Tag Archives: usa

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Sierra Nevada, Photographs: Yosemite

Sierra Sunset Sky

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Sierra Sunset Sky
Dissipating thunderstorm clouds and summer Sierra Nevada sunset sky

Sierra Sunset Sky. © Copyright 2018 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Dissipating thunderstorm clouds and summer Sierra Nevada sunset sky

This was one of the later photographs in the quick series I made during the very last few minutes of this evening, on which gray and flat light suddenly morphed into a show of spectacular color for a few moments right at sunset. Clouds were thick above my position. There were some breaks to the west, but they appeared to be too far north to let direct light reach me or my surroundings. But, so far to the west as to be beyond my sight, there was apparently a shallow break between the distant edge of the cloud shield and the horizon. Moments before sunset this light came in under the clouds and suffused the landscape with color.

I worked quickly to make photographs of the intensely colorful light on mountain peaks along the Sierra crest and on nearer granite domes and spires. This light began to fade after just a few short minutes, so I turned my attention back to the west where the clouds were rapidly dissipating. Above two ridge lines, one of rock and one covered by forest trees, layers of clouds were arrayed against the colorful sky.

See top of this page for Articles, Sales and Licensing, my Sierra Nevada Fall Color book, Contact Information and more.

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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All media © Copyright G Dan Mitchell and others as indicated. Any use requires advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

Photographs: San Francisco, Photographs: Urban/Street

Fancy Wheat Field Bakery Inc

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Fancy Wheat Field Bakery Inc
A bakery delivery truck parked in San Francisco

Fancy Wheat Field Bakery Inc. © Copyright 2018 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A bakery delivery truck parked in San Francisco

This photograph takes a step away from the recent images from the natural world of the Sierra Nevada. Hey, I don’t just photograph rocks, water, and trees! (Don’t worry — more Sierra photographs are on their way.) The location is on the loose boundary between North Beach and Chinatown in San Francisco, and at neighborhood intersections like this you can often see a wonderfully wild mixture of visual and other cues.

There is so much that caught my attention about this truck — a truck that you could easily just ignore. How about the name of the baking company? “Fancy Wheat Field Bakery.” Is the bakery fancy, or is it the wheat field? And the graphical elements on the side of the truck are exuberant — while colors, bold shapes, little negative space. And further signifying the cultural richness of this part of San Francisco, behind the truck we see a Chinese salon and “Capo’s” Italian Dinners.

See top of this page for Articles, Sales and Licensing, my Sierra Nevada Fall Color book, Contact Information and more.

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.
Blog | About | Flickr | Twitter | Facebook | LinkedIn | Email

All media © Copyright G Dan Mitchell and others as indicated. Any use requires advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Sierra Nevada

Lake, Forest, Alpine Ridge

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Lake, Forest, Alpine Ridge
A rugged alpine ridge rises across the valley from a subalpine lake and surrounding forest

Lake, Forest, Alpine Ridge. © Copyright 2018 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A rugged alpine ridge rises across the valley from a subalpine lake and surrounding forest

I have backpacked the Sierra Nevada for decades, and for much of that time I regarded the activity as primarily one about moving through the landscape. Days were spent walking through and past glorious scenery, often getting to camp in time to embark on the activities of finding a campsite, setting up a tent, figuring out food storage, filtering water, fixing and eating dinner, cleaning up… and sleeping. There was time to sit and look, but only when the other tasks were finished. Sometime later in my backpacking career I began to understand the value of sitting in one place and soaking it in, and eventually I even managed to convince myself to camp in one spot for more than one night, allowing me to slow down to match the natural rhythms of the place.

On some of the backcountry photography expeditions I’ve done more recently we have tended to set up a base camp and stay in one place for as long as a week. The experience has been surprising and remarkable. On early trips of this sort I would worry at first about how I could possibly find enough to do in one spot for a week. Invariably, by the final day of the visit I discovered that it had not been enough time! This photograph comes from one of these trips, where we camped in one location for a week, spending each day exploring near and far, and getting to know the landscape and light intimately. This photograph was made less than five minutes from camp, at a time of day when a Serious Backpacker would already by on the trail… and perhaps missing such quiet morning moments.

See top of this page for Articles, Sales and Licensing, my Sierra Nevada Fall Color book, Contact Information and more.

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.
Blog | About | Flickr | Twitter | Facebook | LinkedIn | Email

All media © Copyright G Dan Mitchell and others as indicated. Any use requires advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Sierra Nevada

Wildflowers, Morning

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Wildflowers, Morning
Wildflowers grow along a creek draining past the trail around Saddlebag Lake

Wildflowers, Morning. © Copyright 2018 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Wildflowers grow along a creek draining past the trail around Saddlebag Lake

I have hiked around this lake, located just east of the Sierra crest near Tioga Pass, a number of times in the pass. My first visit to the area was quite a few years ago, when a friend and I did a short mid-October pack trip to access a basin full of small lakes beyond. We ended up here because it was past the October 15 cutoff for overnight parking along Tioga Pass Road, and our reward was a beautiful late-season trip that featured snow flurries as we began hiking and through the night, and beautiful post-front light the following day.

This time the adventure was much more tame. I arose before dawn and got there in time to start hiking at about sunrise. I had the shoreline trail entirely to myself as I walked to the far end of the lake, where I planned to explore a bit and photograph some lakes and ridges. Partway through the hike a small creek drained across the trail on its way down to the lake, and here the moisture supported a colorful crop of lush plants and wildflowers, many at the peak of their blooming cycle. I stopped, set up camera and tripod, and photographed them with a bit of the lake’s surface reflecting the blue sky and the summit North Peak.

See top of this page for Articles, Sales and Licensing, my Sierra Nevada Fall Color book, Contact Information and more.

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.
Blog | About | Flickr | Twitter | Facebook | LinkedIn | Email

All media © Copyright G Dan Mitchell and others as indicated. Any use requires advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.