Two Aspen Trees and Cliff. © Copyright 2021 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.– all rights reserved.
Two autumn aspen trees against the rocky face of an Eastern Sierra Nevada cliff.
This is another photograph that isn’t quite totally new. Some years ago I made several exposures of this little scene, with the two trees with fall color backed by the rocky cliff face. (To be sure, this was not the only time I photographed these trees — this is a favorite spot of mine in the right conditions.) But This one is just a bit different than the earlier one — a very slightly different position, I think, and a different crop, plus some refinement of how I approached the post processing.
I sort of wonder if it may be too early to start sharing fall color photographs. Ah, heck, no! Never too early for that! In fact, my mind is typically on at least three seasons at a time anyway. First, the season that just passed and from which I still have raw files to process. Second the current season because, well, that’s obvious, right? Third, one season beyond the current one — because I always have slightly longer term plans running in the back of my mind.
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, Amazon, and directly from G Dan Mitchell.
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The idea that autumn starts in August makes sense to me, despite the fact that I understand why solar autumn starts on the equinox.
There is an old term, “cross-quarter days,” if I recall correctly, that refers to these points midway between a solstice and an equinox. August 7 seems like it would be a cross-quarter day between the summer solstice (late June) and the autumnal equinox (late September). The idea is that the seasons, at least as we perceive them, don’t so much start and end of those equinox/solstice days as they are centered on this dates.
It has always seemed wrong to me that Septembrer 22 and December 20 belong to the same “season!”
Along these lines, I’ve written a few times about those special days when I first become away of the next season that is about to start. Usually I’ve written about sensing the first signs of autumn… in early August!
Dan
I love autumn and totally agree! Thank you for sharing year round beauty!
Here’s an interesting link, you’ve probably seen this before. I love how the Japanese culture believes that autumn starts August 7! I live in Houston so that’s quite a stretch however I do notice slight changes in nature that first or second week of August even here.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_kigo#Japanese_seasons