Images

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

Coastal Bluffs, Clearing Fog

Image August 8, 2018 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

A coastal inversion layer is visible as fog thins above the rugged Big Sur coastline

The quality of the Big Sur coast is, I think, the sum of a lot of contributing factors. As you drive south (my usual direction of approach, as a San Francisco Bay Area resident), the expanse of the Pacific Ocean extends to your right, and it may be brilliantly lit, completely fogged in, full of storm clouds, or just plain blue. Because the route alternately drops to the water level and climbs up above the headlands, this view expands and contracts. Surprisingly, it can be quite warm here, especially when the fog clears on a summer day and the road climbs. Views may be intimate as you pass through forested sections and around tight turns, or they may stretch to the horizon and far to the north and south.

On this mid-summer visit remnants of fog were still dissipating as I passed through. In places it sat thickly on hilltops, while elsewhere it had cleared and the light was brilliantly bright. This view appeared as I began my descent from one of the high places, and the top of the coastal inversion was clearly visible.

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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: Sierra Nevada, Photographs: Yosemite

Forest, Early Evening Light

Image August 7, 2018 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Soft, early evening light on forest trees in the Tuolumne River Dana Fork drainage

It was evening, and I had stopped in a familiar location along Tioga Pass Road between Tuolumne Meadows and Tioga Pass, a place where the terrain opens up a bit to offer broader views back to the west and up toward the highest peaks in the area, and above which a rugged peak of fractured granite and talus rises. It is also a place where I can almost always spot deer late in the day.

I made a few photographs of the higher peaks and ridges, then turned my attention to photographing forest vignettes using a long focal length lens. In many places the light was difficult, as it almost front-lit the trees in the most obvious direction. As I paused and looked around I first noticed a skeletal dean tree near this spot and started to pay more attention to the forest itself. It was softly lit by light coming from a cloudy sky, and there was enough diffused light to open up the forest shadows just a bit.

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

Photographs: Central California, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Wildlife

Morning Fly-Out

Image August 6, 2018 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Migratory geese take to the air in morning light and thin tule fog

As I mentioned in an earlier post, I am (finally!) going back and revisiting my 2017 (!) photographs. I usually review the previous year’s raw files each December as I come up with my annual favorites post. However, I didn’t do that post (yet) for 2017, and I therefore missed that all-important opportunity look through the year’s raw file archive. Why is that important? For various reasons, which could be the subject of an article at some point, I miss some interesting photographs right after I make them — perhaps I had to move on to other subjects, I may not yet have been able to “see” the images for what they are, etc.

This comes from the very beginning of 2017, in the middle of winter. In many parts of the country winter is when migratory birds show up, as they arrive in our relatively warmer climate from areas that may be literally frozen during this season. Geese are among the long-distance travelers, and every fall and winter I look forward to their return all up and down the California flyway. I photographed this group early in the morning as the sun arrived and the birds began to leave their overnight accommodations in wetland ponds.

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Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Sierra Nevada

Alpine Lake and Sierra Crest Peaks

Image August 5, 2018 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

The peaks of the Sierra Nevada crest tower above a reflecting alpine lake

This photograph is another from the northeast boundary country around Yosemite National Park — the park starts on the far side of the high ridge. I’ve always thought that his area deserves inclusion in the park since the scenery is as spectacular as inside the park, and today most of it is wilderness. I haven’t researched this, but I suspect that the explanation may have two parts. First, the crest of the Sierra was an obvious place to draw a boundary. Second, mining took place in this area, something that always makes the establishment of a park more complicated. That mining ended a long time ago, but you can still find traces.

This is the same lovely subalpine lake I wrote about earlier. I hiked here early in the morning, hitting the trail at dawn, and spent more than an hour slowly exploring this spot and making photographs. The air was still at times, so the reflections of the rugged and rocky ridge was often rather clear, and the symmetry of the reflected image was remarkable.

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G Dan Mitchell Photography

Images

Coastal Bluffs, Clearing Fog

Forest, Early Evening Light

Morning Fly-Out

Alpine Lake and Sierra Crest Peaks

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