Tag Archives: bridal veil

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Sierra Nevada, Photographs: Yosemite

Clearing Clouds, Merced River Canyon

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Clearing Clouds, Merced River Canyon
The morning sun breaks through clearing clouds above Merced Canyon

Clearing Clouds, Merced River Canyon. © Copyright 2018 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

The morning sun breaks through clearing clouds above Merced Canyon

If I had to choose my favorite conditions of atmosphere and light, something like this morning would be on my short list. The light was a surprise that emerged after I had almost written off the potential as being bland and gray. Since the clouds were in motion, the light was constantly changing — at moments it actually was not that interesting, but suddenly the clouds would shift and light would emerge, frequently moving across the scene and providing more than one opportunity. There were multiple levels and types of clouds. A thick overcast lay high above, though it was occasionally broken. Other clouds occasionally formed directly on the peaks, and others drifted below me, often low enough to count as fog. This show actually continued for several hours.

The location here is a fairly iconic spot that many who have visited Yosemite will immediately recognize. (However, as I discovered as visitors new to the park stopped and asked questions, to many this is a wholly unfamiliar view, which probably makes in even more spectacular to them.) If you look closely you will likely recognize the famous feature that provides a point of focus. The vantage point gives a view looking up the canyon of the Merced River and into the lower end of Yosemite Valley. This section has more of the v-shape of a river gorge, but the classic glacial u-shape begins under the brightest section of the lower clouds and then tracks to the left. Those light beams are real, and as I photographed they were traversing the scene from right to left.

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: Nature, Photographs: Sierra Nevada, Photographs: Yosemite

Bridal Veil, Ice and Mist

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Bridal Veil, Ice and Mist
Bridal Veil fall with winter ice and mist

Bridal Veil, Ice and Mist. Yosemite Valley, California. February 26, 2017. © Copyright 2017 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Bridal Veil fall with winter ice and mist

Many photographic subjects in Yosemite Valley are quite dependent on time of day, season, weather conditions, and other variables, some of which are completely beyond the photographer’s control. You simply must, first of all, be there, and then you must try to predict (or know) when the odds are better, be attentive to special conditions, and sometimes be ready to act quickly.

This is not exactly the rarest of conditions, but several pieces had to occur together to produce this scene. First, it had to be winter and it had to be cold — and the latter is less a certainty in California during the past few years. Second, despite the cold, it had to be warm enough somewhere up above to melt sufficient snow to get Bridal Veil Creek flowing at a pretty high rate for this time of year. Third, the light had to come over the lip of the canyon at the top of the wall to illuminate the rising mist but not the fall itself. Finally, if you look closely, you might notice three (somewhat blurry) ravens flying between the trees.

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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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

Autumn Rain, Yosemite Valley

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Autumn Rain, Yosemite Valley
Autumn rain mutes the colors and details of Yosemite Valley and Bridal Veil Fall

Autumn Rain, Yosemite Valley. Yosemite National Park, California. October 28, 2016. © Copyright 2016 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Autumn rain mutes the colors and details of Yosemite Valley and Bridal Veil Fall

Look! An icon! Yes, I do photograph them from time to time. I made this photograph at a pretty well-known and popular location. (A friend was once asked the best way to photograph this spot. His answer was, “Don’t.”) If you are in Yosemite Valley, and especially if you are traveling between the Valley and other locations, as I was during this visit, you are pretty much guaranteed to pass by here. I virtually always take a look. Sometimes I don’t stop. Sometimes I stop and leave the camera in the car and just wander a bit. Sometimes I spot friends there and I stop to talk. Occasionally something special happens — a more frequent occurrence this time of year — and I stop and make some photographs!

Coming down the hill on Highway 41 I had stopped above the tunnel and another turnout with a great view up the Valley, and from there I had seen some interesting fog and clouds beginning to assemble. So I headed on down through the tunnel and decided to stop and look around. At first I almost wasn’t going to photograph, but I figured I was there so what the heck! As I assembled my gear it began to rain lightly and the beautiful veil of the rain began to make the atmosphere slightly opaque and soften the scene.

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

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

Hanging Valley

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Hanging Valley
Hanging Valley

Hanging Valley. Yosemite Valley, California. March 1, 2014. © Copyright 2014 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Yosemite’s Bridal Veil fall emerges from a hanging valley among monolithic granite cliffs in late afternoon light

Late on a winter afternoon, the shadow of cliffs to the west rise up past Yosemite’s Bridal Veil fall and into the hanging valley from which it springs. The valley’s still-sunny eastern slope is covered with brush and trees, but the rest of the scene is almost entirely one of granite, from the relatively gentle V-shaped valley of Bridal Veil Creek to the vertical cliffs of the wall over which the water flows and the base of taller Sentinel Rocks beyond.

Bridal Veil fall comes out of a classic hanging valley. Apparently the creek descended toward a much older Merced River canyon even before glaciers finished (for now, anyway!) carving Yosemite Valley, and this creek cut is own beautiful V-shaped valley. (The V-shape is characteristic of river valleys. If you want to understand more of the life of a creek, when you visit Yosemite you can drive toward Glacier Point and cross the very shallow valley of this creek at a higher elevation. I’ve cross-country skied to it a number of times.) When the Valley was cut into its deeper U-shaped form, the existing valley of Bridal Veil creek was left… hanging.

G Dan Mitchell is a California photographer and visual opportunist whose subjects include the Pacific coast, redwood forests, central California oak/grasslands, the Sierra Nevada, California deserts, urban landscapes, night photography, and more.
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Text, photographs, and other media are © Copyright G Dan Mitchell (or others when indicated) and are not in the public domain and may not be used on websites, blogs, or in other media without advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.