Tag Archives: nevada

Black Oaks, Spring Snow

Black Oaks, Spring Snow
Spring snow falls on a black oak grove, Yosemite Valley

Black Oaks, Spring Snow. © Copyright 2018 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Spring snow falls on a black oak grove, Yosemite Valley

It is hard to pick a favorite season in Yosemite Valley. Fall brings much cooler temperatures, diminishing crowds, and autumn colors. Winter brings snow and clouds drifting among peaks and across meadows. In spring the waterfalls flow strongly again as rivers rise, and the Valley’s vegetation comes back to life. Perhaps the ideal time is the transition between winter and spring, when on the ideal day you can experience a bit of both seasons. (Identifying the least favorite is easy. That would be summer, on account of the sometimes extreme heat and the frequent crowds of tourists. I generally stay away between June and mid-September.)

This was one of those spring days that briefly felt more like winter. A quick snow storm came through, dropping temperatures and leaving a few inches of snow on trees and on the ground. (It was almost all gone before noon the next day, when spring returned.) These black oak trees, with their graceful trunks and branches, are always lovely, but when snow falls they are special. There was just enough snow to coat the upper branches of these trees, and snow and mist swirled beyond among the cliffs surrounding the Valley.


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.
Blog | About | Flickr | Twitter | FacebookGoogle+ | LinkedIn | Email


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

Dead Trees, Snow

Dead Trees, Snow
Burned forest trees silhouetted against snow storm clouds swirling around a granite face

Dead Trees, Snow. © Copyright 2018 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Dead forest trees silhouetted against snow storm clouds swirling around a granite face

I have written before about my long-term process of trying to find ways to photograph the beauty of dead or burned forests, a subject that I was brought up to regard as a tragedy. For decades, Smokey the Bear told me that forest fires were a wholly bad thing, to be avoided at all costs. Eventually we came to understand and (mostly) accept that fire is a normal and even necessary part of the life-cycle of healthy forests, and in places like Yosemite fires are often “managed” rather than suppressed. Currently in the Sierra Nevada the issue is compounded by the sight of millions of trees that fell victim to bark beetles during the recent drought, and whole forests have died in some places. A few dead trees are a normal part of the landscape, but this is unprecedented in the lives of any of us.

This photograph was made on a snowy day in Yosemite Valley, probably the last such day of the current season as winter turns to spring. Beyond the stark trees, a combination of clouds and blowing snow mostly obscured the Valley’s cliff faces. This photograph illustrates something else I figured out about photographing tall trees some years ago. I used to feel that the way to show the vertical scale of tall trees was to move back and show the whole tree, usually in a vertically framed image. I specifically recall the day when I figured out that there is another way. I was photographing in the coast redwood forest north of San Francisco, where I was unable to move back to get the tree-encompassing distance. I realized that I could do the exact opposite of what I had been doing — use a panoramic framing that does not show the whole tree, but instead implies by absence that subject is too tall to fit in the camera’s frame.


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.
Blog | About | Flickr | Twitter | FacebookGoogle+ | LinkedIn | Email


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

Oak Trees, Snow, Clouds

Oak Trees, Snow, Clouds
Tall winter oak trees silhouetted against granite cliffs and snow-storm clouds

Oak Trees, Snow, Clouds. © Copyright 2018 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Tall winter oak trees silhouetted against granite cliffs and snow-storm clouds

Recently I spent a few more days in Yosemite, mostly in Yosemite Valley, working on my Yosemite Renaissances artist-in-residence project. We have settled on a theme for the exhibit, which will open on June 2, with a June 9 public reception. Since the timeline extended, I’ve decided to go beyond winter images and instead look at the transition from winter to spring. Hence, the title: “Transitions: Winter To Spring.” A group of friends and fellow photographers will also be part of the exhibit, and I’ll share more information very soon.

This week probably (though you can never be totally certain) marked the final real winter weather of the season in the Valley. A quick weather front swept through with surprising amounts of precipitation over a brief period, and it was cold enough for snow in the Valley. The snow wasn’t deep, but the cold temperatures allowed it to cover everything, including these lovely old black oak trees, photographed here against the background of clouds and mist and some of the rocky walls of The Valley.


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.
Blog | About | Flickr | Twitter | FacebookGoogle+ | LinkedIn | Email


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

Snow Begins

Snow Begins
Snow begins to fall on trees alongside a Yosemite Valley meadow

Snow Begins. © Copyright 2018 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Snow begins to fall on trees alongside a Yosemite Valley meadow

Yes, another photograph of Yosemite Valley on a winter day. I made this photograph on an afternoon when snow flurries were beginning to affect the Valley. It was an extremely cold day, and I was resuming my photography after a mid-day break. The light was “challenging” as the clouds moved in, muting colors, lowering the light levels, and producing a rather gray affect. But that is what it looks like when snow is coming!

If I recall correctly, I passed by this well-known meadow on my way to another objective, and paused long enough to walk about a bit and make a few photographs before moving on. At this point it was only snowing lightly. It is perhaps hard to see the falling snow in the meadow, at least in the small online version of the photograph, and it was still possible to see through the flurries to the surrounding cliffs.


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.
Blog | About | Flickr | Twitter | FacebookGoogle+ | LinkedIn | Email


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