Category Archives: Photographs: Nature

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

Forest, Boulder, and Pond

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Forest, Boiulder, and Pond
A tree grows in a crack in a large boulder set in forest and reflected in a quiet Sierra Nevada pond.

Forest, Boulder, and Pond. © Copyright 2020 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A tree grows in a crack in a large boulder set in forest and reflected in a quiet Sierra Nevada pond.

Although the indications are more subtle than in the wildly colorful aspen groves, this is also a Sierra Nevada fall color photograph. It is not a familiar icon — not remotely so! — but it seems to be “iconic” to me, in the sense that it captures something of the quality of this season when things seem to slow down in preparation for the coming winter.

What are the subtle autumn signifiers in this photograph? There is one obvious feature in the tiny patch of yellow leaves at the far right. But those grasses lining the banks of this small pond are another indicator — while they are still green at their bases, the upper tips have gone to yellow and brown. There is something about the quality of the light, too. It always seems softer to me at this time of year, especially in shaded areas like this one.

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

Aspen Copse, Autumn

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Aspen Copse, Autumn
A stand of colorful Sierra Nevada autumn aspen trees against a rock face.

Aspen Copse, Autumn. © Copyright 2020 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A stand of colorful Sierra Nevada autumn aspen trees against a rock face.

There are many ways to look at aspen trees. The autumn colors themselves are striking, whether you look at individual leaves, small groups of trees, or an entire forest. But the other distinct annual phases have their charms, too — the bare winter trunks and branches, the springtime eruption of new growth, the “quaking” green leaves of summer. Beyond that, I’m fascinated by the larger patterns of how groves of these trees spread across the landscape, sometimes seeming to “flow” across it, and at others to dot it in isolated groups.

This little group of trees is connected to several of those modes of seeing. This year groves like this on in the Eastern Sierra seemed a bit more likely to include the beautiful orange and yellow colors. The trees in the photo are part of a much larger pattern — this copse extends a line of trees that extends along and beyond the shore of a like, almost surrounding it and flowing above and below it. It lies right up against a rock face, and by early autumn the trees remain it its shadow well into the late morning, providing soft light that intensifies the color of the leaves.

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

Autumn Colors and Morning Reflections

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Autumn Colors and Morning Reflections
Colorful autumn aspen tree line the shoreline of an Eastern Sierra Nevada lake.

Autumn Colors and Morning Reflections. © Copyright 2020 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Colorful autumn aspen tree line the shoreline of an Eastern Sierra Nevada lake.

This year’s fall Sierra Nevada photography has been challenging in several ways. The pandemic has changed our travel routines, of course. But the unprecedented wildfire season in the West has impacted photography, too. Autumn wildfire smoke has always been present here — it is one of the causes of the lovely soft light during this season — but this year large areas have been blanketed with an oppressive pall for weeks. When I arrived in the Eastern Sierra recently the smoke was so bad that, for example, I could barely see Mono Lake as I drove past it. I continued far south to where is was less awful, but it was a factor during the entirety of my visit.

The day before I made this photograph the smoke had abated a bit. It was inescapable but thin enough to let in sunshine. But late that day a bank of thick smoke descended on my campsite, and I wondered what the morning would bring. It brought more smoke. I went to a familiar nearby location and thought about how to mostly exclude distant views of the smoke-draped landscape. I decided to focus on some very red trees along the shoreline of a familiar lake, mostly framing photographs to emphasize the trees and de-emphasize the longer views.

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.

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

Photographs: Birds, Photographs: Central California, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Wildlife

December Geese

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December Geese
Migratory geese flock in Central Valley pastures on a foggy morning.

December Geese. © Copyright 2012 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Migratory geese flock in Central Valley pastures on a foggy morning.

The experience of photographing winter’s migratory birds in California might be divided into several sorts of exercise. One is looking for the birds, often without finding them or perhaps spotting them too far away to photograph. Then there is the experience, after not finding them, of waiting for their hoped-for arrival, perhaps spending time doings something else entirely. When they do show up we then watch, often making a few hopeful initial photographs as they do the same things we’ve photographed before.

Sometimes we manage to get very close — occasionally because the geese, by some miracle, come to us, rather than due to our skills are finding them. The geese have work to do, and they seem almost oblivious to our presence as they feed. The flocks often move slowly across the landscape, producing a remarkable low, droning sound. If you have watched them long enough you know that eventually they will move, sometimes by leaving in groups that follow one after another, but sometimes in a sudden and virtually unpredictable eruption of flight that produces first a sort of “ripping” sound as thousands of pairs of wings flap and the flock becomes airborne.

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.

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