Tag Archives: water

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Sierra Nevada

Autumn Sunrise, Piute Crags

November 13, 2010 G Dan Mitchell 4 Comments

Autumn morning light on Piute Crags, reflected in the shoreline waters of a Sierra Nevada lake.

I made a lot of photographs during the past few months, traveling to the Sierra and a number of other places frequently. I often go through the photographs from the most recent shoot and post images soon after, but when I’m on to the next adventure fairly quickly I don’t always have time to get to everything in one batch before I shoot the next one. Inevitably, some images get “left behind.” Things have slowed down just a bit, and now I’m finding time to go back through some of that earlier work and pull out a few more images that I like. This is one of them.

Folks who photograph in the eastern Sierra will likely recognize this location. The long, rugged ridge of Piute Crags is striking, especially in the morning light, more so in the fall when the aspens change color, and double-especially on such a fall morning when clouds are moving in and out of the scene. I’m not going to say much more about the location beyond telling a little story. As I made this photograph there were perhaps 50 photographers set up more or less tripod-to-tripod a ways away shooting the same general subject from the place where almost everyone shoots. Their location is, indeed, a beautiful spot and I’ve shot there myself. (Heck, I shot there later on this same trip, though at a time of day when the workshops had gone elsewhere.) But there is more than one way to photograph a scene, and with a bit of thought and some wandering around it is usually possible to find a perspective that isn’t quite the same as the familiar one.

(If you know where I stood, please resist the temptation to say too much. This precise spot could not withstand the stress of dozens of photographers. Thanks!)

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

Autumn Rain, Merced River

November 7, 2010 G Dan Mitchell 3 Comments

Fall colors and mist along the Merced River, Yosemite Valley.

Returning to the land of color – after a spate of recent black and white posts – this is a photograph made on a rainy day along the Merced River in Yosemite Valley, as fall color came to the trees and bushes and fog drifted along the walls of the Valley. This photograph was made from the bridge near Curry Village as it rained lightly and the colors were reflected in the calm surface of the river. Probably because of the damp weather and the relatively early hour there was hardly any one else around, and this in a location that is often quite busy.

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.

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

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.

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