Mountains and Lake, Autumn Haze. Mono Lake, California. October 2, 2016. © Copyright 2016 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Hazy autumn light at dawn on Mono Lake and desert mountains about autumn light in California.

I’ve written about the “golden” color, the muted quality, its softness, and otherwise tried to put my finger on what it is. I’ve known, for example, that something special happens to the light in the Sierra from late September onwards. But I’ve never been able to quite put my finger on the nature of the change. Is it the angle of the sun, changing weather, the colors of vegetation, or something else? It finally occurred to me — sometimes I’m slow! — after all these years that this is the wildfire season in the state and that this might be an important factor.

It surely is a factor in this early October photograph of morning light over Mono Lake. I’ve been poking around this area and making photographs for years, moving more and more towards images that are about the gigantic spaces and forms of this remarkable lake and its surroundings. On this morning I had gone to a different location, high above the lake, from which I had an overview of much of the lake and out to the east toward the rising sun as that autumn haze filled the air, muted details of the landscape, and filled the atmosphere with warm, golden light.

For decades I have recognized the obvious, that there is something different and special

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 | Facebook | Google+ | LinkedIn | Email

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