Aspen Grove, North Lake Road. Sierra Nevada, California. October 3, 2009. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.
Brilliant fall colors come to an aspen grove along the road to North Lake with Sierra Nevada crest peaks in the distance.
I have long been attracted to this grove that grows in a bend on the road to North Lake just before a section of road that switchbacks and climbs steeply. I often photograph in and around this grove, and several other times I’ve stopped along the road above it to try to photograph it with the high peaks above Sabrina Basin in the background.
On this visit in early October 2009 I found that the grove had turned to gold and yellow, so I decided to stop on my way up to North Lake (where I photographed only briefly on this day). The challenge was that the grove is in a low area that doesn’t get the sun until later in the morning, while the peaks beyond were in almost full sunlight and even had a bit of snow on them – quite an exposure challenge! Fortunately some clouds – and a bit of careful post-processing – came the rescue. The cloud shadow fell across the rocky slopes behind the trees, providing a background that set off their color. At about the same time the most direct sun on the peaks was also interrupted by some clouds, so the only tricky spot was the left face of the peak near the side of the frame.
This photograph is not in the public domain. It may not be used on websites, blogs, or in any other media without explicit advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.
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The dark middle ground came from a combination of patience, foresight, and dumb luck! As the cloud shadows moved across this scene I hoped that something like this might line up… and I got lucky! The distant peaks would disappear into the texture of that middle ground if the cloud had not so conveniently showed up at the right moment.
Dan
I like your take on this one. That quite dark middle ground/closest mountain is really well done. Nice detail but by keeping it dark, you’ve created quite a bit of drama.
Last year on my way up to North Lake I saw a photographer working that grover. I don’t remember the time of day but it was a little later in the morning. The trees were at peak fall color and were backlit by the sun and they were gorgeous beyond belief. So I pulled over and parked and started to get my gear out when a woman drove by in a state vehicle and told us both we were parked in a no parking zone and that we could be ticketed for it if the ranger came along. She recommended parking in appropriate spots below and hiking up. I didn’t and just drove on up to North Lake and fond a lot of great color up there. I had limited time that day and so I didn’t try to go back. Remembering that sight though I fully intended to revisit it this year but it just didn’t have the display that it did last year. Maybe that was a mistake. I should have tried it anyway because it really is a great scene whatever the color.