Tag Archives: crest

Winter Dawn, Central Valley

One of the pleasures — yes, I wrote “pleasures” — of starting a long California drive before sunrise is the chance to see the Sierra Nevada profiled against the pre-dawn sky. Living in the San Francisco Bay Area, I often see variations on this view as I crest the western California hills and descend into the Central Valley. This is a variation on that view, not from the western edge of the Valley but out in its center.

For frequently obscures this long view when I am out in the Valley photographing winter birds. Even when the fog lifts, the atmosphere is often opaque. But from time to time in clears to reveal this striking view of ridges and peaks. This photograph was a “happy accident.” I had arrived at my planned destination only to find that access was blocked temporarily. Rather than wait, I decided to drive and see what I could find. It wasn’t long before I found this view across the agricultural landscape, draped in low tule fog, and extending toward the distant peaks.


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, Amazon, and directly from G Dan Mitchell.

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Winter Sunrise Reflections

This is another photograph in the (very!) “not pastel” series, contrasting with some of the subtler winter photographs I have shared this winter. It was a very intense sunrise — as another photographer there said, it was almost too intense. I arrived before sunrise, and the cloud shield from a weather front approaching from the west extended over and past me toward the sunrise. This left the eastern sky quite bright, and the edge of the clouds glowed in morning light.

The view looks toward the Sierra Nevada from the Central Valley. While the fog and haze in the valley often obscure the range, in clearer conditions you can see virtually all of it along the eastern horizon. This gives a sense of the scale of these mountains, and the fact that we see light in the sky beyond them reinforces the extraordinary distances that are in view.


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, Amazon, and directly from G Dan Mitchell.

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Morning View of the Sierra Crest

Morning View of the Sierra Crest
Autumn view of Sierra Nevada crest peaks in the Yosemite region.

Morning View of the Sierra Crest. © Copyright 2023 G Dan Mitchell.

Autumn view of Sierra Nevada crest peaks in the Yosemite region.

For several years I have been exploring areas east of the Sierra Nevada, partly because they are interesting (and often surprising) in their own right, but also because they sometimes afford interesting views of the Sierra crest and eastern escarpment. I often end up out here during my autumn explorations, perhaps because they are more likely to put me in a vehicle than on foot — but also because there are surprisingly impressive examples of autumn color out here.

I have spent more than a few very cold mornings in this area, waiting in the predawn dark for the first light to strike the distant peaks. Here it comes from behind me, over my left shoulder. It takes a while for the sun to clear the ridges behind me and illuminate the valleys and ridges between here and the Sierra. The peaks in this photograph stretch from the Ritter-Banner summits to some of the highest backcountry peaks in Yosemite National Park.


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, Amazon, and directly from G Dan Mitchell.

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Mountains, Forest, and Stream

Mountains, Forest, and Stream
A stream curves past forest and towards Sierra Nevada crest peaks in late summer.

Mountains, Forest, and Stream. © Copyright 2023 G Dan Mitchell.

A stream curves past forest and towards Sierra Nevada crest peaks in late summer.

The question of how to categorize this photograph (as I do with all o them at my website) perplexed me a bit. Although I was set up outside of Yosemite National Park, the two prominent peaks are within its boundaries. And do I call this a “fall color photograph?” The trees don’t suggest doing so, but the slight yellow on the willows and the lovely golden brown on the hillside signal this season. Categorization questions aside, this was a beautiful late-summer Sierra day, one of sunshine and light – between two days of rain, hail, and even some snow.

It is hard to know how many times I have passed this location over the years — ok, over the decades. But I have typically been here while on the way to someplace else, and while I’ve noticed it in passing I don’t recall stopping to photograph it before. This time I wasn’t in a hurry, and I had no other destination in mind — so I went slow and pulled over a few times to make photographs along this creek.


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, Amazon, and directly from G Dan Mitchell.

Blog | About | Twitter | Flickr | FacebookEmail

Links to Articles, Sales and Licensing, my Sierra Nevada Fall Color book, Contact Information.

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