East Side Canyon, Autumn

East Side Canyon, Autumn
“East Side Canyon, Autumn” — An east-side Sierra canyon with autumn cottonwood and aspen trees below snow-dusted slopes.

Well, I thought that I had shared the last of this fall’s Sierra Nevada aspen photographs. But then I took another look at my raw files and decided that a few more were worth working up. This is one of a set of four in that group. It features one of the steep canyons that rise along the eastern escarpment of the Sierra. There is a row of cottonwood trees in the foreground and larger groves of autumn aspens far up the canyon.

You can’t tell from the photograph, but it was almost impossible to make pictures here doe to high winds. I had parked along a rough gravel road and was alternately making photographs and cowering behind my vehicle as gusts swept through. Between that wind storm and the snow that came in a few days later it was a tricky year for aspen photography in the Sierra.


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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

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Chicago Towers

Chicago Towers
“Chicago Towers” — Chicago towers on a cloudy autumn day.

We spent almost a week in Chicago in late November. We went for a long walk inside “the loop” on this overcast day, first visiting the opera house (where we had tickets for a performance later on) and then following the river back to the east before looping toward our hotel. I’ve long been fascinated by comparisons between Chicago and Manhattan, and while I love Manhattan, Chicago comes out ahead in many ways. For one thing there is more space between buildings, providing more light and more ways to photograph them.

Why in the world, you might wonder, would we go to Chicago in November!? It tends to be cold and windy then — though still not as cold as a few weeks later. We originally had plans to meet up with other visitors to attend some concerts, visit museums, and enjoy meals. Unfortunately, their plans changed, but since we had tickets and reservations we decided to go anyway — and it turned out to be an enjoyable trip.


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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.

Red Cliffs and Trees

Red Cliffs and Trees
“Red Cliffs and Trees” — Kolob Canyon red sandstone walls in morning light and shadow, Zion National Park.

There are plenty of people whose knowledge of the red rock sandstone formations of the Southwest exceeds mine. But I have observed tremendous variations in these rocks as I photographed in Utah. The rock generally comes in layers that vary significantly in color and texture. Sometimes they are thick, uniform, and massive. In other locations they are filled with textured sub-layers and contain curves and cracks.

The example in this photograph is one of those massive, solid layers. This cliff is in Zion National Park’s slightly-more-remote Kolob Canyon. It is in a location where you can get quite close to this impressive layer. I made the photograph on a morning with a bit of haze. The position of the sun in front and to the right of the camera produced rim light on the cliff’s edges.


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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.

Autumn Leaf Pile

“Autumn Leaf Pile” — A pile of autumn leaves beneath urban trees.

I walk a lot. Most days I try for 4 or 5 miles, sometimes more. I always carry a camera — most often I don’t take it out of my small pack. But other times I spot something that interests me, and I’m glad I brought it a long. When I came across these intensely colorful autumn leaves on the ground beneath a copse of trees, I stopped and spent a few minutes photographing.

In my part of the San Francisco Bay Area, the autumn color season comes late, likely due to our gentle climate. We don’t see all that many autumn leaves here in October, and then things get started later in November. It seems that this year things are peaking right around the start of December. (I like to point out that I can make my “fall color season” go on for months, from the first hints of Sierra Nevada autumn color in September, to a few trees that still have leaves on New Year’s Day and beyond.)


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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.

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