Half Dome and Oak Branches, Autumn. Yosemite National Park, California. November 4, 2007. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell

A bit of a postcard shot, but sometimes one cannot resist… :-)

Yosemite Valley, Early Evening. Yosemite National Park, California. Novemer 3, 2007. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell.

This is a late afternoon / early evening photograph of a grove of trees beyond a recently-burned meadow, with low-angle light from the far end of the Valley illuminating the trees. Although the colors of the scene were quite interesting (intense greens and some fall foliage, with the saturated late light) I like the more classic quality of the black and white version.

Ahwahnee Meadow Oaks, Autumn. Yosemite National Park, California. November 11, 2007. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell.

I had a few free hours on this afternoon – between shooting morning subject and my intended evening subject – so I wandered on over towards the Ahwahnee, passing this nice grove of oak trees on the way. I had previously photographed the small grove in the distance, but I liked this view with the more distant trees framed by the trunks of the nearby grove.

Yosemite Valley Forest, Autumn. Yosemite National Park, California. November 4, 2007 © Copyright G Dan Mitchell

I’m always intrigued by the combination of the strong verticals of the tree trunks (often interrupted by the diagonal of a fallen tree or two), the filtered light coming through the trees, and the warm tones of the leaves and needles on the forest floor interspersed with boulders and rocks that likely fell from the Valley walls many years ago.