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

Forest With Autumn Leaves

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Forest With Autumn Leaves
“Forest With Autumn Leaves” — Autumn leaves on black oak and big leaf maple trees add color to a Yosemite Valley forest.

I enjoy the challenge of trying to make compositions out of very busy, complex scenes. There are plenty of such scenes in typical forest settings, where the amount of detail can be overwhelming, and it can take me a while to find something that works. Often I wander through such places just looking and using a framing card to check photograph potential. At some point, things fall into place.

I already knew of this spot where reflections from a cliff across Yosemite Valley send soft light into the forest and especially to the tall trees at the right. On the last day of October, autumn leaves were sprinkled throughout the scene, too. This feels like a quintessential autumn photograph of the Valley. It is not generally a place of vast forests of color — more common are conifer forests interrupted by intense color from scattered deciduous trees.

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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.

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

Autumn Flow

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Autumn Flow
“Autumn Flow” — The surface of the Merced River, broken by boulders, reflects golden fall colors from nearby trees.

I was in Yosemite Valley on the last day of October to photograph the fall colors of oak, maple, and dogwood trees. It may seem odd to some, but I barely photographed the iconic formations of the park at all, instead wandering around looking for more intimate views that suggest autumn. I made this photograph at a place along the Merced River where I’ve stopped for years, a spot where I know that I can find interesting reflected light at the right times of day.

This is a somewhat long exposure, made that way to allow the surface of the water to blur a bit. The location is in deep shadows during much of the day, but here the water reflects the surrounding trees and the light from high cliffs across the valley.

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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.

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

Big Leaf Maple, Autumn

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Big Leaf Maple, Autumn
“Big Leaf Maple, Autumn” — A big, colorful autumn leaf from a big leaf maple tree, Yosemite Valley.

Leaves from the big leaf maple trees are among the most colorful sights in Yosemite Valley during the fall. Their yellow color is especially striking because they often grow in shaded, darker areas and sometimes among the conifers. They may not be that well known since their color season is short and not during the most popular tourist times. The five-lobed leaves are gigantic — sometimes as large as two hands spread out.

Finding this big, brightly-colored leaf was part of the pay-off for a half hour or more of slow wandering through a quiet forested area. Photographing in these places is both challenging and rewarding. There often will not be obvious iconic subjects there, but the rewarding challenge comes from discovering small things and finding ways to make compositions out of complex scenes.

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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.

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

Backlit Autumn Oak Tree

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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.

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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.