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

Aspen Layers

Image October 13, 2023 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Layers of colorful autumn aspen trees ascend the slopes of the Eastern Sierra Nevada.

We spent time in the Eastern Sierra Nevada this past week, mostly searching for autumn color up and down the range. It seemed like a good year for fall color. If 2023 has a “fall color personality” it might be that the colors seemed to take off all at once across a broader range of locations and elevations than is typical. While things may have peaked this past week, at least by some measures, there should still be fine color for another week or so, especially at lower elevations and in more sheltered areas with larger trees.

I made this photograph in soft evening light, generally my favorite type for this subject — along with soft morning light of course. While intense sunlight can produce extremely saturated colors, especially when the trees are back-lit, soft light tends to reveal details, especially in the shadows. Here layers of trees march up the slopes of the Eastern Sierra toward the crest.

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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Photographs: Europe, Photographs: Italy, Photographs: Travel

Hazy Sunset, Florence and the Arno River

Image October 12, 2023 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Hazy sunset over Florence, Italy and the Arno River.

A few weeks ago I shared a black and white photograph of this same subject, with almost the very same framing. We had gone to the famous PIazzale Michelangelo for sunset… and the giant party that seemed to happen spontaneously that evening as perhaps thousands of people gathered to watch the day come to an end above Florence, Italy.

While the previous photograph was made a bit earlier in the evening — I made this one just as the setting sun disappeared behind the distant hills, with the sunset sky light reflecting on the Arno River as it flows past the old center of Florence and under a series of famous bridges.

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Photographs: Mono Lake Basin, Photographs: Nature

Burned Pines, Morning Sky

Image October 11, 2023 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

The skeletal remains of a stand of ponderosa pine trees under blue high desert sky, Mono Basin.

This photograph comes from my short trip to the area near Tioga Pass in Yosemite during the final days of summer — a trip to reacquaint myself with the Sierra after missing the entire summer up there. I camped near the crest where I could easily enter the park or head east and visit the eastern escarpment of the range and some of the nearby high desert terrain.

I made this photograph on a morning when I headed east, passing Mono Lake and continuing a bit further, then turning off the main road to drive along the edge of a huge ponderosa pine forest. At some point in the past a wildfire burned though here, and the skeletal burned trees have long fascinated me. These trees are right at the (former) edge of the grove, and Mono Lake and desert mountains are barely visible in the distance.

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Photographs: Europe, Photographs: Italy, Photographs: Travel, Photographs: Urban/Street

Window, Striped Curtains

Image October 10, 2023 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Red wall, green and white striped curtain, Venice.

Venice is, of course, full of all sorts of grand and famous sights — the Grand Canal and all of the smaller waterways, St. Mark’s Square, and much more. We may have spent a bit less time in those places than some visitors, but we did visit them… despite the sometimes oppressive crowds that we knew we would encounter in August. But, as is our habit, we also just plain wandered a lot, enjoying the ambience of the place and discovering things on our own.

I do have photographs of some of the famous, iconic subjects. (Yes, you will see photographs of gondolas.) But as I wander in a place like this, at least on days when I’m actively photographing, I find myself shooting smaller subjects like this one, things that I think may suggest some subtler aspects of the character of the place.

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G Dan Mitchell Photography

Aspen Layers

Hazy Sunset, Florence and the Arno River

Burned Pines, Morning Sky

Window, Striped Curtains

Photographer and visual opportunist. Daily photos since 2005, plus articles, reviews, news, and ideas.