Aspen Forest, Near Cedar Breaks. Dixie National Forest, Utah. October 5, 2012. © Copyright 2012 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.
Autumn colors in extensive aspen forests extend into the distance near Cedar Breaks National Monument, Utah
This was a serendipitous photograph. We were driving down a main road from Cedar Grove towards the lowlands when I caught site of a decent looking gravel side road that looked like it might head in the direction of some interesting and extensive aspen forests that were in full fall color – so I quickly turned off and headed down this road. It passed through huge stands of aspen trees as it descended toward the south, and eventually I felt that I had gone as far as time allowed, so I turned around and started back up the road with the sun at my back.
At about this time, a high thin layer of clouds moved over. This is more or less ideal for daytime photography of subjects like the aspens since it softens the light just a bit and moderates the harsh shadows and extreme contrasts that are otherwise found during daytime hours. With this tree color and this light, it was mostly a matter of finding some scene that would fit together compositionally, and here I found a bit of open meadow between colorful trees, along with a distant view to further aspen covered hills almost as far as I could see.
G Dan Mitchell is a California photographer whose subjects include the Pacific coast, redwood forests, central California oak/grasslands, the Sierra Nevada, California deserts, urban landscapes, night photography, and more.
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Text, photographs, and other media are © Copyright G Dan Mitchell (or others when indicated) and are not in the public domain and may not be used on websites, blogs, or in other media without advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.
Chad, you must have missed the best high-elevation trees at Brian Head… too. There were only a few left when we were there. However, the lower elevation forests were still in great shape, and I got to photograph some wonderful fall color.
I heard about the bristlecone trees right before we left Brian Head, and there wasn’t time to go find them at that point. I’ll have to visit them on a future trip.
Dan
Dan,
It looks like you were there a week before me. We blew though in a day on a quick three day blitz. Love visiting you site and being inspired by your work. Did you make it up to shoot the Bristlecones above Brianhead?