Tag Archives: yosemite

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

Subalpine Lake, Dusk

September 24, 2015 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Dusk comes to a Sierra Nevada subalpine lake on a rainy evening

Near the middle of September three of us spent a week camped at one Yosemite back-country lake, photographing the lake and its surroundings every day in a range of conditions. At times we dealt with this summer’s extremes of wildfire smoke, which was occasionally so thick that it almost seemed like fog and it made breathing difficult. But each day, even on the smokiest days, the wind picked up and it cleared out enough to make photographs — some days the early morning was clear and the smoke drifted in later, while on other days we started out with murky conditions and then watched them clear.

A bit to our surprise, on the last few days a weather front came through and we had much more “interesting” weather — rain, wind, hail, graupel, and clouds swirling around the nearby peaks. On this evening the clouds were gathering — it would rain later that night — and patterns of lighter and darker clouds filled the sky above our lake. Late in the evening, as the light was beginning to fail, I walked a short distance from my tent, set up along the shoreline, and mad some photographs of this mysterious scene in the fading light.

All media © Copyright G Dan Mitchell and others as indicated. Any use requires advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

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

Granite Ridge, Trees

September 21, 2015 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Tall trees on top of a granite ridge, Yosemite National Park

This has been a period of unprecedented drought in California as a whole and particularly in the Sierra Nevada. In the fourth of this series of drought years the Sierra is showing the strain. Creeks have stopped flowing, lake levels are significantly low, trees are under stress and dying throughout the range. This summer the annual wildfire season began much earlier than usual, and many fires spread quickly and took longer to contain. We certainly saw all of these effects during our week-long photographic sojourn in the Yosemite backcountry. Until we had a couple of days of (welcome!) rain near the end of the trip, the smoke was a major factor. On many days we had smoke so thick that we were concerned about our health, and the pall often made photography somewhat challenging. Fortunately, even on the smokiest days there were times when it was clear, too.

However, it is possible to see how to make photographs even in smoky conditions. On the plus side, some smoke can soften the light a bit, and the haze can enhance the atmospheric recession effect, which can emphasize the distances between subjects in front of the camera. The haze in this photograph comes partially from wildfire smoke. Here it muted to sometimes-difficult highlights on the granite, and it softened and muted the distant forest across the valley.

All media © Copyright G Dan Mitchell and others as indicated. Any use requires advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

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

Fallen Tree, Lake Shore Autumn Grasses

September 20, 2015 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

An old fallen tree and lakeshore autumn grasses at a Sierra Nevada lake.

During a week at this backcountry lake and the surrounding area I had plenty of time to wander about, work in varied conditions, and see beyond the obvious first impressions. After a few long stays in such places I have come to be familiar with a certain cycle. I arrive with a mixture of “how will I ever manage to find enough here for a week of work?” and “once I slow down I know there will be plenty to see.” After a day of settling in it begins to feel like there will be plenty to photograph, but that there is no real urgency to the work. I tend to wander, looking at whatever happens to catch my attention and not really working much from a plan. At some point near the middle of the stay there comes a time when I do a count of subjects remaining to photograph and number of mornings/evenings remaining… and I realize that I have to formulate a plan! And then, invariably, on the final day or two I realize that even with a week to work there will be subjects that I won’t get to.

I photographed this scene close to the midway point on the trip — when there still seemed to be plenty of time and just before I felt the need to begin planning more carefully. This is a wonderful time on such a trip, when there are opportunities to engage in “aimless” wandering — though there is very much an aim to that aimlessness! This subject is one that I could easily overlook early on during a trip or during the end-of-trip attention to specific remaining subjects. The skeletal gray of the fallen tree contrasts wonderfully with the rich coloration of the early fall meadow around the edges of this sub-alpine lake.

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

Reflections, Cathedral Range Granite

September 19, 2015 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Still waters of a lake reflect Cathedral Range granite patterns, Yosemite National Park

This is likely to be the first in a somewhat large group of photographs made during a recent weeklong stay at a backcountry Sierra Nevada lake with friends and fellow photographers Charlie Cramer and Scot Miller. The two of them are part of a larger group of photographers who have photographed annually in the high Sierra, most often in Yosemite, for about the past 15 years. I’m a more recent hanger-on, first tagging along on my own perhaps a half-dozen years ago, and then participating more fully for the past three years or so. The typical plan is to pack in to a scenic backcountry location, set up a base camp, and then photograph the heck out of the area for a week or so. This approach has all kinds of advantages — too many to completely describe them here — including the ability to watch for perfection conditions or to return to a location and refine a vision of the subject over a period of days.

Near the start of the trip I saw this little area where vertical rocks meet water near the edge of a lake. My first photographs were OK, but just OK. However, I knew the spot had potential given the right water and light conditions. I watched the area each time I passed it, always watching for those better conditions. I got them on this day, when the water had become almost completely still, producing a more coherent reflection of the lichen-covered rocks.

G Dan Mitchell Photography

Tag Archives: yosemite

Subalpine Lake, Dusk

Granite Ridge, Trees

Fallen Tree, Lake Shore Autumn Grasses

Reflections, Cathedral Range Granite

Photographer and visual opportunist. Daily photos since 2005, plus articles, reviews, news, and ideas.