Sierra Aspen Grove, Sun. Sierra Nevada, California. September 29, 2007. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell.
I spent a couple weekends photographing the annual fall colors of the aspens in the eastern Sierra Nevada. This photograph was made among the trees of the extensive groves near the top of Monitor Pass.
Shoreline Rocks, Skyblue Lake. Sierra Nevada, California. August 7, 2007. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell.
I made this photograph on a recent two-week backpack trip through an area near Mt. Whitney. Skyblue Lake sits below Crabtree Pass, a cross-country route we crossed later on this day. I originally imagined this as a color image, but was not happy with the result after the trip. I returned to the photo recently and after working on it more have decided that I like it as a black and white photograph.
Cascade, Lee Vining Canyon. Sierra Nevada, California. October 7, 2007. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell.
North Lake, Piute Crags. Sierra Nevada, California. October 7, 2007. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell.
I had started this early October morning by photographing the first light at Sabrina Lake. After I finished up there – still quite early – I decided to head on over to North Lake, even though I was pretty certain that I had missed the best aspen color display this year. (North Lake is renowned for a “tree tunnel” as you arrive at the lake and for a huge aspen grove that rises up a gully on the far side of the lake.)
Sure enough, almost all the aspens had lost their leaves, and the few remaining were almost all brown and black. So I turned to a different landscape subject – snow-dusted Piute Crags with the shoreline of North Lake in the foreground.