Category Archives: Photographs: Yosemite

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

Backlit Autumn Oak Tree

Image Leave a comment
Backlit Autumn Oak Tree
“Backlit Autumn Oak Tree” — Branches and leaves of an autumn black leaf oak tree in Yosemite Valley.

My Autumn color hunting season in the Sierra Nevada runs from roughly the very end of September through the beginning of November, as color moves from the highest east side regions to the foothills and valleys of the Western Sierra. A trip to Yosemite Valley right around Halloween is traditional, and this year was there on that date.

While California’s western Sierra isn’t known as a fall color hot spot, there is a lot of beautiful color if you know where and when to look. In Yosemite Valley, much of the color comes from bright yellow big leaf maples, golden-brown black oaks, and yellow-to-red dogwoods. The tree in the photograph is a large oak growing in a Valley meadow. I photographed directly backlit by the sun, just before it moved behind a high cliff.

Leave a comment or question using the form. (Click the title to see the full article and to comment if you are viewing it on the home page.)

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” (Heyday Books) is available directly from him. Blog | Bluesky | Mastodon | Substack Notes | Flickr | Email

All media © Copyright G Dan Mitchell and others.

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Sierra Nevada, Photographs: Yosemite

Meadow and Forest, Clearing Fog

Image Leave a comment
Meadow and Forest, Clearing Fog
“Meadow and Forest, Clearing Fog” — Morning fog clears from a Sierra Nevada meadow and forest.

The atmospheric and light conditions were lovely on this July morning at Tuolumne Meadows, in the high country of Yosemite National Park. Shortly after sunrise hardly anyone was there, since the campground was still closed. If you have visited this place in the summertime, you know that such solitude is a rare and wonderful experience here.

It had rained the previous evening, so there was lots of residual moisture in the morning. As a result mist was rising from the meadow and river, and the atmosphere was almost opaque. (If you look closely you may able to just barely make out the slopes in the seemingly featureless area at upper left.)

Leave a comment or question using the form. (If you are reading this on the home page, click the article title to see the full article and the comment form.

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” (Heyday Books) is available directly from him. Blog | Bluesky | Mastodon | Substack Notes | Flickr | Email

All media © Copyright G Dan Mitchell and others.

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Sierra Nevada, Photographs: Yosemite

Sierra Crest Tarn

Image Leave a comment
Sierra Crest Tarn
“Sierra Crest Tarn” — Clouds over Mammoth Peak and a Tioga Pass tarn.

Sometimes when I visit the Sierra I cover surprising distances to get from location to location. But I devoted the entirety of my mid-September visit to the Yosemite high country to locations between Tuolumne Meadows and Tioga Pass. I made this photograph from as far east as I went, right at the pass, where small tarns dot a landscape of meadows and small trees.

This can be a green and even lush place early in the season, but by the end of summer the meadows dry out and turn “California golden.” I made the photographer relatively early in the morning, when clouds were just beginning to build above Mammoth Peak and the Kuna Crest.

Leave a comment or question using the form. (If you are reading this on the home page, click the article title to see the full article and the comment form.

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” (Heyday Books) is available directly from him. Blog | Bluesky | Mastodon | Substack Notes | Flickr | Email

All media © Copyright G Dan Mitchell and others.

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Sierra Nevada, Photographs: Yosemite

Dawn, Fog, and Frost

Image Leave a comment
Dawn, Fog, and Frost
“Dawn, Fog, and Frost” — Dawn fog drifts above frost-covered landscape at Tuolumne Meadows.

During most of the summer months, after the snow clears out (usually) by June, this meadow is a green place, often sunny, warm and inviting. I’ve been known to wander out into it and sit on the banks of the river or perch myself on a rock to admire the view. But as summer ends and autumn approaches, things change — the meadow becomes dry, temperatures begin to moderate, and before long it is clear that the brief summer season is ending.

This was one of those “autumn is coming” mornings. I arrived to find low fog drifting above frost-covered ground. I had to work quickly as this kind of fog usually doesn’t stick around for long, and the frost would melt when the sun rose. But for a few moments in this predawn light, it truly felt like winter in this meadow.

Leave a comment or question using the form. (If you are reading this on the home page, click the article title to see the full article and the comment form.

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” (Heyday Books) is available directly from him. Blog | Bluesky | Mastodon | Substack Notes | Flickr | Email

All media © Copyright G Dan Mitchell and others.