Tag Archives: valley

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Sierra Nevada

Sabrina Basin, Autumn Color and Rain

October 29, 2010 G Dan Mitchell 10 Comments

Brilliant fall aspen color on a morning of light rain in Sabrina Basin.

On the first weekend of October I had visited North Lake for some early morning photography, and on my way back to the main road I stopped just before a steep descent in a location where I knew of a ridge extending out toward the middle of the valley a bit. I had shot from this ridge before and imagined that with excellent aspen color scattered up and down the valley that it might provide a good perspective on the trees and the peaks of the Sierra crest beyond Sabrina Lake itself. So, in light rain I found my way out onto this ridge and bushwhacked around a bit to check out various possible shooting locations.

While my instinct to shoot from this general area was right, by initial instinct to go as far as possible out on the ridge turned out to be less right. It was a fun adventure, and it provided a very airy overlook… but things in the field of view just didn’t seem to line up quite right. (I did make some photographs at the first location, and I’m not writing them off yet though…) I decided that a better vantage poit my be a bit closer to where I had started since this would place the very large and very colorful aspen grove at the base of the hill a bit more centrally in the frame.

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.

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Sierra Nevada

Aspen Grove, South Fork, Bishop Creek

October 25, 2010 G Dan Mitchell 3 Comments

Brilliantly colorful fall aspens along the south fork of Bishop Creek.

I have been in this area many times in the past to search for aspens – and to backpack – but when I came into this part of the canyon this year I think I exclaimed, “Oh my God!” out loud, the colors were so intense and so widespread. While the trees in the lower portions of this watershed were still largely green, the colors in the upper canyon had gone fluorescent when I arrived – mostly brilliant yellow-gold with some orange and red, and stretching from the stream-side to the highest reaches of vegetation on the slopes above. I know that people from New England cannot imagine that aspen color displays can compete with their colors – and they are usually probably right – but this year I think they might have exclaimed as I did if they had seen this canyon.

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.

Photographs: Desert, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Owens Valley, Photographs: Sierra Nevada

Morning Fog on Hot Creek, Mount Morrison

October 22, 2010 G Dan Mitchell 11 Comments

Finding this shot was just about as random a process as I can imagine. I was in the eastern Sierra to photograph aspens, and staying in Mammoth Lakes. I woke up very early without a really solid idea of where I’d shoot that morning, but started out heading for Rock Creek, where I had seen great aspen color a week earlier. As I left Mammoth and headed south on highway 395 I noticed low fog out in Owens Valley – Crowley Lake was pretty much covered and it appeared that there were bits of fog here and there above creeks and springs in the valley. This started to look more interesting to me than photographing aspens again, so I changed plans and headed out into Owens Valley, not knowing precisely where or what I might find but thinking it would involve fog and mist and early morning light.

I first stopped and photographed near a small pond along side the road. After shooting here a bit – mostly shots pointing back toward the Sierra crest – I recalled that I had been on some gravel roads a bit further north of my position, and I decided to do a bit of exploring. I turned off on the first road going north and followed it until I found another interesting road that dropped down into a small valley and crossed a creek on an old rickety bridge – I later figured out that this was Hot Creek. A cloud of mist and fog was lying above the path of the creek, periodically thickening and thinning, and because it was not deep the morning sun was still somewhat lighting the scene through the fog. At times the peaks of the Sierra crest would gradually resolve through the fog. I set up and waited and made some exposures as the fog rose and fell, increased and decreased.

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.

Commentary, Photographs: Desert, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Owens Valley, Photographs: Sierra Nevada

McGee Mountain and Little Alkali Lake, Dawn

October 21, 2010 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Dawn light in the eastern Sierra on McGee Mountain, reflected in Little Alkali Lake, Owens Valley, California.

There are higher peaks along the eastern escarpment of the Sierra Nevada – much higher! – but I can think of few that catch the dawn light more beautifully than McGee Mountain just north of McGee Creek in the area around Mammoth Lakes and Crowley Lake. The slopes of the mountain are open without obstruction to the dawn light as it works its way down from the peaks, and the light passes across the face and accents the relief of alternating valleys and aretes. On this early October morning an early season storm had left the upper slopes covered with snow, and beyond the slopes of McGee Creek Canyon leading up toward Mount Morgan are still in shade.

I photographed this scene from well out into Owens Valley, where I was almost alone apart from an occasional car passing by on the distant road – and apart from the bellowing beasts in a nearby herd of cattle! Steam rises from some of the many hot springs in this geothermally-active area of the eastern Sierra, and a bit of mist floats above the reflective surface of this alkali lake.

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.

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