Category Archives: Sierra Nevada Fall Color

Locations, timing, advice on photographing Sierra Nevada fall color

California Fall Color, Commentary, Photographs: Fall, Photographs: Fall Color, Sierra Nevada Fall Color

2022 Fall Color

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It is that time of year again — my favorite season! This past week on walks here in the San Francisco Bay Are I have noticed the signs of the seasonal change. The sun is setting an hour earlier, our first (early!) Pacific weather front is arriving this weekend, some trees are starting to change colors, and the sound of old leaves skittering along the ground in the breeze is everywhere.

Autumn Aspens, Lake, Wildfire Smoke
Wildfire smoke drifts over the Sierra Nevada crest above a lake surrounded by autumn aspens. @ Copyright G Dan Mitchell.

Fall color is more prevalent here in California than many realize. The earliest hints come to the high country of the Sierra Nevada in late August, when something in the air changes, corn lily plants turn yellow, the bilberry starts to pick up a bit of red, and you might even find an odd yellow aspen leaf here and there. Things pick up as we progress through September, and by the very end of the month it is often possible to start finding a few examples of good aspen color up high. Then the color works its way down to lower country, the valleys, and the coast over the following months. I’ve sometimes photographed “fall color” in the Central Valley as late as… January!

The main aspen color season in the Sierra peaks during the first half of October. It tends to start at higher elevations as early as the very end of September, becoming quite pronounced early in October, and working down to lower elevations into the third week of the month. If you can only go once, targeting your visit for about one week into the month is a good plan.

No one knows for sure how the season will evolve. Some things stay relatively constant from year to year, while others vary quite a bit based on temperature fluctuations, the amount of precipitation that fell during the year, whether or not early storms sweep through, and more.

I share annual updates on my Sierra Nevada Fall Color page at this website. I just posted this years first message there today — it is mostly some early thinking about how the season may evolve, along with a record of what has happened in some previous seasons. The latter may be useful as you plan your autumn color search in California.

One more thing: I may have something new to write about regarding fall color in a few weeks. Stay tuned…

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, Amazon, and directly from G Dan Mitchell.

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Commentary, Locations, Sierra Nevada Fall Color

Sierra Nevada Fall Color – Coming Soon!

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This is an We’re just weeks away from Aspen Time as I write this eclectic and incomplete account of how I photograph Eastern Sierra Nevada fall aspen color. (Originally posted in September, 2009, and updated and slightly revised in varying degrees during successive aspen seasons — current update for fall 2019. Check the comments for other updates and notes. )

California’s Fall Color: A Photographer’s Guide to Autumn in the Sierra
California’s Fall Color: A Photographer’s Guide to Autumn in the Sierra

My fall color guidebook: “California’s Fall Color: A Photographer’s Guide to Autumn in the Sierra“ is available from Heyday Books. Order from Heyday Books and from Amazon. The book greatly expands and updates information in this article and elsewhere on my website. (Contact me directly, too — I may have some autographed copies to sell.)

Fading Autumn Color
Fading Autumn Color

During the latter part of August every year there always seems to be a day in the Sierra when I become aware that summer is coming to an end and fall is just around the corner. I’ve never quite identified the source of the feeling, but it is unmistakable when it happens. Perhaps a change in the light? Possibly something about the patterns of the wind? Maybe just that more and more places dry out and shift from green to brown and golden?

Of course, sometimes it is more obvious. I was in the Sierra during the final week of August in 2009, backpacking into Yosemite’s Ten Lakes Basin for a few days. It wasn’t hard to notice that the corn lily plants were dying and that many had taken on wild yellow/gold colors, or that some of the small meadow plants were beginning to turn red and yellow, or that some of the chaparral plants were losing a few leaves. By early September 2014 I was already seeing some aspens starting to pick up autumn color in a few places. When I revised the article in 2015 this day arrived early — we felt it during the first week of the August, perhaps due to the strange California weather that year. As I update this once again in 2019… it arrived later, following a very wet winter, spring, and summer, with wildflowers still blooming in early September!

So even when it is still summer by the calendar – and will be through most of September – my thoughts turn to fall once again. And that means I’m looking forward to the opportunity to photograph the incredible displays of aspen color in the eastern Sierra. (There are some aspens west of the crest as well – for example in the Carson Pass area – but the stands east of the crest are larger and more accessible.)

Since I’ve been visiting and photographing the aspens for some time, here are a few ideas and recommendations and locations for photographing them in the eastern Sierra. In no particular order:

Continue reading Sierra Nevada Fall Color – Coming Soon! →
News, Publications, Sierra Nevada Fall Color, Site News

I’m A Contributor To B&H “Pro Tips” Article On Fall Color

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Thank you to B&H Photo for including me in their new article on photographing fall color: Photo Tips and Favorite Gear for Successful Fall Foliage Pictures.

Autumn Color Transition
Brush and aspens undergoing the autumn color transition in the eastern Sierra Nevada

Excerpt:

“California-based G. Dan Mitchell notes that the color season can last months in California’s Eastern Sierra, given the large variations in elevation, precipitation, range of north/south latitude, and other factors. He explains, “When color is absent in one location, it may be great not far away. In the Eastern Sierra, this often means going to a higher or lower elevation. While aspens can start changing color at higher elevations in the second half of September, some trees at lower elevations may be colorful a full month later.”

“Author of the 2015 book, California’s Fall Color: A Photographer’s Guide to Autumn in the Sierra, Mitchell notes that the Sierra offers a range of fall foliage opportunities far greater than many people realize.”

(About the “color season can last months…” comment. I can often find the first hints of coming autumn color early in September, and even in late August sometimes. I can still find low elevation color in the last half of October.)

Also included in the article – G Dan Mitchell, Bryan Carnathan, Moose Peterson, Dan Bailey, Matt Payne, and Chad DiBlasio

Enjoy!

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.

Locations, Sierra Nevada Fall Color

2017 Sierra Nevada Fall Color Preview

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As I write this it is mid-September — still summer for a few more days, but the prospect of autumn is definitely in the air here in California. The temperatures have moderated — though we’ll have a few more hot spells — and the first hints of Pacific winter weather fronts are appearing. Sierra Nevada nighttime temperatures dropping in the twenties. A few weeks ago when I was last in the Sierra I spotted a few of the unmistakable first signs of fall: yellow and brown corn lily plants, a few yellow leaves on arctic willow, golden brown meadows, and here and there the odd early yellow aspen leaves.

With all of this happening, it is the right time for an update on Sierra Nevada fall color, particularly the seasonal aspen color which is reportedly already starting.

Aspen Color, North Lake

Continue reading 2017 Sierra Nevada Fall Color Preview →