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Archive for August, 2005

Fletcher Lake and Vogelsang Peak

FletcherVogelsang2005|08|27: Fletcher Lake and Vogelsang Peak. Yosemite National Park. August 28, 2005. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell.
Fletcher Lake and Vogelsang Peak. Yosemite National Park. August 27, 2005. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell.

This is another photo from last weekend’s pack trip out of Tuolumne Meadows in Yosemite National Park. This picture was taken at sunset and includes the lower end of Fletcher Lake in the foreground and Vogelsang Peak in the distance, slightly obscured by haze from a nearby forest fire.
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Lyell Canyon at Dusk

LyellCanyonDusk2005|08|26: Lyell Canyon at Dusk. Yosemite National Park. August 26, 2005. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell.
Lyell Canyon at Dusk. Yosemite National Park. August 26, 2005. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell.

The John Muir Trail leaves Yosemite’s Tuolumne Meadows via Lyell Canyon, following the Lyell fork of the Tuolumne River to cross the Sierra crest at Donohue Pass. This photo was taken at sunset near the junction of the Muir Trail and the lateral trail to Ireland Lake. Due to the wide range between the still-sunlit peaks and the dark, forested foreground this is a composite of two different exposures.
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Canon Prices Dropping?

I see today that the Canon Digital Rebel XT (my camera) and the 20D are both on sale at considerably reduced prices at the Dell Home Store. The XT is available for about $700 and the 20D is available for $1125. Both are body-only and these prices require coupons.

In the past, I’ve seen Dell offer low prices like this when a product is first introduced (to grab the initial sales perhaps, but not in this case), when a product is going to replaced by something newer (it could happen), or just because.

I considered the Rebel XT and the 20D before I upgraded by digital camera earlier this year. I could have gotten either but for my purposes, the XT turned out to be a better choice than the 20D. The smaller and lighter body are a definite advantage since I often use the camera while hiking or backpacking. Not incidentally, the XT fits into a smaller case as well. (I use the Tamrac Zoom 14.) If the 20D took better pictures I might have made a different decision, but the image quality of the XT is essentially identical to that of the 20D. The 20D does have a more flexible and powerful interface, or so I hear, but this isn’t a big deal for the kinds of photography I usually do.

The Canon EF-S 17mm-85mm IS lens works well with this camera and is usually all I need. (Not that I couldn’t think of ways to spend a lot of money on additional lenses if given the opportunity. ;-)

Now, if the price on the just-announced Canon 5D (12.8 megapixel, full-frame, and about the size and weight of the 20D) would just drop by an equivalent amount…
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Fletcher Lake Morning Light

FletcherMornLight2005|08|28: Morning light at Fletcher Lake. Yosemite National Park. August 28, 2005. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell.
Morning Light at Fletcher Lake. Yosemite National Park. August 28, 2005. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell.

I was backpacking in Yosemite this past weekend, on a loop that took me up Lyell Canyon to Ireland Lake, cross-country to Fletcher Lake, and then back to Tuolumne Meadows via the Rafferty Creek trail.

This picture was taken in the morning as the sun began to peek around and over Fletcher Peak, which towers above the lake. Fletcher Lake is in the foreground, a glacial moraine above the Vogelsang High Sierra camp is behind the trees, and the lower slopes of Vogelsang Peak are in the background.
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Dry Grass at Fletcher Lake

FletcherDryGrass2005|08|28: Dry Grass, Fletcher Lake. Yosemite National Park. August 28, 2005. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell.
Dry Grass, Fletcher Lake. Yosemite National Park. August 28, 2005. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell.

Just back from a weekend pack trip in Yosemite, and time to post one photograph.
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Crowley Lake, Owens Valley

CrowleyLakeOwensValley2005|08|05: Crowley Lake, Owens Valley. August 5, 2005. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell.
Crowley Lake, Owens Valley. August 5, 2005. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell.

During the months when Sierra runoff is peaking this area near Crowley Lake can be one of the most colorful spots in Owens Valley, especially when the sun is broken up by scattered clouds.
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More About Dating Ansel Adams Photos

On Tuesday I posted a note about the corrected dating of an Ansel Adams photo taken in Yosemite. Robert Pearce posted a note today pointing out that this has happened before:

This isn’t the first time this has been done. In Ansel Adams’
book “An Autobiography,” in the chapter on Nation Parks he discusses another date
correction done I’m assuming in the late 1970’s. Adams
had misdated MOONRISE for many years, labeling it 1941, 1942, 1943, and 1944.
Dr. David Elmore computed the actual date to be October 31, 1941, between 4:00
and 4:05P.M.

Technology is amazing.

It is reassuring to know that I’m not the only one who can’t keep dates straight!
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Lakes Below Duck Pass

DuckPassLakes2005|08|05: Lakes below Duck Pass. Mammoth Lakes area. August 5, 2005. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell
Lakes Below Duck Pass. Near Mammoth Lakes. August 5, 2005. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell.

These lakes are perhaps a mile below Duck Pass in the Sierra near Mammoth Lakes. Duck Pass and, further on, Duck Lake is up the trail from Lake Mary. I was descending from Duck Pass after abandoning a 14-day pack trip on day 5 due to illness. (Of course, once I got out I felt fine and realized I could have continued…)

It had rained on me at the pass a few minutes earlier and there were heavy showers to the north. Meanwhile, the sun was peeking through breaks in the clouds around the edge of the storm, and it was that light which was passing across the lakes in the foreground.
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Merced River and El Capitan

MercedElCap2005|05|21: Merced River and El Capitan. Yosemite National Park. May 21, 2005. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell.
Merced River and El Capitan. Yosemite National Park. May 21, 2005. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell.

This photograph was made earlier this year when the Merced River was flooding during a very high spring runoff.
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Forensic astronomers date famous photograph">Forensic astronomers date famous photograph

From Yahoo News:

“Autumn Moon, the High Sierra from Glacier Point,” taken by Ansel Adams in Yosemite National Park, is a thrilling view of the American West, featuring a waxing Moon rising over dark, ice-tinged peaks.

But precisely when Adams took the iconic black-and-white picture has never been clear, and dates for it range from the mid to the late 1940s.

A team led by Donald Olson, a professor of physics and astronomy at Southwest Texas State University, claim that the mystery can be resolved.

The linked article includes the details and a copy of the photograph. One interesting fact is that the identification of time, date, and location resulted from the discovery of an original color exposure of the image.

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