Tag Archives: yosemite

Dogwood Leaves After Rain

Dogwood Leaves After Rain

Dogwood Leaves After Rain. Yosemite National Park, California. June 6, 2009. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Water droplets from a passing shower on dogwood tree leaves, Yosemite National Park.

As I drove into Yosemite via the highway 120 “north” entrance, shortly after entering the park I passed by a large dogwood grove at the bottom of a steep descent. I know this spot well, and I watch if for dogwood blossoms every spring – and I can often find blossoms here long after they have gone from the Valley. On this morning the colors were intense from the previous day’s rain and due to the slightly overcast conditions. I was surprised to find that even at the end of the first week of June there were still some very nice looking dogwood blossoms and intense green leaves everywhere. The leaves in this photograph are on one of the dogwood trees in a shady section of the forest.

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.

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Another Epic Sierra Round Trip

The time was ripe this weekend for a visit to Yosemite Valley and perhaps other places, so a two-day photo trip was in order. As is sometimes the case when I do these short up-and-back runs, some things happened according to plan and others, uh, evolved.

I left the SF Bay Area at 3:30 a.m. on Saturday morning. The plan was to head to the Valley early and then possibly get on the wait list for a camp spot with the rest of the plan being to shoot spring subjects there for a couple days.

Continue reading Another Epic Sierra Round Trip

El Capitan, Morning

El Capitan, Morning

El Capitan, Morning. Yosemite Valley, California. May 10, 2009. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Morning light illuminates a small portion of the vertical face of El Capitan, Yosemite Valley.

While photographing the oaks in El Capitan Meadow in early May I decide to point my lens up towards the vertical face of El Capitan. In the full size version of this print you can pick out a number of climbers in various places across the cliff.

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.

keywords: national park, travel, yosemite, valley, national park, morning, spring, el capitan, cliff, face, mountain, rock, granite, climber, flake, crack, monolith, shadow, landscape, scenic, geology, big, wall, route, rope, haul sack, belay, lead, stock

Middle Cathedral and El Capitan Meadow, Spring

Lower Cathedral Rocks and El Capitan Meadow, Spring

Lower Cathedral Rocks and El Capitan Meadow, Spring. Yosemite Valley, California. May 10, 2009. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Early spring view of the trees and new grass of El Capitan with the lower face of Middle Cathedral and the Yosemite Valley rim beyond.

El Capitan Meadow is one of my favorite places to photograph in Yosemite – at just about any time of year, at any time of day, and in any conditions. This photograph was made on a beautiful early spring morning as the new spring growth was just beginning to show – the grasses are just coming up in the meadow and the trees are beginning to leaf out. Beyond the meadow is the smooth face of Middle Cathedral facing the morning light, and beyond that is a shaded portion of the south Valley rim.

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.

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