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Upper Yosemite Falls in Mist

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Upper Yosemite Fall in Mist
The mist of an autumn rainstorm shrouds upper Yosemite Falls.

Upper Yosemite Falls in Mist. Yosemite Valley, California. November 2, 2008. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

The mist of an autumn rainstorm shrouds upper Yosemite Falls.

This photograph was made on a very rainy early November morning, when the previously-dormant Yosemite Falls had sprung dramatically back to life following two days of rain.

This was a very difficult photo to take and it has been a difficult photo to work with in post-processing. I shot it with a very long lens (400mm on full-frame) as mist and rain swirled around the top of the upper falls, most of the time almost completely obscuring the waterfall. Occasionally the clouds and rain would thin a bit and I would make a few shots. The complexity of the post processing has several parts. First, the dynamic range of the photograph is very small. (Usually we struggle with the opposite problem – a dynamic range that is too big!) For this reason I had to make some decisions about whether and how much to expand this range in post, and also about just where the “normal” brightness should be. Second, the color saturation is so weak that the photograph almost appears to be a black and white image, but it is indeed a color photograph… with extremely muted colors.

I’m looking forward to working on making a print of this one. I’m certain that it will be a challenge, but I think that it may work well as a print.

keywords: upper, yosemite, falls, valley, national park, water, waterfall, cliff, fog, mist, cloud, rain, autumn, scenic, travel, landscape, weather, sierra, nevada, california, usa, stock, tree, silhouette, high key

Photographs: People, Photographs: Sierra Nevada, Photographs: Yosemite

Three Umbrellas, Yosemite Valley View

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Three Umbrellas, Yosemite Valley View

Three Umbrellas, Yosemite Valley View. Yosemite Valley, California. November 2, 2008. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Visitors with red and green umbrellas on a rainy day at Yosemite Valley View.

It was late in the day and I decided to take a quick run up to Wawona Tunnel Valley View. Although it was cold and wet and a bit dismal, there was no shortage of photographers… and even a few other visitors. Since I’ve shot this scene many times, I’m a bit jaded I suppose – I don’t photograph it unless it is really quite special. This evening wasn’t quite up to that standard, but the scene of these umbrella bearing valley viewers caught my attention.

“Jaded’ as I may be, I do understand the deep attraction that this place and this view have for visitors. Since I get to stand in this spot often, I have the opportunity to see and sometimes talk with people who have dreamed of standing in front of this view, who are there for the first time, and who have travelled great distances to get there. As someone I spoke with this weekend did, they often use words like “spiritual”to describe the experience. I understand, and I think the fact that people will stand here in freezing rain on a day when most of the view is blocked by clouds is further evidence of this.

keywords: people, man, woman, view, visitor, tourist, photographer, umbrella, red, green, overlook, viewpoint, rain, cloud, mist, forest, fog, tree, waterfall, bridal veil, el capitan, yosemite, valley, view, national park, california, usa, travel, landscape, stock, no parking, sign, scenic, weather

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Sierra Nevada

Aspens and Early Snow, North Lake

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Aspens and Early Snow, North Lake

Aspens and Early Snow, North Lake. Sierra Nevada, California. October 4, 2008. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

An early autumn snow fall dusts the ridge above the aspen groves at North Lake, Sierra Nevada, California.

Another photograph from my early October 2008 visit to the Bishop Creek area. On the first morning I left Bishop very early, waiting only long enough for the local Starbucks to open. (There I admired a couple of Vern Clevenger photos hanging on the wall – his gallery is next door – and saw a few other bleary-eyed photographers getting some much-needed coffee.) Although the weather was clear in Bishop, it began to cloud up as I drove up toward North Lake. When I arrived before sunrise it was cloudy there, but it looked the conditions might be good for some early morning aspen photography.

But not for long. Almost as soon as I took my gear out of the car the wind came up, the temperature dropped and it began to rain and then snow. I quickly holed up in my car to wait it out, and an hour later the sun began to emerge in between the light snow showers. This well known grove of aspens on the far side of the lake climbs a valley toward the ridge. Although many leaves came down quickly in the wind as the front passed, there was still a lot of color in the grove. Here there is still light snow falling on the ridge, even as sunlight slants in from the right.

keywords: early, autumn, fall, snow, snowfall, squall, weather, cloud, sky, mountain, ridge, aspen, grove, tree, color, orange, yellow, gold, brush, bush, north lake, sierra, nevada, range, eastern, scenic, landscape, travel, nature, stock, meadow, grass