Fall Color, Eastern Sierra Aspens. Sierra Nevada, California. October 3, 2010. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.
A grove of aspen trees along Bishop at the peak of their gaudy fall colors, Sierra Nevada, California.
On a week of brilliant fall color during an autumn when the color was exceptional in parts of the eastern Sierra, this little grove of aspens was almost absurdly colorful. I first saw them while driving away from a nearby shot – their fluorescent colors got my attention while I was looking in a completely different direction. The colors nearby were quite something, but they literally paled next to this grove. (I’ve heard trees like this referred to as Cheetos trees – and I think you can imagine why.)
Should you think that this color is simply something I’ve pumped up in post processing, take a look at the boulder in the lower part of the frame and see the tree trunks and the pale grasses at bottom right. The fact that I shot in over cast conditions, late in the day, and in a very light rain did intensify the colors a bit, but this is what they looked like.
These colors present some photographic challenges. The main one is that almost all of the light is in the red channel, and when shooting a digital camera it is easy to blow out (grossly overexpose) the red channel and not even realize it. I have found that with this subject it is critical to use the three-channel histogram display that shows the separate levels of red, green, and blue. The single luminosity histogram display averages the values of the three color channels, and if one is extremely hot (as is the red channel here) you can blow it out even if the histogram looks fine.
This photograph is not in the public domain and may not be used on websites, blogs, or in other media without advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.
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Thanks, Rosemary. I sort of think of this as “aspen trees on acid” – the color is so ridiculously intense. :-)
Dan
Whoa, sweet color, Dan !! Nice composition, too.
Hi Dan, you are welcome and I am hoping for that snow. I would love to come back with some images unlike anything I currently have. It should be good! And it will be just plain good to get away for a few days too!
Funny! I almost had the same reaction when I first saw this grove. I think I mentioned that I had earlier pulled over to spend some time shooting a nearby grove that itself seemed very colorful. I finished, got back in my car, and started to drive away… when out of the corner of my eye this almost absurdly fluorescent group of trees caught my attention. Here the overcast, late day light, and moisture from light rain made the colors even more intense.
Sometimes a polarizer can be useful when shooting foliage, especially when it produces a lot of reflections in direct sunlight. Otherwise you can get badly blown out highlights. However, in this case I don’t think that a polarizer would have done much since the light was so diffused already.
Dan
Dan – Wow what color! Next time you post a photograph this colorful warn us first so I can put on some sunglasses! ;-)
Nature at it finest, and you did a great job capturing it.
Say, what would happen if you used a polarizer on this? Just curious.
Thanks, Cynthia! And I’m not done yet – I have a couple more to place in the queue this evening, and still a few more after that. Then I’ll have some non-aspen fall photographs made out in the middle of Owens Valley a bit later.
Your late November visit to the area holds a lot of promise for photography. While the fall colors will be gone by then, there should be snow in the Sierra!
Dan
Just a wonderful series of photos Dan. I love it! I’m sorry to miss the color this year but I am going to go to Bishop Thanksgiving Week for some photography. I know the fall color will be long gone but I will be looking for other subjects, mostly wide angle grand landscapes. We’ll see.
Russ, I actually had to tone down the colors in some of the photographs made on that wet, overcast day! Glad to hear the histogram tip is useful to you, Dave.
Dan
Thanks for the histogram tip Dan. I’m headed out this weekend to try to catch some color and am hoping this tip will come in handy!
Hi Dan,
The color up there now really is spectacular in spots and the overcast sky does a wonderul job of intensifying the colors with no Photoshop enhancement needed!