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

Break in the Overcast

Image Leave a comment
Break in the Overcast
Late afternoon sunlight breaks through overcast to illuminate eastern Sierra aspen groves.

Break in the Overcast. © Copyright 2023 G Dan Mitchell.

Late afternoon sunlight breaks through overcast to illuminate eastern Sierra aspen groves.

On this year’s early October visit to the Eastern Sierra I was surprised to find more color than expected here and at other familiar locations. The high elevation color is typically past its peak by this date, mid-elevation color is getting good, and lower trees are still mostly green. But this year felt different — it seemed like the higher trees sustained their colors while the lower trees were ahead of schedule, with the result that the color spanned a wide range of elevations.

Heading south after crossing Monitor Pass I passed by this familiar vista. I was surprised by the amount of color and the good condition of the trees, so I made a point of scheduling a return visit in the evening when the trees are usually backlit right before the sun drops behind the crest. However, clouds had entered the picture and the light was dull… until a few beautiful beams of light broke through the overcast shortly before sunset.

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 | Twitter | Flickr | Facebook | Email

Links to Articles, Sales and Licensing, my Sierra Nevada Fall Color book, Contact Information.

Scroll down to leave a comment or question. (Click this post’s title first if you are viewing on the home page.)

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

Photographs: Croatia, Photographs: Europe, Photographs: Travel

Window, Trogir

Image Leave a comment
Window, Trogir
Plants grow behind a small obscured-glass window in Trogir, Croatia.

Window, Trogir. © Copyright 2023 G Dan Mitchell.

Plants grow behind a small obscured-glass window in Trogir, Croatia.

As another photographer once wrote, “There’s always something to see!” We all occasionally discover that we aren’t “seeing” like we used to, and perhaps we feel like there is nothing to photograph. But there is always something. It may not be the thing you were looking for, but if you keep at it, perhaps looking in places that you don’t normally pay attention to or possibly thinking about what you could do differently.

I was not planning to photograph tiny windows with plants behind obscured glass when I went out to photograph in Trogir, Croatia last August. I was in “street photography” mode, looking for people in interesting places and poses, against the backdrop of this very old city. But by opening my eyes and taking a bit more time I was able to see things like this that are easy to overlook.

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 | Twitter | Flickr | Facebook | Email

Links to Articles, Sales and Licensing, my Sierra Nevada Fall Color book, Contact Information.

Scroll down to leave a comment or question. (Click this post’s title first if you are viewing on the home page.)

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

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

Eastern Sierra Autumn Sunrise

Image Leave a comment
Piute Peak Sunrise
Autumn aspen trees at the shoreline of a subalpine lake below sunrise light on Piute Peak.

Eastern Sierra Autumn Sunrise. © Copyright 2023 G Dan Mitchell.

Autumn aspen trees at the shoreline of a subalpine lake below peaks in sunrise light.

I have photographed at this location for so many years that I no longer count on it to be a place to find something new… unless it looks like conditions might be unusually good. (I do still find other interesting subjects “in the neighborhood.”) But it is my tradition to check in for a short visit every year, and that’s more or less why I was there this October.

The morning was somewhat unpromising. There was a lot of color, but the patterns were unusual — green where I would have expected yellow and orange, and full color in places where I might have expected it to be green. And it was… windy. Very windy. Capturing a nice reflection on the waters of the lake was a lost cause. But sunrise is sunrise, and it is almost always a beautiful sight this ridge.

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 | Twitter | Flickr | Facebook | Email

Links to Articles, Sales and Licensing, my Sierra Nevada Fall Color book, Contact Information.

Scroll down to leave a comment or question. (Click this post’s title first if you are viewing on the home page.)

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

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

Autumn Evening, Aspen Grove

Image Leave a comment
Autumn Evening, Aspen Grove
Quiet light in a grove of autumn aspen trees in the Eastern Sierra Nevada.

Autumn Evening, Aspen Grove. © Copyright 2023 G Dan Mitchell.

Quiet light in a grove of autumn aspen trees in the Eastern Sierra Nevada.

These “evening”quiet light” aspen scenes really appeal to me. While the colors can be extremely intense in full daylight, especially when the trees are back-lit, the soft light lowers the contrast level and allows the details in the shadows to emerge and the leaf colors to be a bit more true. (We have to scale back the exposure quite a bit to avoid blowing out the red channel in digital photographs of colorful leaves in full sun.) The whole atmosphere changes at these times, too. It is often cool and quiet and still.

How to compose such photographs is an interesting question. To some extent, I work pretty subjectively in this regard, just looking at the scene and thinking about balance and primary subject and then doing a bit of quiet analysis and “edge patrol.” But “when I know, I know.” Here I was looking for the even spread of trunks across the scene, but I also like the little “mountain” of yellow leaves in the foreground… and the visually dissonant presence of the small, green conifer adds just a bit of tension.

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 | Twitter | Flickr | Facebook | Email

Links to Articles, Sales and Licensing, my Sierra Nevada Fall Color book, Contact Information.

Scroll down to leave a comment or question. (Click this post’s title first if you are viewing on the home page.)

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