Category Archives: California Fall Color

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

Autumn Grove, Evening

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Autumn Grove
Autumn in a quiet evening aspen grove in the Eastern Sierra Nevada.

Autumn Grove. © Copyright 2023 G Dan Mitchell.

Autumn in a quiet evening aspen grove in the Eastern Sierra Nevada.

It is easy to focus on the largest and most impressive elements of the Sierra Nevada landscape — I know that I often do. The range is full of rugged peaks, deep valleys, forests draped across miles of terrain, and more. But eventually, if you spend enough time in this landscape, it becomes apparent that there are things to see (and photograph) almost everywhere… and not just in the iconic places. If you asked me where this photograph was made, I could tell you the precise location — but why? There are countless equivalent scenes all over the range!

The photograph illustrates another principle of photographing such subjects: sometimes “bad light” is actually good light. I made the photograph after the sun had set behind the surrounding tall mountains, as the day’s light was quickly fading. But I love photographing trees — especially autumn aspen trees — in this marginal and soft light. The harsh highlights and shadows are gone and gentle light suffuses 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.

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

Aspen Layers

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Aspen Layers
Layers of colorful autumn aspen trees ascend the slopes of the Eastern Sierra Nevada.

Aspen Layers. © Copyright 2023 G Dan Mitchell.

Layers of colorful autumn aspen trees ascend the slopes of the Eastern Sierra Nevada.

We spent time in the Eastern Sierra Nevada this past week, mostly searching for autumn color up and down the range. It seemed like a good year for fall color. If 2023 has a “fall color personality” it might be that the colors seemed to take off all at once across a broader range of locations and elevations than is typical. While things may have peaked this past week, at least by some measures, there should still be fine color for another week or so, especially at lower elevations and in more sheltered areas with larger trees.

I made this photograph in soft evening light, generally my favorite type for this subject — along with soft morning light of course. While intense sunlight can produce extremely saturated colors, especially when the trees are back-lit, soft light tends to reveal details, especially in the shadows. Here layers of trees march up the slopes of the Eastern Sierra toward the crest.

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

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

California Fall Color, Photographs: Death Valley, Photographs: Desert, Photographs: Nature

Desert Hills, Morning Haze

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Desert Hills, Morning Haze
Morning haze obscures distant hills above badlands formations, Death Valley Naitonal Park.

Desert Hills, Morning Haze. © Copyright 2023 G Dan Mitchell.

Morning haze obscures distant hills above badlands formations, Death Valley Naitonal Park.

This scene came as a complete surprise. I arrived at this location on a low ridge before dawn and photographed some striking geological formations to my north as the sun came up, gradually filling the landscape with light. Finishing with that subject, I turned around and looked in the opposite direction. Backlit haze had descended on the barren landscape and was glowing in the morning light.

In clear weather, this view reveals badlands in the foreground and dark and tall mountains beyond. But the light made the haze luminous and muted the details of the terrain. I’ve seen such atmosphere in this landscape before, but more often it has come as the result of dust storms. But this was a quiet and nearly still morning.

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

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California Fall Color, Commentary, Photographs: Fall, Photographs: Fall Color, Sierra Nevada Fall Color

2022 Fall Color

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It is that time of year again — my favorite season! This past week on walks here in the San Francisco Bay Are I have noticed the signs of the seasonal change. The sun is setting an hour earlier, our first (early!) Pacific weather front is arriving this weekend, some trees are starting to change colors, and the sound of old leaves skittering along the ground in the breeze is everywhere.

Autumn Aspens, Lake, Wildfire Smoke
Wildfire smoke drifts over the Sierra Nevada crest above a lake surrounded by autumn aspens. @ Copyright G Dan Mitchell.

Fall color is more prevalent here in California than many realize. The earliest hints come to the high country of the Sierra Nevada in late August, when something in the air changes, corn lily plants turn yellow, the bilberry starts to pick up a bit of red, and you might even find an odd yellow aspen leaf here and there. Things pick up as we progress through September, and by the very end of the month it is often possible to start finding a few examples of good aspen color up high. Then the color works its way down to lower country, the valleys, and the coast over the following months. I’ve sometimes photographed “fall color” in the Central Valley as late as… January!

The main aspen color season in the Sierra peaks during the first half of October. It tends to start at higher elevations as early as the very end of September, becoming quite pronounced early in October, and working down to lower elevations into the third week of the month. If you can only go once, targeting your visit for about one week into the month is a good plan.

No one knows for sure how the season will evolve. Some things stay relatively constant from year to year, while others vary quite a bit based on temperature fluctuations, the amount of precipitation that fell during the year, whether or not early storms sweep through, and more.

I share annual updates on my Sierra Nevada Fall Color page at this website. I just posted this years first message there today — it is mostly some early thinking about how the season may evolve, along with a record of what has happened in some previous seasons. The latter may be useful as you plan your autumn color search in California.

One more thing: I may have something new to write about regarding fall color in a few weeks. Stay tuned…

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.

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