Tag Archives: usa

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Sierra Nevada

Aspen Grove, South Fork Bishop Creek

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Aspen Grove, South Fork Bishop Creek

Aspen Grove, South Fork Bishop Creek. Sierra Nevada, California. October 4, 2008. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Slender aspen trunks topped with golden autumn leaves near the South Fork of Bishop Creek.

This beautiful grove of slender-trunk aspens with only a few leaves left in their crowns was a lucky find. In the evening I went out looking for groves that were in the shadow of the high peaks of the valley below South Lake. I ended up on a small one-lane gravel road that didn’t seem to be getting too many visitors besides me. I found this grove near the end of this road just before it rejoined the main paved roadway, and just as the fading light provided saturated colors in the trees’ crowns to provide contrast with the paper white color of their trunks. (There is quite a bit of fine detail in this photograph that isn’t visible in the small jpg image posted here.)

keywords: aspen, tree, grove, trunk, white, leaves, yellow, gold, boulders, rocks, branch, bishop, creek, south, fork, south lake, california, usa, sierra, nevada, range, mountains, fall, autumn, color, scenic, travel, stock, nature

Photographs: Sierra Nevada, Photographs: Yosemite

Clouds Rest and Fog, Alpenglow

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Clouds Rest and Fog, Alpenglow

Clouds Rest and Fog, Alpenglow. Yosemite National Park, California. October 5, 2008. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Alpenglow illuminates fog in the valleys below Clouds Rest at twilight. Yosemite National Park.

Luck was with me on my drive back from Aspen hunting in the eastern Sierra during the first weekend of October 2008. Although I originally planned to return to the Bay Area via Monitor Pass, I made a somewhat spontaneous decision to instead return over Tioga Pass. After passing through Tuolumne Meadows a half hour before sunset, I continued on and near Tenaya Lake I noticed that fog was forming in the aftermath of the weather front that had come through a day before.

When I arrived at Olmsted Point and its famous view of Tenaya Lake and Half Dome, the fog had completely blocked the view. I wasn’t really planning on shooting here so I continued on. A few seconds later after rounding a bend in the road I saw that the fog was barely blocking the light of the setting sun, and that rocks and trees were being gently illuminated through the fog. I’ll post that photo later along with a bit more information about the scene.

In any case, I finally got back to my car and began what I thought would be a direct drive home, since the light was now fading quickly. I drove on for a few more minutes, came around a bend at the top of a rise, and saw this stunning scene of Clouds Rest rising above the valley fog and illuminated by alpenglow. Not willing to pass this up I stopped again and set up the tripod/camera and made a few exposures of this incredible and rare view.

keywords: clouds, rest, mountain, ridge, fog, mist, evening, twilight, alpenglow, forest, tree, cliff, snow, fall, autumn, tioga, road, yosemite, national park, california, usa, travel, scenic, landscape, night, sierra, nevada, stock

Photographs: Unclassified

Blue Angels in Black and White

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Blue Angels in Black and White

Blue Angels in Black and White. San Francisco, California. October 11, 2008. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

OK, now for something entirely different.

My original plan was to be in the eastern Sierra today on Saturday, patiently photographing peaceful and quiet aspen groves. But driving conditions did not look promising and I decided not to go. (I did go for the day on Sunday, but more on that later.) In any case, instead of shooting aspens I found myself on the waterfront of San Francisco Bay watching an air show featuring the Blue Angels, here photographed as they blew past directly overhead at a rather low altitude.

See, I can photograph things that move, too! :-)

Later note: Several people asked about the equipment I used to shoot this event. I used a Canon 5D with the Canon 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6 L IS lens. I shot mostly at 400mm, but was glad to be able to zoom out on a few occasions when the action was a bit closer. My technique is to put the camera in burst mode, but usually just fire a single shot at a time. Most of the time I’m definitely not a “burst and hope for the best” sort of photographer – I’ll actually follow the action through the viewfinder and resist the temptation until the shot looks interesting. But not always. This shot was done in burst mode as the formation screamed almost directly overhead.

keywords: san francisco, california, usa, fleet, week, air, show, airshow, bay, event, stock, blue, angels, air craft, jet, aerobatics, formation, wings, us, navy

Photographs: Fall, Photographs: Fall Color, Photographs: Sierra Nevada

Aspen Grove, South Bishop Creek

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Aspen Grove, South Bishop Creek

Aspen Grove, South Bishop Creek. Sierra Nevada, California. October 4, 2008. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Aspen grove near South Bishop Creek in full autumn color.

Another aspen grove photograph from last weekend’s Epic Aspen Hunt in the eastern Sierra, this example from the south fork of Bishop Creek below South Lake. This specific spot was not one that would necessarily attract anyone – it was down a short and very inconspicuous dirt road paralleling the main paved roadway, and there was only one other photographer shooting in the area when I visited. I just drove into the grove on this little one-lane road, found a pull-out, and got out and shot right where I found myself; I spent at least a half hour exploring this one very small are of dense trees. The shaded grove provided an opportunity to see and photograph the brilliant colors and bright white trunks of these trees without having do deal with the harsh direct sunlight that can create a dynamic range that is almost impossible to capture.

For those hoping to photograph these aspen during the upcoming weekend, some advice. I think that these the trees in these higher areas up the roads to North Lake, South Lake, and Sabrina Lake are likely to have pretty much run their course by now. Reports I saw today seemed to say as much, but they did mention that the colors further down that canyons are looking pretty good. I’ll probably head back up on Saturday and Sunday, but I’m likely to shoot in lower-elevation areas including Lundy and Lee Vining Canyons – the latter often has good color a bit later in the season.

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” (Heyday Books) is available directly from him.

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