Nearly Bare Aspen Grove

Nearly Bare Aspen Grove
A few golden leaves remain on the trees of a dense autumn aspen grove east of the Sierra Nevada

Nearly Bare Aspen Grove. © Copyright 2019 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A few golden leaves remain on the trees of a dense autumn aspen grove east of the Sierra Nevada.

As the aspens go through their annual autumn transformation they pass through a variety of stages, each of which is photographically interesting. The first hint comes with a few yellow leaves and a subtle change in color that some described as the “lime green” stage. The the color comes more quickly, and large areas of color combine with remaining green leaves. If everything works out just right they can be a short period of comprehensive color when the green is not longer apparent and only the bright fall colors remain. Very quickly those leaves fall and we pass through a fascinating stage where the bare trunks begin to emerge more clearly.

By the time I photographed in this location, east of the actual Sierra Nevada, the trees were well into that latter stage, with only a few of the colorful leaves remaining. If you went to such a place looking for wild autumn colors you could be disappointed… but a closer look reveals remarkable and dense patterns produced by the newly-visible light-colored trunks and branches.


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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