles east of the park. On this morning I got up before dawn and headed over Tioga Pass and down toward Tuolumne Meadows.

I did not have a specific plan in mind, and I was operating in an essentially opportunistic mode, looking for whatever subjects might turn up. I arrived at this lake before the first light struck the trees, and the soft early light tended to illuminate the shadows, opening up details that are very hard to see in typical daytime light. I had few minutes to work before the sun arrived and lit up the trees, so I used a long lens and looked for sections of the forest that provided interesting textures and forms. Here the ranks of trees build up the slope, and a few dead snags are more visible against the relatively uniform backdrop of living trees.

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

Meadow, Forest, and Dome

August 23, 2017 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Morning light on Lembert Dome and the forest and grasses of Tuolumne Meadow

The prior day was one of thick wildfire smoke, coming mainly from a fire on the far side of the park near Wawona, but also with contributions from various others fires including some small, managed lightening fires. The effect was not good — the smoke here was as thick as I’ve ever seen it before, including during a late summer visit to Cathedral Lakes a few years back during the height of the drought, when at times it seemed like the entire Sierra was on fire. In any case, the evening before I made this photograph it was still very smokey, and I wondered what the next morning would bring.

As usual, I woke up before sunrise. I was tempted to stay in the warm sleeping bag a while longer, but I summoned the focus to look outside. Noting that I could see blue sky, I got up fairly quickly and left the tent, heading down to the meadow. There was still just a bit of residual smoke hanging around, and there was also a shallow layer of light ground fog. All of this produces some very interesting atmosphere and light as I wandered the meadow, walking between grassy areas and encroaching bits of forest. I paused here, positions myself so that the large trees at the right would block the direct sun, and I made a few photographs including all of the elements of this landscape except the river that passed by out of sight.

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Sierra Nevada

Two Trees, Golden Hour

August 21, 2017 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Two lake-side trees in evening light along the Sierra Nevada crest near the Yosemite boundary

After a day of challenging weather it was a relief to watch the skies clear above this High Sierra lake, leading to an absolutely lovely and benign evening. (The previous evening all of us had been trapped inside tents during a three-hour rain storm.) Our camp was set up, we had eaten dinner, it was quiet and calm, and it was one of those peaceful and quiet Sierra Nevada evenings.

After dinner, eaten on the rocky bench near the bottom of this photograph, I got my equipment and climbed a bit higher, to a point from which all of the lake and its surroundings were visible. To my right was the Sierra crest, and beyond the mountains and valleys of the Yosemite backcountry. Across the lake the trees of a low saddle were picking up the late evening light coming across the tops of those Yosemite ridges.

G Dan Mitchell Photography

Tag Archives: trees

Two Trees, Granite, and Forest

Shoreline Forest With Snags

Meadow, Forest, and Dome

Two Trees, Golden Hour

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