Tag Archives: zone

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Sierra Nevada

An Alpine Bowl

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An Alpine Bowl
Rock-filled meadows rise past the tree line towards the rugged terrain of the alpine zone, Eastern Sierra Nevada.

An Alpine Bowl. © Copyright 2022 G Dan Mitchell.

Rock-filled meadows rise past the tree line towards the rugged terrain of the alpine zone, Eastern Sierra Nevada.

This particular corner of the Sierra Nevada backcountry landscape became a bit of an obsession for me during out August backcountry photography foray. We camped nearby for a week, and every day we went out to explore and photograph portions of the surrounding alpine landscape. Our base camp was not far below the high country of open meadows and talus, which is my favorite kind of Sierra landscape.

With that in mind, it should probably be no surprise that I walked up into the area in this photograph several times. Access was quite close — a few hundred yards above our camp, after crossing a creek, I was in the lower reaches of the sub-alpine meadow, and from there it was a pleasant amble across the meadows, occasionally through some trees, and on up to the treelike and beyond. High in this bowl I found what I expected — a shallow lake replenished by snowmelt water coming down from high above.

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, Amazon, and directly from G Dan Mitchell.

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Photographs: Central California, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Ocean & Coast

At the Shoreline

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At the Shoreline
A peninsula of fractured and worn rocks next to the tidal zone.

At the Shoreline. © Copyright 2022 G Dan Mitchell.

A peninsula of fractured and worn rocks next to the tidal zone.

As I wrote in another recent post, what I thought would be a quick visit to this cove turned into a rather longer one. As I started my visit I wasn’t sure that I would photograph here, but once I started looking around I found plenty of interesting subjects. After well over an hour I finally tore myself away to go photograph something else!

The location encompasses a shallow cove lined with rocks, some of which are flat and gradually head under the water, and others that are part of a small peninsula blocking the area from the open ocean. The intertidal zone is full of fascinating things — living creatures, pebbles left behind by the surf, and a pavement of upended strata. In this photograph I backed off some distance and put a long lens on the camera so that I could include the foreground boulders along with a small portion of the flat area and the rocky wall of the peninsula beyond.

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, Amazon, and directly from G Dan Mitchell.

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Links to Articles, Sales and Licensing, my Sierra Nevada Fall Color book, Contact Information.

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

Photographs: San Francisco, Photographs: Urban/Street

Construction Zone

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Construction Zone
A man walks past construction barriers in San Francisco

Construction Zone. © Copyright 2019 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A man walks past construction barriers in San Francisco.

Like most big cities, San Francisco is in a perpetual state of construction, demolition, and reconstruction. It is fun to imagine a city that arrives in a perfect state and stays there for a while — but that’s not going to happen. Among many San Francisco projects, one of the biggest right now involves constructing an underground transit route under the center of the City, and years of torn up streets have ensued. Although it is possible to imagine the project concluding now, there’s still a lot of work going on.

One major purpose of the route is to extend transit in a more effective manner from the Caltrain station at Fourth and Townsend. I frequently travel to the City by way of the train, and this visit was no exception, so I found myself walking straight up Fourth and past a section where the rails are above ground before they descend into a tunnel. Here the ongoing construction is separated by barriers from the (few) remaining traffic lanes.

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.

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Links to Articles, Sales and Licensing, my Sierra Nevada Fall Color book, Contact Information.

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

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Sierra Nevada

Alpine Rock Garden

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Alpine Rock Garden
An outcropping of shattered rock in the Sierra Nevada alpine zone

Alpine Rock Garden. © Copyright 2018 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

An outcropping of shattered rock in the Sierra Nevada alpine zone

My favorite Sierra Nevada backcountry terrain is just a bit lower than this scene — it is the country right at tree line, where small, scattered trees are separated by meadows and rocky areas. But when it come to exhilarating “high and wild” country, places like the one in this photograph cannot be beat. They are so rugged and unadapted to our human way of living that they remind us that this is not entirely “our” world. Yet, with care and persistence, you can enter this country, pass through it, enjoy and even be changed by the experience.

Here I found this outcropping of weathered and shattered stone at the base of a huge talus slope that led up toward the highest peaks. One of those higher ridges blocked the sun, and the scene is softly illuminated by gentle light reflected from nearby high peaks. Looking at this scene it might seem completely impassable. Yet I watched a couple of backpackers slowly make their way across it. This is the sort of country where progress is no longer measured in miles per hour — it is more likely a matter of hours per mile. I recall one such place I crossed a few years ago where our progress dropped to perhaps a quarter-mile per hour as we picked our way past boulders, along benches, and across talus. It was one of the most memorable hikes I’ve had.

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