Tag Archives: wilderness

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Sierra Nevada

Aspens and Boulder

October 28, 2010 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Fall aspen trees drop yellow leaves on a boulder in the Bishop Creek drainage, Sierra Nevada, California.

I made this photograph in very low evening light – as those who have looked at the technical information and noticed the four second exposure time have already figured out. I was shooting in canyon on a cloudy evening with light rain late in the day – so it should be no surprise that there was little light. What the light lacks in intensity at this time of day, it makes up for by being so diffused and soft that the shadows light up in ways that aren’t seen during the regular daylight hours.

On a day of gentle rain and overcast, the wind had died down in the evening, allowing the long exposure necessary for this photograph. The colorful aspens almost seem to glow in this light, and the golden leaves had first caught my attention. But as I looked at this little scene the leaves that had fallen across the boulder and the nearly white colors of the tree trunks also intrigued me.

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

Tree and Cliff Above Middle Young Lake

September 30, 2010 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

A tree grows at the rocky edge of a cliff above Middle Young Lake and the forest receding into the late-afternoon western light, Yosemite National Park, California.

Continuing the process of milking my mid-September shoot at Young Lakes for as many photographs as possible, here’s one more. As I wandered around the “side” of the upper lake I saw a meadowy area below the outlet stream that looked interesting, so I followed it to the beginning of a steep drop off towards the middle lake. Here the combination of low-angle back light glancing off or the edges of the rocky outcropping and the distant forest-covered hills fading into the sunny haze caught my attention. It was also interesting to think about the fact that I had just walked past the lake seen at the lower left perhaps no more than 30-45 minutes earlier.

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

Tree and Rocks, Lower Young Lake

September 24, 2010 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

A small tree growing on rocks near the shoreline of Lower Young Lake, Yosemite National Park, California.

I first saw this small tree growing in the cracks of rocks near the shore of the lake the morning before I made this photograph. At that time the tree looked interesting but the light was not so great. So visiting this tree again was on my agenda for the following morning and I got there a bit earlier. I made a number of exposures of this scene, and I’m still not certain which one(s) I think work the best – so there is a chance that one or more additional photographs of this subject may appear before too long.

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

Ragged Peak and Lower Young Lake

Image September 22, 2010 G Dan Mitchell 4 Comments

The summit ridge of Ragged Peak is reflected in the still morning surface of Lower Young Lake, Yosemite National Park, California.

On the final morning of my mid-August backpacking/photography trip to the Young Lakes area I awoke to some overcast to the east. Photographically speaking, this was a mostly good thing. As the morning light builds, it can otherwise become harsh, but when just the right thickness of clouds is overhead the light can be diffused a bit and the shadows are lit and the bright granite surface reflections are a bit subdued. In addition to having a bit of thin cloudiness overhead, there was virtually no wind, so the surface of the lake remained glass-like longer on this morning, and showed a clear reflection of Ragged Peak, the dominant feature on this end of the ridge that runs alongside these lakes.

The saddle to the left of Ragged Peak reminds me of a previous late-season to this lake. I thought I was the only person there – it must have been very late September or perhaps even the beginning of October – but in the morning someone showed up as I was sitting by the lake shore. It turned out that he was a “seasonal” – a back-country ranger during the summer months who did something else the rest of the year. We had a long conversation about a variety of things, including his musings about whether it was perhaps time to apply for a “real” job with the park service. Near the end of our conversation he mentioned that he had been over this saddle, so of course I had to try it. I won’t say much more about it, except to point out that it does not really have a trail and it ascends a very steep slope filled with very large boulders before topping the rough edge of an old moraine – in other words, it isn’t quite like taking the trail to Glen Aulin.

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.