Tag Archives: yosemite

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

Marmot, Sierra Nevada

June 7, 2010 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

A marmot emerges from winter conditions along the Tioga Pass Road, Yosemite National Park, California.

Sometimes this is just a bit too easy. Almost anyone who has driven over Tioga Pass Road through the high country of Yosemite National Park has stopped at the famous overlook at Olmsted Point. From here you can look one direction and see the “back side” of Half Dome or look the other way and see Tenaya Lake and the procession of domes, ridges, and peaks beyond. But you can also see marmots up close. They hang out in the rocks right below the parking area and are less fearful of people than are normal high-country marmots. (I’m more familiar with the latter. Getting a good photograph of them is possible but very challenging.)

I stopped here on my drive over the pass on the first day it was open this year, and two marmots were active near where steps lead down toward a nearby dome. I simply sat down near by, kept very still, and then waited for them to appear where I could photograph them. They were very cooperative – and there will be more photographs of these “guys” to come.

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.

Technical Data:
Canon EOS 5D Mark II
Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6 L IS USM at 400mm
ISO 200, f/11, 1/250 second

keywords: yosemite, national, park, sierra, nevada, mountain, spring, nature, animal, rodent, marmot, wildlife, nature, fur, nose, eye, whiskers, foot, thick, brown, rock, face, teeth, oldsted, point, tioga, pass, road, highway, 120, spring, stock

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

Ice and Snow on Tioga Pass and Tioga Lake

June 6, 2010 G Dan Mitchell 5 Comments

Late afternoon shadows fall across the frozen surface of Tioga Lake with Tioga Pass and the snow-covered peaks of Kuna Crest beyond.

On June 5 I made my first “summer season” visit to the Sierra of the year. Usually I mark the start of the post-winter part of the year by heading to Yosemite Valley to experience the waterfalls close up during the peak flow of the meltwater-filled rivers. This year I had time for a one-day trip and I did, indeed, start in the Valley. The waterfalls are close to as big as they get right now, and the Merced River is close to reaching flood stage, with large meadow areas of the Valley already under water. (The latter is actually a normal condition at the peak of the runoff cycle.) However, after shooting in the Valley into mid-morning, I decided to head elsewhere because the crowds were oppressive and because tran-Sierra Tioga Pass Road had opened this very morning.

I’ve been over Tioga Pass Road before on or close to the first day that the route is open, but I haven’t seen conditions like these up there since the mid-1990s. (In 1996, IIRC, the pass didn’t open until July 1 after a very heavy and late winter.) There was still snow almost everywhere along the road. It would be possible to ski or snow-shoe in many areas and, in fact, there were people engaged in just those activities. Melting water was everywhere. In places where I have never seen water before there were roaring creeks, often pouring down next to or even onto the roadway. All lakes and ponds are nearly or completely frozen still. Tuolumne Meadows itself is still completely covered by snow… except where the flooding Tuolumne River has created a giant, fast-moving lake.

I made this photograph at Tioga Lake late in the afternoon after making a traditional visit to the “Who Nellie Deli” in Lee Vining for the ritual fish tacos. Long shadows from nearby peaks and clouds fall across the frozen surface of the lake, the saddle of Tioga Pass is beyond, and in the farthest distance it is still winter on the peaks of Kuna Crest.

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.

Technical Data:
Canon EOS 5D Mark II
Canon EF 24-105mm f/4 L IS USM at 90mm
ISO 200, f/9, 1/1000 second

keywords: yosemite, national, park, sierra, nevada, mountain, spring, nature, tioga, lake, pass, mammoth, peak, kuna, crest, ridge, winter, conditions, spring, early, season, june, 2010, snow, ice, frozen, shadow, rock, boulder, reflection, melt, forest, sky, cloud, evening, road, eastern, landscape, winter, nature, stock

News, Reviews

SF Gate Reviews ‘First Light – Five Photographers Explore Yosemite’s Wilderness’

April 25, 2010 G Dan Mitchell 4 Comments

I see that Carl Nolte has offered a review of “First Light – Five Photographers Explore Yosemite’s Wilderness,” a book featuring the work of Charles Cramer, Karl Kroeber, Scot Miller, Mike Osborne and Keith S. Walklet.

If you are a Yosemite aficionado, someone who loves the Sierra back-country, or a lover of great landscape photography, I recommend this book. The five photographers have a tremendous amount of experience in the Yosemite back-country, and all five are talented and highly-regarded photographers in their own right. (I’ve been fortunate enough to spend a bit of time with them “on location” in recent years.)

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.

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

Horsetail Fall, Early Evening

March 5, 2010 G Dan Mitchell 2 Comments

The silver strand of Horsetail Fall and water reflecting on surrounding cliffs in late afternoon light, Yosemite Valley, California.

I’m thinking it is pretty nearly impossible to make a truly original photograph of Horsetail Fall – though I won’t completely rule out the possibility.

In any case, here I decided to start photographing the February spectacle a bit before the colorful sunset light showed up. At this point the beam of light on the cliff face around the fall is a bit larger, lighting the rocks to the right of the fall as well as the fall itself. During this season there has been enough precipitation and the weather had warmed enough to not only get Horsetail flowing but to also create some seepage down the face of the cliff next to the fall. As a matter of fact, the reflections from this wet rock caught my attention more strongly at first than did the fall itself. A second process was at work here as well: a stiff breeze from the west was blowing across the path of the falling water, catching it, and blowing thin clouds of spray across the buttress to the left of the fall itself.

I have posted several short articles on photographing this seasonal Yosemite Valley icon:

“Thinking About Yosemite’s Horsetail Fall” (2012)
“Photographing Horsetail Fall – Random Thoughts About Photographing an Icon” (2011)
“Horsetail Fall – It’s That Time Again” (2011)
“Thinking of Photographing Yosemite’s Horsetail Fall?” (2009)
Search results for Horsetail Fall at my blog (results will include the above-listed articles and more)

One of the best sources of current season information about the Horsetail Fall photography potential is photographer Michael Frye, who frequently posts general information and updates each winter.

Text, photographs, and other media are © Copyright G Dan Mitchell (or others when indicated) and are 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.