Category Archives: Photographs: Fall Color

Photographs: Fall, Photographs: Fall Color, Photographs: Nature

Bare Aspen Grove

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Bare Aspen Grove
A grove of small and nearly bare autumn aspen trees

Bare Aspen Grove. © Copyright 2019 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A grove of small and nearly bare autumn aspen trees.

We went to this location on a very early morning during the first half of October, a morning whose cold temperatures reminded us in the clearest terms that summer had now passed. I selected the spot for a couple of reasons: it can provide a beautiful long view of a section of the Sierra Nevada crest at dawn and there are aspens in the non-Sierra location. As the sun came up we discovered that wildfire smoke and clouds to the east would make this dawn less than the most spectacular we had seen. The sun also revealed that most of the aspens here had already lost their colorful leaves, despite the relatively early date.

If you are out there photographing enough you’ll find that the days of stupendously beautiful conditions are counterbalanced by other days that are less spectacular. (The good news is that if you are out often enough you will find the former enough to excuse the latter!) This was, at least in terms of what I originally had in mind to photograph, a morning that didn’t provide what I had hoped for. Yet, in many such situations, a look around and will frequently reveal something else, sometimes unexpected, that may make a worthy photograph. Immediately below our position on small ridge the aspen forest descended a small valley, and as I looked more closely at the nearly-leafless trees I feel that the groves of stark, bare trunks might be a good subject.

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

First Fall Color

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First Fall Color
An eastern Sierra Nevada aspen grove with first signs of autumn color

First Fall Color. © Copyright 2019 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

An eastern Sierra Nevada aspen grove with first signs of autumn color.

One of the risks of starting my annual Eastern Sierra fall aspen color hunt a bit early is that I just might arrive too early for the color! That was mostly the case this year, when I made my first aspen-focused trip right at the beginning of October. The timing of the color transition can vary a bit from year to year, but I usually bet on the start of widespread color coming near the end of the first week of the month. Last year it came earlier — I photographed large groves of small trees at a location near the Sierra near the end of September, and I found good color close to the start of the month. That experience led me to start early this year.

There was some color when I arrived on October 2, but it was not widespread. Some of the higher elevation “scrub aspen” growing on rocky soil were changing to yellow, but most of the larger trees were still green. There were a few notable exceptions where groves had changed. More common were sights like this one — mostly green trees, leaning toward the lighter “lime green” color that comes before the transition, plus a few actual yellow leaves. This particular grove presented me with a special lighting situation. The trees were in the shaded bottom of a deep canyon, but across the canyon and beyond my camera position there was a large open slope that lay in direct sunlight. This rocky terrain reflected the warmer-colored light directly into the grove, giving a bit more light to the trees along its edge.

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: 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.

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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

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.