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: Mono Lake Basin, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Night

Mono Moonrise

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Mono Moonrise
The light of the rising full moon reflected on the surface of Mono Lake

Mono Moonrise. © Copyright 2019 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

The light of the rising full moon reflected on the surface of Mono Lake.

This is another of the autumn photographs that isn’t really an autumn photograph, except perhaps by extension. I was in the eastern Sierra for about eight days in the first part of October, primarily to chase the fall aspen color. But that most certainly is not the only thing worth seeing in and around the Sierra at this time of the year. The night before we had watched the moon rise well after dark and speculated about when (and precisely where) the full moon would rise the next night. We did not have any authorities to consult, so we made a good guess that it would probably rise just after sunset, which still provides enough ambient light to illuminate the landscape a bit and to reduce the contrast between the bright moon and its relatively darker surroundings. As sunset approached we left the place where we had been photographing aspens and I pulled over at a likely spot… which turned out to be almost precisely the right place to be.

We looked up just in time to see the first sliver of the moon emerge above the small peak barely visible at the left end of the ridge beyond the lake. We were set up and ready to go by the time it cleared the ridge, and we spent the next few minutes continuing to photograph as the moon rose, the surroundings darkened, and the reflection on Mono Lake become more prominent.

Special Announcement: Sharing this night photograph of mine is timely, as later this week I and my colleagues from Studio Nocturne SF, a collective of Bay Area night photographers, are offering an “Open Studio” as part of annual the San Francisco ArtSpan event in The City. We are showing our work at Big Daddy’s Antiques, 1550 17th Street on the following schedule:

Friday: October 25, 6:30PM-9:00PM — Artist Reception
Saturday, October 26: 11:00AM-6:00PM — Open Studio
Sunday, October 27: 11:00AM-6:00PM — Open Studio

All three events are free and open to the public. If you are in the Bay Area, please drop in and say “hi,” enjoy our photography, talk with us about our work, and acquire a photograph for your collection.

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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Photographs: Mono Lake Basin, Photographs: Nature

Above Mono Basin

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Above Mono Basin
A long view into and across Mono Basin and Mono Lake in the early morning

Above Mono Basin. © Copyright 2019 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A long view into and across Mono Basin and Mono Lake in the early morning.

You certainly cannot tell from the photograph, but this was a very cold autumn morning in the region east of the Sierra Nevada crest. We work up at our camp in one of the Eastern Sierra canyons before dawn in temperatures that were around 20 degrees Fahrenheit — cold but not unusual for early October. We headed east, out past Mono Lake and then climbing into nearby mountains. Along the way the thermometer in our vehicle went as low as nine degrees! When you are only a few weeks past the end of summer, that feels very cold!

From this high point on a long ridge overlooking Mono Lake we could see a vast expanse from near to far. Just below us was a bit of conifer forest (and nearby some aspens), but the landscape here is mostly sagebrush country. Far below we looked across the two volcanic islands of this lake to its far shore, and beyond that the hills and mountains climbed here, with the most distant peaks (barely visible in the late-season wildfire haze) well above 10,000 feet.

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

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

East Slope Canyon, Autumn

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East Slope Canyon, Autumn
Autumn aspens carpet the lower reaches of an Eastern Sierra Nevada canyon

East Slope Canyon, Autumn. © Copyright 2019 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Autumn aspens carpet the lower reaches of an Eastern Sierra Nevada canyon.

The eastern escarpment of the Sierra Nevada is remarkable, with peaks rising abruptly by as much as 10,000 feet above the valleys to the east of the range. In summer you might start your morning in what amounts to a high desert town, drive to a 9,000 foot trailhead, and before day ends cross a 12,000 foot pass — or, if you are especially immune to pain, summit a 14,000 foot peak. During most summers you can look up from those valley towns to see such things as snow fields or impressive summer thunderstorms.

Huge canyons cut into these eastern slopes. Most have glacial origins, which are still visible in the form of lateral and terminal moraines extending into the slopes below the base of the range. In fall many of these canyons are carpeted with the (mostly) golden color of transitional aspens, beginning along creeks in the canyon bottoms and ascending the rocky slopes. I have backpacked up this canyon during this period, passing from the larger trees at the trailhead, through dry sagebrush country above, and then through groves of small trees before ascending into the subalpine zone.

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.

Blog | About | Flickr | Facebook | Email

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

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

Nearly Bare Aspen Grove

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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.

Blog | About | Flickr | Facebook | Email

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

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