Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Northern California, Photographs: Sierra Nevada, Photographs: Yosemite

Young Tree and Granite Wall

2 Comments
Young Tree and Granite Wall
Young Tree and Granite Wall

Young Tree and Granite Wall. Yosemite Valley, California. May 7, 2011. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A young tree grows against a granite wall along the north side of Yosemite Valley.

This tree (and its nearby oak partner) and I have become good friends over the past few years. I first photographed it in the fall some years back, though the oak made a better shot at that time given its fall color leaves. But every time I walk along a certain area under the cliffs on the north side of Yosemite Valley I check in here to see what the light is doing.

During the first weekend of May I was in the Valley for photography and to visit the reception for Michael Frye’s exhibit at the Ansel Adams Galley. After spending an enjoyable hour and a half or so viewing Michael’s prints and meeting and talking with a wonderful group of photographers and photography enthusiasts at the Gallery I left to go wander a bit and make some photographs. When I came to this spot, clouds were starting to appear in the late afternoon sky above the Valley. This is a kind of ideal light since these conditions soften but don’t completely destroy the sunlight, and diffused light gets down into the forest and fills out the shadows.

I love the texture of these huge blocks of flat granite, covered with lichen. I like the visual quality of this rock, but I also like the physical quality of it; this probably dates back to a time some years ago when I was a rock climber for a few years. So while the tree seems like the main subject here, the rock surface is for me just as important.

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2 thoughts on “Young Tree and Granite Wall”

  1. Ben, that “ghost image” is from denser (and darker and perhaps a different type of) lichen growing behind the tree. I’m no expert on these things, but it occurred to me that the tree might change the environment on that part of the rock just enough to make this happen.

    I had just thought of it as a “darker area,” but I like the way you see it as a “ghost image!”

    Dan

    Reply

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