Tag Archives: trees

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Sierra Nevada

Morning Shoreline

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Morning Shoreline
Early morning light on the shoreline of a subalpine Sierra Nevada lake.

Morning Shoreline. © Copyright 2022 G Dan Mitchell.

Early morning light on the shoreline of a subalpine Sierra Nevada lake.

There is a lot to see along the edges of virtually any backcountry Sierra Nevada lake. As I go though my mental inventory from many past trips I think of mornings and evenings looking straight into low sunlight, campsites (from back in the days when we still thought it was OK to camp near the water), hours spent sitting quietly among rocks and plants, slow circumnavigations of lakes, the marshy areas near inlets and outlets, the mountains rising above them, and more. We spent a week at this lake, which gave me a chance to see it in almost all of its moods.

This particular location has some significance to me. In a previous time, it was still acceptable to camp on the top of the rocky ledge at the left, and it was our “go to” spot to set up tents and bivy sacks back then. These days, the authorities have (wisely) placed that spot off limits for camping — too close to the water, too likely that colorful tents draw attention, and too little area. But we can still visit, and on this trip I used the spot to get an elevated perspective on the lake. I made this photograph in the morning, as the first direct light of the day was working its way across the landscape. Although the nearby face was still almost entirely in shadow, the further trees were catching that morning sun.

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: Nature, Photographs: Sierra Nevada

Trees, Drifting Fog

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Trees, Drifting Fog
Fog from a clearing storm drifts among backcountry Sierra Nevada trees growing on rocky ledges.

Trees, Drifting Fog. © Copyright 2022 G Dan Mitchell.

Fog from a clearing storm drifts among backcountry Sierra Nevada trees growing on rocky ledges.

This evening marked the end of a 24 hour bout of pretty challenging backcountry weather during our August photography trip in the Eastern Sierra. We had no more set up our tents at our base camp when the skies unleashed hours of the heaviest rain I have ever experience in the Sierra backcountry. Later that evening it decreased enough that we could come out of our tents, recover some gear that had been left out in the deluge, fix dinner, and crawl back into our tents. We thought it was over, but very early in the morning it started again, though this time not nearly as heavy, and continued on into the next day. Finally, on the second evening, the weather started to break.

On this second evening we all headed out to find suitable photographic subjects. The clouds were slowly thinning, and the surrounding peaks starting to show through. Eventually we got a bit of last-minute sunset light that created utterly beautiful cloudscapes and colorful mountains. But first, I set up on top of a rocky outcropping and watched fog drift across this rocky slope, making the trees drift in and out of sight as the clouds washed back and forth.

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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Photographs: Nature, Photographs: New England

New England Woods #4

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New England Woods #4
Thick green woods along a road in Southern Vermont.

New England Woods #4. © Copyright 2022 G Dan Mitchell.

Thick green woods along a road in Southern Vermont.

I am not quite done with the New England photographs yet, not by a long shot. Stay tuned. This is another one from our August visit to the East Coast, when we joined members of our extended family for a week at a place near Wilmington in Southern Vermont. The main goal of this event was family-oriented — lots of eating, talking, sitting around — but nearby rural roads provided lots of opportunities for learning about and photographing these woods.

This is, it almost goes without saying, not at all like my familiar haunts on the West Coast. At the time of year when California is largely golden-brown, the Vermont countryside was lush and green. Remarkable, and almost unbelievably, Vermonters were talking about this year’s drought! It sure didn’t look like any drought I’ve seen before in the West! The trees and undergrowth are so dense and green that it can be hard to photograph them — so I often found myself photographing into the edge of the forest from roads and trails.

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 | Twitter | 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: Nature, Photographs: Sierra Nevada

Timberline Meadow

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Timberline Meadow
A timberline meadow with small trees is bounded by a granite bench.

Timberline Meadow. © Copyright 2022 G Dan Mitchell.

A timberline meadow with small trees is bounded by a granite bench.

I recall the time, quite a few years ago, when I first understood that the places in the natural world (and the human world, for that matter) that we identify with are not necessarily the most iconic, biggest, most classically impressive places. I was at the end of a moderately short backpacking loop out of Tuolumne meadows, within perhaps little more than an hour of the trailhead. It was a day of potential rain, and that potentiality became reality at this point. I stopped, put on rain gear and covered my pack, stepped off the trail, sat down, and leaned against a rock to watch the rain approach. Decades later I still remember that rock and consider it a thing worth visiting — although I’m sure that no one else would even notice it.

I passed by the spot in this photograph a couple of times during our August backcountry photography visit to the Eastern Sierra. There are, I’m certain, thousands of similar little meadows throughout the Sierra — most from a stream meandering through, green with meadow grasses, bounded by granite and small trees. But somehow this particular spot caught my attention and, I think, may have become one of “those places.”

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 | Twitter | 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.