Tag Archives: trunk

Photographs: Cascades, Photographs: Nature

Roots and Rocks

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Roots and Rocks
Roots and Rocks

Roots and Rocks. Mt. Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest, Washington. August 28, 2010. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Weathered tree roots stretch across boulders at Mt. Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest, Washington.

I made this photograph at our first stop after we arrived at the Mt. Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest. (Technically, that isn’t quite true, since we had earlier stopped at the “ranger station” to ask some questions, but this was the first “real” stop for photography.) The road into this area twists and turns as it ascends toward and then past a ski area, and here we couldn’t help but pull over at a hairpin curve that provided a panoramic overlook to the valley below and the ridges to the east (?) of our position. Although the original reason for stopping was this dramatic view, I soon found nearby “intimate landscapes” to also be very interesting. While I often hike and climb long distances to find my photographs… for this one the tripod was on asphalt and the subject right next to the road.

On a technical note, for this photograph I used a lens that I’m increasingly fond of for photographing subjects like this one, the Canon EF 70-200mm f/4 L USM (link to B&H). I find it useful to be able to put a bit of distance between myself and subjects in which the entire image may include only a few square feet, and the ability to fine tune the composition with the zoom is very useful. Although I didn’t do it in this photography, working with a slightly longer focal length also lets me have the option of isolating the subject against an out of focus background. I have the non-IS version of the lens – because that was the only version available back when I got mine – though I would almost certainly get the IS version if I were to replace it.

This photograph is not in the public domain and may not be used on websites, blogs, or in other media without advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

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Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Northern California, Photographs: Sierra Nevada, Photographs: Yosemite

Lodgepole Forest, First Light

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Lodgepole Forest, First Light
Lodgepole Forest, First Light

Lodgepole Forest, First Light. Yosemite National Park, California. July 23, 2010. © Copyright 2010 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

First morning light touches the tops of lodgepole pines in a lakeside forest, Yosemite National Park, California.

This bit of dense lodgepole pine forest is on the far shore of an easily-visited lake along Tioga Pass Road, and I like to photograph it when the morning light is just starting to make its way over the tops of the surrounding mountains and it begins to touch the first trees along the lake shore.

This photograph is not in the public domain and may not be used on websites, blogs, or in other media without advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

G Dan Mitchell Photography
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Text, photographs, and other media are © Copyright G Dan Mitchell (or others when indicated) and are not in the public domain and may not be used on websites, blogs, or in other media without advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

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Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Northern California, Photographs: Sierra Nevada, Photographs: Yosemite

Forest and Lake, Morning

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Forest and Lake, Morning
Forest and Lake, Morning

Forest and Lake, Morning. Yosemite National Park, California. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A forest ascending a slope is reflected in the smooth waters of a mountain lake in morning light, Yosemite National Park, California.

As I passed by this mountain lake in the morning I noticed that there was a very shallow layer of fog or mist sitting on the surface of the very still water and moving slowly in the gentle morning breeze. I’m always a sucker for trees (and other things) reflected in mountain lakes, and in this case the blurred mirror image of the trees attracted me along with the way the trees receded as they marched up the slope on the far shoreline. While the sun was most certainly up by this time in the morning, it had not yet reached these trees along the shaded side of the lake below a tall ridge.

This photograph is not in the public domain and may not be used on websites, blogs, or in other media without advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

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Technical Data:
Canon EOS 5D Mark II
Canon EF 70-200mm f/4 L USM at 91mm
ISO 100, f/16, 1 second

keywords: tenaya, lake, morning, reflection, mist, fog, smooth, quiet, green, shore, shoreline, rocks, boulders, trunk, forest, tree, pine, landscape, nature, scenic, travel, yosemite, national, park, california, usa, north america, tioga, pass, road, highway, 120, sierra, nevada, mountain, range, stock

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Northern California, Photographs: Sierra Nevada, Photographs: Yosemite

Shoreline Reflections, Trees and Rocks

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Shoreline Reflections, Trees and Rocks
Black and white photograph of silhouetted trees and boulders and their reflections lining a flooded section of the shoreline of Tenaya Lake.

Shoreline Reflections, Trees and Rocks. Yosemite National Park, California. June 30, 2010. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Black and white photograph of silhouetted trees and boulders and their reflections lining a flooded section of the shoreline of Tenaya Lake.

During peak snow melt many Sierra Nevada lakes overflow and flood surrounding meadows and forest. Although the water level was lower at the end of June when I made this photograph than it had been three weeks earlier during my first visit of the year, many areas in the margins of the lake were flooded. (This, of course, makes the mosquito population very happy – and human visitors less so!) The early morning sun back-lit these closely spaced trees and the rocks ringing this quiet flooded area along the shoreline.

I have visited this lake for many years. I’ve long been intrigued by this particular spot, where flat granite slabs line the shoreline, allowing the lake to expand and contract across shallows as the season progresses. Later in the season this spot can be dry, but early season in this wetter-than-usual year the water flooded this small pool and what might otherwise be shoreline trees were on a rocky peninsula. Those trees have been a subject for other photographers— being aware of this I wanted to avoid a photograph that imitated their beautiful work. I arrived in the early morning, when the air was still and cool and the water smooth. I walked about a bit and just looked, then came to this spot, where the complex patterns of the trees and their reflections in the water fill the frame, creating for me a sense of stillness and calm and quiet.

This photograph was a prize winner in the Yosemite Renaissance 2013 show in Yosemite Valley. Prints are available. Email me and/or see the Sales link at the top of this page.

This photograph is the subject of one of my “Photograph Exposed” posts, in which I share more of the story behind the image.

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 and Amazon.

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