Spring Forest. © Copyright 2018 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.
Dogwood trees begin to leaf out in a dense Yosemite Valley forest
Following a string of wintry photographs from Yosemite, today’s photograph reflects the early signs of spring. I made the photograph on one if this year’s visits, and the visit that most clearly demonstrated the wild variations in conditions that can occur during this transitional season. A day before I had photographed new snow, including an actual snow storm on the first day of my visit. Now, only a short time later, I found myself making photographs that included no obvious signs of winter and quite a few signs of spring!
The very dense section of forest is not the most typical sight in much of the Sierra, where forests are often more dry and open — especially so where natural effects of fire have periodically cleared out the undergrowth. Here a mostly-conifer forest is interrupted by lots of dogwood trees, and on the day I was there the dogwoods were just barely starting to show their first spring buds, with a few of them starting to open into leaves. It was a bit later in the morning, so gently backlight was filtering down through the trees.
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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.
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