Tag Archives: upper

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

Granite, Mist, and Trees

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Granite, Mist, and Trees
Granite, Mist, and Trees

Granite, Mist, and Trees. Yosemite Valley, California. February 23, 2013. © Copyright 2013 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A momentary beam of sunlight illuminates a granite outcropping and trees against a backdrop of clouds surrounding the upper cliffs of Yosemite Valley

We had one day in the Valley and despite challenging weather conditions were determined to make photographs. I knew that it was likely to be cloudy, but there was also light rain (and snow at slightly higher elevations), making it a rather gray day. However, in some ways these can be among my favorite conditions to photograph here. When it is cloudy or stormy in the Valley, clouds can drift among the feature high up on the surrounding cliffs and peaks, and sometimes there can be fog and other kinds of interesting atmosphere right down in the Valley – and I feel that these conditions are both more interesting and more challenging that a classic “beautiful day” in the Valley. (Not that I won’t take one of those, too, if it turns out to be available.)

Looking for interesting subjects we headed west on Northside Drive and found clouds obscuring the face of El Capitan, blowing enough that they would momentarily reveal sections of the giant granite face. We stopped at one of the locations from which hordes of photographers would attempt to photograph Horsetail Fall later that evening and I made a few photographs of this foggy sight, but then I turned a long lens towards other sections of the steep terrain above the Valley, looking for sections where interesting things might happen as the clouds drifted around and occasional sun broke through. As I lined up a composition that included various diagonals from rocky prominences and cliffs rising above, the sun began to shine weakly through the clouds and light up the closest rock while those beyond remained mostly gray.

G Dan Mitchell is a California photographer and visual opportunist whose subjects include the Pacific coast, redwood forests, central California oak/grasslands, the Sierra Nevada, California deserts, urban landscapes, night photography, and more.
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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.

Photographs: Desert, Photographs: The Southwest, Photographs: Utah

Cliff, Fall Color, Escalante River

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Cliff, Fall Color, Escalante River - Fall foliage of cottonwood and box elder trees at the base of a cliff along the Escalante River, Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument
Fall foliage of cottonwood and box elder trees at the base of a cliff along the Escalante River, Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument

Cliff, Fall Color, Escalante River. Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument, Utah. October 29, 2012. © Copyright 2012 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Fall foliage of cottonwood and box elder trees at the base of a cliff along the Escalante River, Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument

This portion of the Escalante River treated us in two very different ways during our late-October visit. Early in the trip, we were anxious to explore this section of the river, where fall colors of cottonwood and box elder trees and more were arriving and where the river continuously twists and turns among sandstone cliffs. In the morning we drove out to our trailhead, noticing two things about the weather – it was cold and there was a lot of the thing that no one wanted to mention but which we might refer to as “W”. (Hint, it moves the branches and leaves a lot!) Undeterred, we entered the canyon and encountered very beautiful conditions, especially when it came to autumn foliage color. However, the “morning breezes” turned into a midday gale, at times forcing us to stop moving as strong gusts momentarily pinned us down. Some clouds began to move overhead. Low light and screaming winds in a deep canyon make for challenging foliage photography, to say the least! By the time we finally left the canyon, it was trying to rain, and across the valley we could see snow falling on higher peaks.

With that first visit in mind, near the end of our trip we found ourselves with time to go back to this canyon. The “I’ve already been there” thoughts were overwhelmed by the “maybe this time we can actually make photographs” thoughts, and so we re-entered this location. On this morning, there was no “W” and it was a few degrees warmer. As we continued up the canyon, the colors were just as beautiful as before, with blown-down leaves having been replaced in many locations by leaves that had more recently changed colors. The light was gorgeous, and we shot almost continuously as we walked downstream, only turning around reluctantly when we ran out of time and energy, though we did get a bit further down-canyon this time. The scale of this photograph may be difficult to understand in this small web jpg, but the trees are good-sized cottonwoods at the base of a giant cliff of light-colored sandstone that towers overhead at a bend in the river.

G Dan Mitchell is a California photographer whose subjects include the Pacific coast, redwood forests, central California oak/grasslands, the Sierra Nevada, California deserts, urban landscapes, night photography, and more.
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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.

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Sierra Nevada

Lone Tree, Autumn Snow

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Lone Tree, Autumn Snow
Lone Tree, Autumn Snow

Lone Tree, Autumn Snow. Bishop Creek Area, California. October 8, 2011. © Copyright 2011 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Morning sun shines on a lone tree on a rocky ridge after early autumn snow storm dusted the upper reaches of Bishop Creek Canyon, California.

This was the first clear morning after several days of early season snow in the Sierra Nevada. Earlier that morning I had driven the still unplowed road up to North Lake and photographed there for several (very cold!) hours, starting before sunrise. As the sun rose higher and I decided to drive back down the road, possibly to some lower elevation groves that are first hit by morning sun at a later hour. The road leaves North Lake and makes a few twists as it descends toward a long traverse of the hillside above the valley holding the town of Aspendell.

As I crossed this section of the road, two things happened. First, and somewhat oddly for a semi-isolated gravel road on a snowy day, a number of vehicles came up the road at about this time. This forced me to pull out alongside the narrow road and allow them to pass – after which I watched several of them get stuck on the slippery road just above my pull-out point. This, of course, brought the traffic to a dead stop while the flat-landers figured out how to drive their fancy AWD (!) vehicle on snow. Second, as I stopped here I caught sight of this interesting tree slightly below and off to the side of the traverse, on a hill still covered with fresh snow and backed by the shaded talus slope on the other side of the valley. Being stuck for a few minutes anyway, it seemed like a fine idea to take the camera and tripod out again and photograph the tree while waiting!

G Dan Mitchell is a California photographer whose subjects include the Pacific coast, redwood forests, central California oak/grasslands, the Sierra Nevada, California deserts, urban landscapes, night photography, and more.
Blog | About | Flickr | Twitter | Facebook | Google+ | 500px.com | LinkedIn | Email

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.

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

Building Clouds, Upper Young Lake

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Building Clouds, Upper Young Lake
Building Clouds, Upper Young Lake

Building Clouds, Upper Young Lake. Yosemite National Park, California. September 10, 2007. © Copyright 2007 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Black and white photograph of clouds building in the sky above Upper Young Lake and Ragged Peak, Yosemite National Park.

Young Lakes in general, and the upper lake specifically are among my favorite places in the Yosemite back-country. This little Basin has a lot to offer, especially to photographers. For one thing, it is almost completely open to the west and late day light, and the upper lake is one of my favorite places to be as a summer evening comes to an end. (There is, of course, then the matter of the typical walk back to my campsite at the lower lake in the near darkness, but that just adds a bit of adventure.)

If I recall correctly, this was one of those days when I did not quite predict the weather accurately. I saw these beautiful clouds beginning to build fairly early in the day, but figured that I’d have plenty of time to get to the upper lake and perhaps even investigate some areas beyond before the weather got “interesting,” so I headed off without any real rain gear. (You know where this is leading…) Here at the upper lake, the clouds don’t look bad at all – definitely in the “interesting” category, but not all that threatening. With that in mind, after shooting here a bit I headed on up above the lake to check out some higher ridges and so forth that I’d been thinking about visiting.

Much to my surprise, within a few the wind picked up and giant raindrops began to fall. I heard a few claps of thunder. And there I was at timberline without any rain protection at all. Needless to say, I high-tailed it back down, stopping briefly to get a bit of shelter under a tree near the middle lake. Arriving back at my camp, I had the ever-so-fun opportunity to practice the skills of a somewhat wet me into my bivy sack without totally soaking my sleeping bag…

G Dan Mitchell Photography
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