Tag Archives: valley

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

Dogwood Blossoms and Leaves

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Dogwood Blossoms and Leaves

Dogwood Blossoms and Leaves. Yosemite Valley, California. May 9, 2009. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Spring dogwood tree blossoms and new leaves, Yosemite Valley.

I found this pair of dogwood blossoms and the accompanying diagonal arrangement of new leaves when I left the crowded “Mirror Lake Trail” (which is, in reality, a road…) and instead walked the parallel and much more attractive footpath through the forest. It can be hard to get a full view of the dogwood flowers from above since the great majority of the flowers grow above eye level. Here I found a large boulder parked next to a tree, and while the leaves were a good distance up in the tree, by climbing onto the boulder and setting my tripod up on top I was able to find a good high position to photograph them.

This photograph is not in the public domain. It may not be used on websites, blogs, or in any other media without explicit advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

keywords: california, sierra nevada, travel, Yosemite, valley, national, park, usa, dogwood, tree, leaf, bloom, blossom, bracht, petal, white, leaf, leaves, branch, dark, forest, bokeh, sun, light, nature, scenic, mirror lake, trail, sun, sierra, nevada, mountians, stock

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

Submerged Rocks and Reflected Light, Tenaya Creek

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Submerged Rocks and Reflected Light, Tenaya Creek

Submerged Rocks and Reflected Light, Tenaya Creek. Yosemite National Park, California. May 9, 2009. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Two rocks submerged by spring runoff water in Tenaya Creek with reflectioned light from new growth on the opposite bank, Yosemite Valley, California.

This is basically the vertical format version of the scene that I posted earlier – high and fast spring runoff flow in Tenaya Creek just below Mirror Lake, with color reflected from new spring growth on the far bank of the creek.

This photograph is not in the public domain. It may not be used on websites, blogs, or in any other media without explicit advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

keywords: california, sierra nevada, travel, Yosemite, use, valley, national park, tenaya, creek, stream, river, runoff, spring, high, water, submerged, rock, flow, wave, spray, rapids, yellow, gold, transparent, translucent, abstract, nature, landscape, travel, scenic, mountains, white, stock

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

Dogwood Tree in Bloom, Detail

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Dogwood Tree in Bloom, Detail

Dogwood Tree in Bloom, Detail. Yosemite Valley, California. May 9, 2009. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Light filters through the branches of a blooming dogwood tree, Yosemite Valley.

The dogwood trees were blooming all over Yosemite Valley when I was there on May 9. (Unfortunately, the place was swarming with other park visitors as well, but that is a story for another time.) After entering the Valley very early on a Saturday morning I decided to head across to Northside Drive and photograph trees in El Capitan Meadow, one of my favorite photography locations. After finishing up there I thought I’d head back up into the Valley which, with the one-way road layout there, required me to first drive back down the Valley to cross over to Southside Drive. On the way the route passes the famous and iconic "Gates of the Valley" site – and I can hardly ever resist at least a brief stop there. I stopped, got out, and reassured myself that this was not the time to shoot this scene. (I’ll photograph it, but only if the conditions are very, very special.) However, across the road and a bit to the west I spotted several big dogwood trees in full bloom… and in soft partial sun created by the shadows from taller trees nearby. Usually I am not looking for dogwood blossoms so late in the morning, but these looked interesting – I ended up spending some time shooting them from underneath and trying to capture the backlit translucent blooms.

This photograph is not in the public domain. It may not be used on websites, blogs, or in any other media without explicit advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

keywords: dogwood, tree, leaf, flower, bracht, bloom, blossom, petal, twig, branch, sky, blue, stem, season, spring, new, california, usa, sierra nevada, travel, Yosemite, valley, national park, nature, foliage, travel, scenic, stock, light, filter, bokeh

Commentary, News, Photographers, Workshops

News From Charles Cramer

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I got an email from Charles Cramer last week, meant to pass some of his news along right away, and then became very busy and forgot. (My excuse is a combination of having a ton of papers to grade and about 40 prints to make!) Anyway, better late than never…

The Ansel Adams Gallery in Yosemite Valley is having a show of Charlie’s work through May 27th. You can see some examples of his work from the show here. (I’m fond of most all of his photographs, but the luminous photograph of an aspen grove found in this series is one of my favorites.) If you are in the Valley during the next week and a half, be sure to stop by the Gallery and linger for a while  – if nothing else it sounds like a great way to spend some time during the midday non-shooting interval! (It would certainly be more edifying than what I usually do in the middle of my epic One-Day Bay Area to Yosemite and Back marathons: nap for an hour in my car!)

Charlie does workshops. He reports that almost all of them are currently sold out, but that are still some openings for a workshop in Santa Clara, California on June 26-28. Highly recommended – more information online. I’ve been fortunate to have Charlie share some of his vast knowledge of photography and printing with me, and I know personally how well he explains important concepts and techniques and how insightful he is when it comes to seeing and critiquing your photographs. He also has a great – though slightly twisted – sense of humor as well. If you have a chance to read his Photoshop Techniques booklet, you know what I mean.