Tag Archives: trees

Glacier Point, Late Afternoon

Glacier Point, Afternoon
Glacier Point, Late Afternoon. Yosemite National Park, California. May 16, 2008. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Black and white photograph of Glacier Point, strongly backlit by late afternoon light, with Yosemite Valley and Yosemite Falls beyond.

It is hard to imagine a more exposed or spectacular place to be than Glacier Point as the day comes to an end over the Yosemite Sierra. This photograph was made from this popular overlook high above the Valley, with strong backlight from the late afternoon sun and a bit of haze below.

(In my attempt to describe the precipitous location of this shot, this post originally contained a fun but accidental pun: ” This photograph – as exposed as it may seem…” To good to delete! ;-)

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Meadow Near Yosemite Chapel, Evening

Meadow Near Yosemite Chapel,  Early Evening
Meadow Near Yosemite Chapel, Early Evening. Yosemite National Park, California. April 27, 2008. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Black and white photograph of evening scene in the meadow near the Yosemite Valley Chapel.

keywords: California, National Park, Sierra Nevada, Spring, Yosemite, valley, chapel, meadow, three brothers, trees, forest, cliffs, mountains, evening, usa, travel, landscape, scenic, stock, black and white

Yosemite Valley from Inspiration Point

Yosemite Valley from Inspiration Point
Yosemite Valley from Inspiration Point. Yosemite National Park, California. April 27, 2008. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Evening photograph of Yosemite Valley from Old Inspiration Point. Inspiration Point was the equivalent to the Wawona Tunnel View before the tunnel was constructed, back at a time when an older route provided a road into the Valley. On this late April evening I decided to forego the usual crowd of photographers at the more accessible overlook and climb the steep 1.3 mile trail up to this beautiful spot – where I enjoyed a sunset view of the Valley alone (except for a couple of neighborhood deer) and in complete silence.

keywords: sunset, golden hour, yosemite valley, national park, inspiration, point, bridalveil, fall, el capitan, forest, trees, silhouette, sentinel, half, dome, clouds rest, blue, sky, clouds, three brothers, landscape, scenic, travel, california, usa, stock, sierra, nevada, mountains

Titus Canyon

Titus Canyon

Titus Canyon. Death Valley National Park, California. April 3, 2008. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Black and white photograph of Titus Canyon, Death Valley National Park.

This was, to say the least, a difficult shot. Besides driving nearly 30 miles on dirt roads, there were photographic challenges, not the least of which is the extreme dynamic contrast between the very bright sky and the dark canyon walls. Needless to say, this photograph is the result of some significant post-processing work – but do click the image to view it larger.

The road through Titus Canyon is one of the most amazing features of any Western US National Park. (Shhh….) It begins on a rather typical high desert dirt road through sagebrush country but then ascends into the Amargosa range. Before long this narrow one-way track twists and turns up and down steep ridges past amazing rocky ridges and along the top of tremendous canyons – while not a true four-wheel drive road, it is not for the faint hearted. It then descends into Titus Canyon itself, and near the bottom it passes through an unbelievable slot canyon – in places barely wider than your car the canyon walls rise vertically for hundreds of feet above. (If you visit Titus Canyon, check with the park service first since road conditions are very rough and can change.)

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