Category Archives: Photographs: Sierra Nevada

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

Aspens At The Shoreline

October 28, 2017 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

A grove of shoreline autumn aspen trees reflects on the surface of a subalpine lake

We arrived before dawn at this little eastern Sierra Nevada lake because, well that’s what photographers do! Also we knew that it would be most effective to photograph aspen color at this location in the soft, pre-sunrise light and the shadowed light that follows before the sun rises above the peaks and shines harsh light on the scene. It was one of those wonderful autumn mornings when it actually feels like fall has arrived. The temperature was as low as 23 degrees, and we had to wear lots of layers as we went to work.

We began by photographing a familiar sight, a band of aspens that drops down the opposite mountainside, following a gully to the shores of the lake. I’ve photographed it so many times that I almost never simply make another photograph that includes the larger scene, and instead I now look for smaller components of the large scene that might be compositionally interesting. As the direct sun arrived on that subject I shifted my attention to other things that were still in the soft light, including this bit of the aspen grove right at the shoreline, reflected in the still early morning waters of the lake.

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

Within The Aspen Grove

October 27, 2017 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

An eastern Sierra Nevada grove of small aspen trees with fall color

This little grove is a sort of special place for me. I have photographed there quite a few times in the past, and on one or two occasions with a great deal of success. If I described its location, even those who would then recognize the spot might be surprised to hear that I think of it as being special — it is in a location that we generally drive right past on our way to other better known locations. Often when I walk into this grove I find myself at a loss for photographs — the light can be tricky, and it isn’t always easy to find a composition there. But it was one of the locations where I learned that the big, iconic locations are far from the only ones other photographing, and that it can be far more rewarding — photographically and personally — to slow down and start paying attention to the rest of the landscape!

In fact, on this morning I was, once again, on my way from one other place to a different location further away when I drove past. We almost didn’t stop, but there was something about the light and the grove that persuaded me to get out and look around. I wandered (quite literally) into the grove and at first I didn’t really see anything. I almost walked back out to go look elsewhere. But then I stopped myself and thought about slowing down and simply looking around to see what the grove had to offer. I decided that the density of the trees might make a very wide-angle lens useful, and once I started to “see” that way the potential become clearer.

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, Photographs: Yosemite

Autumn Light, Trees and Meadow

October 26, 2017 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Autumn afternoon light falls on meadow and trees in Yosemite Valley

These trees and I have become old friends. I have photographed the trees and the meadow in which they are located many times over the years. (I don’t generally name places, but I wouldn’t be surprised if a number of fellow Yosemite visitors recognize them.) I’ve been there in every season — summer (fighting crowds!), fall (with oaks turning golden brown), spring (with green meadows and new leaves the trees), and winter (when I hiked across closed roads to get here, and had the meadow to myself).

When photographing in Yosemite Valley I almost always pay close attention not only to my immediate subjects but also to the atmospheric conditions and the light. On this day smoke from wildfires filled the valley. At first that might seem rather unpleasant — and it certainly is not good for eyes or lungs! — but it also can create some beautiful atmospheric effects, from muting colors to glowing in the light. At this time of year the sun passes lower in the sky and the edges of shadows move across the Valley floor and create changing and beautiful conditions. At this location the first light arrives late and leaves early since there are very tall granite faces nearby that block the sun. I arrived here just at the moment before the shadow moved over these trees, but while a shaft of light came through a cleft in the upper cliff walls and fell on the trees.

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

Forest, Morning, Autumn Color

October 25, 2017 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Early morning autumn colors in the underbrush of a Yosemite forest.

I like to visit Yosemite National Park every year around Halloween, when fall colors often peak in Yosemite Valley — including oaks, dogwood, cottonwood, big leaf maple, and more. This year I went a bit earlier — slightly more than a week before the end of October — since I wanted to drop in on a gallery opening reception in Oakhurst, for the last hurrah of the 2017 Yosemite Renaissance exhibit, which includes one of my photographs. I went up on the day of the opening, starting in Yosemite Valley. I spent the day photographing, but also marveling at the astoundingly huge number of people who were crowding the place. I try to avoid The Valley in the summer, especially on weekends, but I figured that October wouldn’t be so bad. I was wrong! In any case, by going away from the most popular places and a few other strategies, I was able to find some relative solitude.

I stayed in Oakhurst than night and then got up well before dawn the next morning. My loose plan was to head toward Glacier Point for sunrise, but I was sidetracked along the way — first by these fall colors and later by the opportunity to photograph a forest covered with wildfire smoke. Regarding that color, I already knew that there can be a lot of beautiful color along the road between Oakhurst and the Valley, and that it can be especially beautiful very early in the morning, when there are few people and the direct sunlight has still not arrived. I found this spot that I had scoped out the previous day, and I paused for some photography. Subjects like this are about as far from “iconic” as one can be, but they often evoke deeper associations with the feelings of such places than photographs of another popular mountain. As I made this photograph it was quiet, still, and cold, and the pre-dawn light was filtering down into the darkened forest. The colorful underbrush was the first thing I saw, but soon I realized the quiet beauty of the tall trees in this burned-over area as they marched up the hill toward the light.

G Dan Mitchell Photography

Category Archives: Photographs: Sierra Nevada

Aspens At The Shoreline

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Within The Aspen Grove

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Autumn Light, Trees and Meadow

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Forest, Morning, Autumn Color

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Photographer and visual opportunist. Daily photos since 2005, plus articles, reviews, news, and ideas.

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Photographer and visual opportunist. Daily photos since 2005, plus articles, reviews, news, and ideas.