Evening sunlight strikes the trees scattered along the granite benches above Blue Lake, John Muir Wilderness, Sierra Nevada, California.
Although the scene here looks quite peaceful and quiet, the truth is that it was freezing cold and a very strong wind was blowing. A very unusual early August weather system moved across the Sierra on this night and there was even a threat (unrealized) of some snow flurries. The broken clouds passing quickly overhead created fast-moving shadows that tracked across the terrain, producing the pattern of shadow and light on this steep area of granite benches and trees above Blue Lake.
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.
The snow fields, cliffs, and talus fields of Picture Peak tower above the upper end of Hungry Packer Lake, John Muir Wilderness, Sierra Nevada, California.
Hungry Packer Lake is a short walk up the valley from Topsy Turvy Lake, where we camped during our recent visit to upper Sabrina Basin in the eastern Sierra Nevada. Hungry Packer is a classic, high alpine Sierra Lake with glacier polished rocks, meadows, and a some trees at the bench where the outlet stream leaves the lake and rugged rocks and talus slopes around the upper portion of the lake – with the towering mass of Picture Peak overhead. It is “my Sierra” – the sort of place that first comes to mind for me when I think of this mountain range.
We only visited for a short time, as we were on a circuit hike to visit about four of these high lakes, and the light was a bit tough during this midday period. Consequently I decided to go for a tighter shot of the lake surface and the tremendous talus slope, rock faces, and snowfields at the upper end of the lake – all with a plan to render the photo in black and white.
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” is available from Heyday Books and Amazon.
A lush lupine-filled meadow along the outlet stream from Hungry Packer Lake near Picture Peak, high in the Sabrina Basin – John Muir Wilderness, Sierra Nevada, California.
A lush lupine-filled meadow along the outlet stream from Hungry Packer Lake near Picture Peak, high in the Sabrina Basin – John Muir Wilderness, Sierra Nevada, California.
We had hiked up through this meadow filled with plants and wildflowers earlier in the day while walking a circuit that included Hungry Packer Lake (beyond the saddle seen in the distance and below Picture Peak), Moonlight Lake, and Sailor Lake. At that time the early afternoon light had been far too harsh for photography, so I made plans to be back here early in the evening. I had hoped for some “golden hour” light, but I have to admit that I could see that a ridge to the right was going to cast a shadow here too early for that. Fortunately, the light on the peak came from the side such that it wasn’t as much brighter as it might otherwise have been, and it seemed like it might be possible to capture the huge dynamic range of this scene.
That last point brings up a difficult technical issue with this photograph – that tremendously large dynamic range. Although my eyes/brain could take in the full scene while standing there, no camera that I’d be carrying on the trail can possibly deal with this in a single shot. In the foreground the meadow plants were in early evening/late afternoon shade while the cloud above the peak was brightly lit by the direct sun. In the film days the only real option would have been to use a graduated neutral density (GND) filter to reduce the light from the sky. However, with digital capture we have another alternative – capturing several exposures of the scene optimized for the bright and dark areas and then combining them in post-production. That is precisely what I determined to do here.
In this case I made a main exposure that handled the middle of the dynamic range of the scene. I also made two more; one optimized to barely contain the brightest levels in the cloud and the second optimized to capture all of the details in the darker foreground meadow. The three versions of the scene were combined in post-processing to recreate something much closer to what I actually saw. (Yes, this was a complex photograph to realize!) in addition to using three exposures, I was also able to carefully customize the boundaries between them issuing masks – both of which would be impossible with a GND filter.
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.
A small pond among rocks and forest on the trail above Blue Lake, John Muir Wilderness, Sierra Nevada.
This scene falls, I think, into the category of “typical Sierra Nevada scene.” Anyone who has backpacked into the higher portions of the range has walked past and perhaps stopped at many little ponds like this one. It is in a glacier-formed granite landscape of shallow soil, exposed smooth rock formations, and many rocks and boulders left behind by the glacier. Lush grasses grow around the pond for a few short weeks every summer and the peaks of the Sierra crest are just visible though the taller trees.
This small pond is along the trail between Blue Lake and Dingleberry Lake, not far from Blue Lake. The trail crosses the outlet stream and the skirts the far shore before heading on to higher terrain.
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.
Photographer and visual opportunist. Daily photos since 2005, plus articles, reviews, news, and ideas.
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