Tag Archives: valley

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

Granite Ridge and Trees

December 9, 2011 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

A backlit granite ridge above the Tuolumne River is topped by trees.

I think that this is probably going to be the final riff on the subject of this particular ridge, the subject of several photographs I have posted in recent weeks. As I probably wrote at least once before… I climbed up from our camp onto the top of a small dome-like granite whaleback that gave me an open view in almost all directions and a high point from which to look over a good section of the Tuolumne River as it passes through a section of the Yosemite back-country. I arrived at this spot in the very late afternoon and then stayed there for perhaps two hours as the light gradually shifted from that of afternoon to sunset and then twilight.

This photograph was made before the golden hour, though I think that a bit of added warmth is already beginning to appear in the color of the light. The sun was coming from above the distant ridge seen faintly through the haze above the valley of the Tuolumne, and it was periodically blocked by some high clouds. While the clouds can “blah-ify” the light pretty effectively, when they are not completely covering the sky they can cast interesting and temporary light across the landscape as they move past. For a moment the light came brightly through the clouds and back-lit these beautiful trees that were growing on the granite surface of this dome.

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Photographs: Death Valley, Photographs: Desert, Photographs: Structures and Objects

Crumbling Ghost Town Ruins, Evening

December 8, 2011 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Evening light in the crumbling ruins of an old mining ghost town near Death Valley National Park, California.

Rhyolite is a Nevada ghost town not far from Death Valley National Park. (The bit of distant ridge seen through the “windows” of the structure is probably inside the park.) The story of Rhyolite is interesting, and not all that different from what happened in many other “boom and bust” towns in the desert and in other areas of the west. For a short time, thousands showed up to work in extractive industries, otherwise known as mines, and there was apparently an actual bustling city here. The old railroad station, ruins of bank buildings and a school, and the size of the area occupied by the town are evidence of this. But, as is virtually always the case, the boom couldn’t last and the departed inhabitant left some years ago, leaving the town to the elements.

This is a different sort of Rhyolite photograph than I might usually share. Most are made either at night or in the golden hour period near dawn. This one was made in the evening, when the direct sun was gone. (At this time of year the sun sets beyond a nearby ridge, so the direct light is gone well before sunset.) The soft, bluish evening light creates a different effect and, for me, makes the old buildings a bit more mysterious. Here I shot from outside one of the crumbling structures that is now filled with rocks. I don’t usually say much about what a photograph might mean (and often my photographs are simply what they are) but this one evoked for me some thoughts about the nature of time and the transitory effect of the human presence on the landscape. Not only has this building – which at one time must have had a floor, a roof, a nicely finished interior, and perhaps even comfortable furniture and perhaps art on the walls – decayed to the point where the line between its structure and the rocks of the natural landscape becomes obscure, but even the attempts to declare ones presence by means of graffiti have begun to crumble.

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

Glacial Erratics

December 1, 2011 G Dan Mitchell 6 Comments

Glacial erratics rest on top of a low granite dome in the back-country of Yosemite National Park.

“Erratics” are boulders left behind in the wake of the passage of glaciers, and left behind when the glaciers disappeared. They are found all over the higher elevations of the Sierra Nevada and some of the most striking examples are found in surprising places – like along the top of this granite dome-like ridge in the Yosemite back-country along the Tuolumne River. After spending decades in these mountains I sometimes take these rocks for granted (and for “granite…” ;-), but every so often it hits me just how strange and wonderful it is to find these large boulders sitting in unlikely places.

I made this photograph in the late afternoon as the lowering sun began to cast longer shadows and as earlier clouds began to dissipate above the distant ridges. The Tuolumne River begins it steep descent into the lowlands between my position and the distant ridge covered with granite and trees.

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

Forest and Granite

November 29, 2011 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Forest trees ascend a slope filled with small granite domes and ledges, Yosemite National Park.

This little scene could probably be found in a few thousand locations in the Sierra if you were to keep your eyes open while wandering about. The combination of glacially-smoothed, rounded granite formations, a bit of meadowy grass, and groves of pines is a distinctly “Yosemite” sight for me.

I photographed these trees in a location not far from the Tuolumne River where a side canyon comes down from above to join it. From a somewhat open position along one side of this valley I was able to shoot across the valley with a slightly long lens and compress the distance a bit and pick out a series of granite diagonals interrupted and hidden by the back-lit trees.

G Dan Mitchell Photography

Tag Archives: valley

Granite Ridge and Trees

Crumbling Ghost Town Ruins, Evening

Glacial Erratics

Forest and Granite

Photographer and visual opportunist. Daily photos since 2005, plus articles, reviews, news, and ideas.