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Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Sequoia-Kings Canyon, Photographs: Sierra Nevada

Outcropping and Reflection

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Outcropping and Reflection
The reflection of a massive outcropping at the edge of an alpine lake nestled in a rocky Sierra Nevada basin.

Outcropping and Reflection. © Copyright 2013 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

The reflection of a massive outcropping at the edge of an alpine lake nestled in a rocky Sierra Nevada basin.

Back in the summer of 2013 a group of us spent a week base-camped within a five minute walk of this feature and an entire landscape filled with equivalent wonders. It was a high place (roughly 12,000′) filled with lakes and surrounded by forests of small trees and rocky slopes and peaks. We spent that week getting to know this area intimately and photographing it in all kinds of light and conditions.

I suppose that most people must have a carry in their minds a visual symbol for their special places — perhaps a giant tree, a waterfall, a coastal bluff, and so on. When it comes to the Sierra Nevada, the image that comes to mind is usually a high place much like this one, where the trees begin to thin, lakes are often rockbound, and talus slopes rise to alpine ridges and peaks.

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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Photographs: Central California, Photographs: Ocean & Coast

Rocky Coastline, Surf and Mist

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Rocky Coastline, Surf and Mist
Big winter surf raises spray and mist along the Big Sur coastline at the Rocky Point Bridge.

Rocky Coastline, Surf and Mist. © Copyright 2013 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Big winter surf raises spray and mist along the Big Sur coastline at the Rocky Point Bridge.

As many times as I have photographed this subject, you might think that I would eventually have had enough of it and just pass it by. But when I visit the Big Sur coast it is almost inevitable that I’ll stop here at least briefly, and as a result I have photographed this scene in lots of different conditions — stormy surf, brilliant sun, fog, and more. Once I even angled the camera down just a bit to include the but of pasture that I usually keep outside the frame… and some cattle made an appearance in my photograph.

If you look closely through the mist raised by the gigantic winter surf you can make out the Rocky Point Bridge in the distance, one of the famous bridges on this old highway. It is not the most famous structure on this route — that reputation belongs to a different bridge a bit further to the south. On this morning there was big winter surf, and sometimes waves arrived that were big enough to almost overwhelm the foreground rocks.

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.

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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

Pier, China Camp

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Pier, China Camp
An old pier at the historic China Camp State Park, San Pablo Bay.

Pier, China Camp. © Copyright 2012 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

DeAn old pier at the historic China Camp State Park, San Pablo Bay.scription

China Camp, along the shores of the San Pablo Bay lobe of San Francisco Bay has a remarkable history, one that I was unaware of until perhaps a decade ago despite living the Bay Area almost my entire life. The name recognizes that the location was a settlement of Chinese immigrants in the 1880s, and there was a substantial village here that developed a shrimp fishing industry. Although that began to fall apart early in the 20th Century, the last resident was still there late in the 1900s before the area became a park, saving it from industrial or suburban development.

Today it is a remarkably quiet place in the midst of a very busy Bay Area. Buildings and other elements of the earlier village still exist and have been restored, and it is interesting to ponder the lives of the people who lived there. This photograph features an old pier that extends out into the bay from the area of the remaining buildings.

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.

Blog | About | Flickr | Facebook | Email

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: Nature, Photographs: Sequoia-Kings Canyon, Photographs: Sierra Nevada

Alpine Lake, Storm, and Rainbow

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Alpine Lake, Storm, and Rainbow
A trail crosses a rise beyond an alpine lake as rain begins and a rainbow appears against stormy skies, Kings Canyon National Park.

Alpine Lake, Storm, and Rainbow. © Copyright 2013 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A trail crosses a rise beyond an alpine lake as rain begins and a rainbow appears against stormy skies, Kings Canyon National Park.

This photograph comes from a wonderful trip into the Kings Canyon backcountry seven summers ago. A group of five photographers who have been doing such things for almost twenty years (I’ve been going along for a decade) packed in to a remote location at 12,000′ and set up a basecamp. We spent a week there photographing the heck out of the nearby landscape of granite, lakes, and peaks — and enjoying the camaraderie that comes from working together in the wilderness.

By the time I made this photograph I had settled thoroughly into the routines of living and photographing in such a place. I’ve often photographed while hiking through the Sierra, but working from a base-camp gives me time to explore more carefully, to get to know the character of a place, and to experience it in a variety of conditions. Although it was the tail-end of a drought season, we had rain from time to time, and on this afternoon I photographed an area full of lakes as the afternoon showers arrived.

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.

Blog | About | Flickr | Facebook | Email

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

Scroll down to leave a comment or question.

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