Category Archives: Photographs: Sierra Nevada

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Sierra Nevada

Eastern Sierra Ridges

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Eastern Sierra Ridges
A seemingly endless series of ridges rises toward the crest of the Sierra Nevada in early evening light

Eastern Sierra Ridges. Near Mono Lake, California. October 1, 2016. © Copyright 2016 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A seemingly endless series of ridges rises toward the crest of the Sierra Nevada in early evening light

The east side of the Sierra Nevada — the “eastern escarpment” — provides an often impressive and quite varied landscape. In places the terrain at the base of the mountains may be in the 4000′ elevation range, which in others the “lowlands” to the east may lie at 8000′ or higher. The mountains may erupt from this lower landscape in a sudden upward burst of granite and cliffs, or they may rise more gradually along mountain valleys that extend well into the range. In places the summit peaks are visible, while in some areas they are hidden behind lower peaks east of the crest. In one spot in the middle of the range the crest is actually lower than peaks to the west.

In this area along the western boundary of Yosemite the Sierra rises somewhat gradually from the high desert sagebrush country. The emptiness of this high desert gives way to a band of coniferous forest and is then replaced by the rugged granite high country. Here the sagebrush highlands rise, ridge upon ridge, toward the peaks of the crest, with the golden colors of early fall becoming muted by atmospheric haze in the distance.

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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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

Aspen Slopes, Evening

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Aspen Slopes, Evening
Back-lit aspens along the base of the eastern Sierra Nevada, evening

Aspen Slopes, Evening. Eastern Sierra Nevada, California. October 1, 2016. © Copyright 2016 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Back-lit aspens along the base of the eastern Sierra Nevada, evening

This eastern Sierra slope is filled with scattered groves of aspen trees, and because of its gentle slope upward to the west it catches the late afternoon light beautifully, backlighting the colorful autumn foliage. I photographed it perhaps a week or so before the peak of its autumn color — on the downside that means that some trees are still green, but it also means that no trees are yet completely bare.

This photograph can illustrate a few ideas about photographing such places. First, this is a location that I know very well, a popular and easily accessible location for seeing and photographing fall aspen color. As I’ve returned to it over the years, I have continued to photograph from the usual locations — but I’ve also poked around the area and I’ve found a few less obvious vantage points. That leads me to the second point, namely that it is often a good idea when photographing such things to try to get a little elevation on the subject. For this image I managed to find a spot that was perhaps a few hundred feet higher than the usual vantage points. Not only did this give a bit more separation to the beautiful ridges with their strips of rim light, but it also helped me avoid flare when shooting directly into the late afternoon sun.

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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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

Early Fall Color

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Early Fall Color
Early fall color from aspens on rocky slopes in the Eastern Sierra Nevada

Early Fall Color. Eastern Sierra Nevada, California. September 19, 2016. © Copyright 2016 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Early fall color from aspens on rocky slopes in the Eastern Sierra Nevada

This is another photograph from my mid-September 2016 fall color reconnaissance trip to Yosemite’s high country and to the eastern Sierra. Initially when I planned this trip is was intended to be primarily a camping, hiking, and photography trip into the late summer Sierra landscape, with the fall color being a distinctly secondary part of my plan. I would typically not begin to actually photography fall color until a couple of weeks later, and the fall color orientation of this trip was to try to get an early idea of how things might shape up by early October. Much to my surprise, a quick visit to the east side of the range turned up enough early color to make aspen photography worthwhile.

I took an overnight trip down the east side, where I camped up in one of the big valleys cutting in toward the Sierra crest, just the kind of place where the aspens grow. One of the spots I visited was this familiar slope, a place where I often photograph in October and where a spectacular range of colors appears and stretches right up this rocky slope toward the summit ridge. Much to my surprise, the central part of this group of trees had already turned golden, though it was still ringed with green trees that I knew would provide excellent color for the next few weeks.

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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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

Slender Aspens

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Slender Aspens
Slender aspen trees with leaves transitioning from green to yellow

Slender Aspens. Eastern Sierra Nevada, California. September 18, 2016. © Copyright 2016 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Slender aspen trees with leaves transitioning from green to yellow

I made this photograph quite a bit earlier in the season that usual — just past the middle of September. More typically I photograph these trees a couple of weeks later. However, this fall I made a reconnaissance trip to the Eastern Sierra at this early date and discovered quite a bit of good color, especially at higher elevations. (The typical pattern has the earliest color starting at higher elevations and in the smaller trees, then progression downwards and into the larger trees over the next few weeks.)

When it comes to the possible ways to photograph aspens, there are too many to count: front, side, or backlit; while there are still green leaves, when everything is golden-yellow (and orange and red), or when the trunks are bare; in sunlight or shadow; big trees and small; up close or from further back. I photographed this beautiful little grove of slender trees from some distance, using a long focal length to flatten the perspective a bit and to create a tighter composition. The leaves were at a typical early stage, with a few having turned yellow and others still quite green. But I think it was the slender and stark white trunks and the patterns they created that drew me to this grove.

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 | Twitter | Facebook | Google+ | LinkedIn | Email

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