Monthly Archives: June 2009

Equipment

Backpacking Photography Equipment – My Approach

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Since the summer backpacking season is upon us – though it will be at least a few more weeks before I’m out and about in the back-country – it seems like a good time to post a pointer to a post I wrote earlier (and update every year) about my backpacking photography equipment.

I have backpacked in the Sierra Nevada – and occasionally elsewhere – for more than four decades, believe it or not. My total time on the trail can be measured in years if you add it all up. Over the years I’ve gone through a diverse range of approaches to integrating my photography with my time on the trail: early on I used to carry film SLRs, I gradually moved to smaller and lighter and less capable cameras, for a while I decided to not let photography interfere with the backpacking experience at all, and these days the photography has again become a primary reason for the backpacking.

I’ve evolved an approach to doing serious photography on the trail that works really well for me. It has to do partly with the selection of equipment that I’ve come to use, but it also has to do with my philosophy about what, when, where, and how to shoot. If you are serious about doing photography on the trail, I hope that the article has something to offer to you, whether your approach turns out to be similar to or quite different than mine.

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” (Heyday Books) is available directly from him.

G Dan Mitchell: Blog | Bluesky | Mastodon | Substack Notes | Flickr | Email


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 After Morning Rain

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Forest After Morning Rain

Forest After Morning Rain. Yosemite National Park, California. June 6, 2009. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Soft overcast light illuminates tall trees covered with moss following early morning rain in Yosemite Nataional Park, California.

I’ve had my eye on this little spot in the forest alongside the highway 120 route north entrance to the park – it is in the high section between the turn-off to Tuolumne Meadows and the beginning of the steeper descent toward the Valley through open terrain. I have a particular set of conditions in mind for the photograph I would eventually like to make at this location, and although those were not the conditions I found on this morning I stopped and made a few photographers here nonetheless.

The weather in early June of this year has been a bit unusual – at the time when thing usually shift over to the expected California weather pattern of long periods of clear blue skies and warm temperatures, instead we have had weeks of cloudy, cool, and often wet weather. (All in all, the latter tends to make for more interesting photography than the former!) As I drove into the park early on this morning the forest was still wet from the previous day’s rain and the overcast was already rebuilding towards another day of rain, and this made for intense and saturated forest color (especially the reddish-browns and greens of the moss and leaves) and wonderful diffused light.

As Yosemite subjects go, this one falls considerably short of “icon” status – but it is the sort of thing about the park that grows on me more and more.

This photograph is not in the public domain. It may not be used on websites, blogs, or in any other media without explicit advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

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Community, Workshops

A couple of interesting workshop announcements

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From The Ansel Adams Gallery Blog – Making a Photograph: From Field to Print with Charles Cramer and Keith Walklet

This 2-day lecture/demonstration July 18 & 19 presents highlights from the 3-5 day workshops that Walklet and Cramer present for the Ansel Adams Gallery. Participants will learn valuable insights on photographing in the field, exposure of film and digital captures, and creating effective compositions, plus techniques that allow you to optimize these images to their fullest potential using Lightroom and Photoshop, all leading to the creation of compelling prints. This course will “open your eyes” to imagine the many possibilities within your image.

Rooms in Yosemite Valley are available for this workshop, but you must register by June 15th to reserve one.

I know Charlie and can confirm that he has a ton of useful information and insights to convey, and that he knows how to present them. I’ve only met Keith once… on the trail… last summer, when I briefly visited the two of them and a couple other photographers who were working out of Booth Lake near the Vogelsang High Sierra Camp. I first encountered Keith while I was photographing near Townsley Lake and I saw what looked to be a heavily-laden backpacker approaching – but it was just Keith carrying a giant load of photo equipment. (If I understood correctly, he was using a full DSLR system, a full MF digital system, and LF film… in the backcountry. Sheesh!)

Also…

Gary Crabbe announces a Photo Business Workshop in Utah

I’m very pleased to announce that I will be co-teaching a workshop on The Business of Outdoor and Nature Photography in conjunction with fellow photographer Charlie Borland and Aspen Photo Workshops. The workshop will be held November 5th through 8th, 2009 at Ruby’s Inn & Conference Center near Bryce Canyon National Park in Utah. Joining us will be Marv Johnson, CEO of the online stock agency, Fogstock.

The focus of this workshop is about business, and takes place during the day, so photographers are free to shoot during the sweet light hours. As many people will know, Ruby’s Inn is within a few minutes drive of Bryce Canyon National Park, famous for it’s geology and wildly-shaped hoodoos.

Photographs: Desert, Photographs: Mono Lake Basin

Tufa Towers, Mono Lake, Dawn

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Tufa Towers, Mono Lake, Dawn

Tufa Towers, Mono Lake, Dawn. Mono Lake, California. June 7, 2009. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Mono Lake and shoreline tufa towers are illuminated by dawn light.

I more or less accidentally ended up at Mono Lake early on the second morning of my early June “Yosemite trip.” My plans are often somewhat flexible when I’m out doing photography, but they were very flexible this time. My original plan had been to try to grab a last-minute campsite in Yosemite Valley and shoot there for the better part of two days, but when my position on the campsite waiting list made this option look less than certain I decided to instead head up to Tuolumne Meadows, over Tioga Pass, and get a camp site on the east side. Being only a 15 minute drive from the iconic South Tufa location at Mono Lake it was hard not to head over there before dawn.

The dawn light can be truly stunning at this location if you hit it just right. Ideal conditions might include glass smooth water on the lake, some clouds over the Sierra crest and perhaps directly overhead, but clear sky to the east so that the first sun can hit the towers without obstruction. When I arrived at Mono before sunrise it did not look like it would end up being quite that “ideal” day. A fairly solid overcast filled the sky to the east, with just a few small holes in the clouds that might allow some beams of light to pass through. But since I was there – and since I’ve learned that conditions can evolve in interesting and surprising ways – I wandered on out to the water’s edge and set up for a first shot in a small bay-like spot. After shooting the very first light hitting some towers out in the water I decided to move a bit to my right and into a more jumbled area of the tufa where I found this composition looking out between towers toward the lake and the nearly clear sky to the north.

This photograph is not in the public domain. It may not be used on websites, blogs, or in any other media without explicit advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

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