All posts by G Dan Mitchell

G Dan Mitchell, photographer and visual opportunist focusing on the Pacific coast, the Sierra Nevada, redwood forests, California oak/grasslands, California deserts, urban landscapes, night photography and more. Posting daily photographs since 2005, along with articles, reviews, news, and ideas.
Photographs: Fall, Photographs: Fall Color, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Sierra Nevada, Photographs: Yosemite

Meadow and Autumn Trees

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Meadow and Autumn Trees
“Meadow and Autumn Trees” — Autumn trees and haze glowing in sunlight, Yosemite Valley.

Smoky conditions, a bit to my surprise, produced some really lovely light o this autumn day. I arrived in The Valley on a fall morning to find that managed fires were filling the air with smoke. After driving four hours to get there, starting way before sunrise, I cannot say that I was happy to arrive to this! However, after a moment I remembered that smoke has the potential to produce some lovely effects. I headed toward this meadow, attracted by its large black oak trees and the potential for backlight.

The smoke thinned a bit, but there was just enough left in the air to glow when the sun hit it, including the beam of light in this photograph that came through a gap in the upper canyon walls of Yosemite Valley. With that haze and the backlight the trees really glowed.

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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Photographs: Europe, Photographs: Italy, Photographs: Travel, Photographs: Urban/Street

Narrow Street, Orvieto

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Narrow Street, Orvieto
“Narrow Street, Orvieto” — A narrow, deserted street in Orvieto, Italy.

The scene could be in almost any of hundreds of Italian towns, from tiny villages to big cities. These old avenues were built before automobiles existed and, apparently, before modern urban grid design separated everything into rigid squares and rectangles. This scene is in Orvieto, and here the street gently winds to the left. Tall buildings and narrow streets make for a lot of shade, something appreciated during hot Italian summers.

Big sections of Orvieto, a hill town close enough to Rome to attract day trippers, include these very old buildings and streets. We loved the town when we visited a couple of summers ago, and we spent a lot of time just wandering and absorbing the ambience of the place.

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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Links: Articles, Sales and Licensing, my Sierra Nevada Fall Color book, Contact Info.

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Photographs: Fall, Photographs: Fall Color, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Sierra Nevada

Tall Autumn Aspens

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Tall Autumn Aspens
“Tall Autumn Aspens” — A tall grove of aspens with bright autumn colors, Eastern Sierra Nevada.

This grove showed an interesting pattern — most of the color in the frame comes from short trees along the edge of a clearing, while the white trunks of older and taller trees extend on up toward the top of the frame. Straight trees like these are the exception in much of the Sierra, and we often see shorter aspen trees that are twisted and bent. I suspect that the extra light from the nearby clearing is one reason that these trees grew taller.

Once again, this is a photograph made in the soft light. I came into this canyon late in the afternoon, and soon the shadows from very tall ridges in the west moved across the landscape. The soft light allows the details in darker areas to emerge a bit, and that nearby clearing diffused a bit more reflected light into the scene.

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.

Blog | About | Instagram | Flickr | Facebook | Threads | Post | Email

Links: Articles, Sales and Licensing, my Sierra Nevada Fall Color book, Contact Info.

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Photographs: Fall, Photographs: Fall Color, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Sierra Nevada

Aspens In The Shadows

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Aspens In The Shadows
“Aspens In The Shadows” — Extensive autumn aspen groves in evening shadows, Eastern Sierra Nevada.

If you have been following along this fall, by now this general area may start to look familiar to you. I was fortunate to be there when the colors were at their peak — that brief interval when almost all of the leaves have turned but before too many of them fall. Finding trees in this condition is partly a matter of local knowledge, but it is also a matter of luck — autumn storms and wind can quickly take down a lot of leaves when they are at this stage, and seeing an intense display like this requires a few prior days of calm conditions.

I know that the typical inclination is to photograph these trees in daylight. After all, the most intense colors appear when the sun is behind the groves, creating a glowing backlight on the leaves. But the color can also be quite intense in softer light, such as this light in the early evening.

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.

Blog | About | Instagram | Flickr | Facebook | Threads | Post | Email

Links: Articles, Sales and Licensing, my Sierra Nevada Fall Color book, Contact Info.

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