Sierra Aspen Grove, Sun. Sierra Nevada, California. September 29, 2007. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell.
I spent a couple weekends photographing the annual fall colors of the aspens in the eastern Sierra Nevada. This photograph was made among the trees of the extensive groves near the top of Monitor Pass.
Death Valley is one of my favorite places to photograph, and from now until the first week of April is the best time to go. The Nocturnes are offering a November Death Valley Workshop, and registration is going on right now. I’ve worked with the Nocturnes before and they (mostly Tim Baskerville, I think) are a great group doing wonderful work to promote night photography and educate night photographers.
Three Rocks, Racetrack Playa. Death Vallley National Park, California. April 2, 2007. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell.
Shoreline Rocks, Skyblue Lake. Sierra Nevada, California. August 7, 2007. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell.
I made this photograph on a recent two-week backpack trip through an area near Mt. Whitney. Skyblue Lake sits below Crabtree Pass, a cross-country route we crossed later on this day. I originally imagined this as a color image, but was not happy with the result after the trip. I returned to the photo recently and after working on it more have decided that I like it as a black and white photograph.
I have a habit of doing some one-day photo trips that impress some people as being, well, totally nuts. Example: At the end of September I did a long one-day trip over Carson and Monitor Passes, south on highway 395, up a bunch of gravel side roads, finally ending up at Lee Vining for a cup of coffee and some over-priced gas before turning around and retracing my steps. (See Anatomy of an Aspen Blitz at my other web site.) I started at 3:30 a.m., travelled well over 600 miles, shot several hundred frames, and finally arrived home at 11:45 p.m. – and then spent a couple of hours doing initial work on the images.
I’ve been outdone. Jim Goldstein also did a recent one-day excursion to the eastern Sierra, about which he writes:
On the road at 1 AM and not stopping until 11 PM…
1:00 a.m.! There’s not enough coffee in the whole central valley! :-)
Read more about his experience in a post at his web site.
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.
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