Tag Archives: aspen

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

Desert Meets Forest, Autumn

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Desert Meets Forest, Autumn
An autumn conjunction of sagebrush, rabbitbrush, conifers, and aspens in the Eastern Sierra.

Desert Meets Forest, Autumn. © Copyright 2021 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

An autumn conjunction of sagebrush, rabbitbrush, conifers, and aspens in the Eastern Sierra.

This is another autumn photograph from that wonderful Eastern Sierra transition zone, where the high desert country of sagebrush meets the mountain country of conifers and aspens. Many years ago I regarded the two environments as being completely exclusive, but eventually it sank into my thick skull that this perception did not align with reality. In particular I recall one autumn visit to a very dry region east of the Sierra where I saw some of the most colorful aspens growing in a small desert valley.

A photograph like this one presents some technical challenges to the photographer. I think it looks pretty simple, but it wasn’t. The first issue was the the scene was lit by fairly intense backlight. I love backlight, but it creates some extremely bright highlights — and underexposing the shot is necessary to protect them from blowing out. In addition, because the sun was low and almost directly in front of the camera there was a great potential for flare. To make this photograph I actually stood in front of the camera and carefully used my hand to cast a shadow on the lens. Finally, with all of these elements of very bright light and the need to underexpose a bit, some of the shaded areas ended up darker than they seemed “in the flesh,” necessitating some post-production work with curves to bring back some of those shadow details.

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

Solitary Aspen, Dark Forest

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Solitary Aspen, Dark Forest
A small autumn aspen tree in the light in front of dark forest.

Solitary Aspen, Dark Forest. © Copyright 2021 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A small autumn aspen tree in the light in front of dark forest.

There is something about solitary trees standing against some sort of background. A friend has referred to them as “brave little tree” photographs — something I now think about every time I make one or see one. Landscape photography doesn’t always come quite this close to eliciting metaphorical associations, but I can certainly understand how one could make this association with these subjects. On a more prosaic note, from a purely compositional perspective, a single central subject posed against a larger and contrasting background often works visually, too.

This photograph was also an extra reminder to me about why I like to photograph non-iconic subjects. (Though I do have to admit that the solitary tree is a sort of generic icon, if that makes sense.) I rediscovered this photograph recently while reviewing some raw files from a couple of years ago. I usually record location information as I work on photographs, but with this one I could not even determine exactly where I made it! By sequencing the files before and after this exposure I was able to narrow it down to one very large drainage, but I don’t actually recall making the photograph! I I had worked with the file back when it was new, but I wasn’t fully satisfied with the result. When I came back to it I saw it in a somewhat different way, and I saw how to apply some newer post-processing tools to get the result I was after.

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

Aspen Grove and Rocky Hill

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Aspen Grove and Rocky Hill
A small aspen grove and a rocky hill, high in the Buttermilks.

Aspen Grove and Rocky Hill. © Copyright 2021 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A small aspen grove and a rocky hill, high in the Buttermilks.

This photograph comes from “Buttermilk Country” (also known as “The Buttermilks”) in the Eastern Sierra Nevada, an area perhaps best know to climbers for its innumerable bouldering opportunities. I’ve long wondered about the name, but in the past I had only speculated idly that something about the formations here somehow suggested “buttermilk” to visitors… though it is very hard to see any logic in that. I finally looked it up, and apparently the name goes back to the 1870s when a dairy supposedly operated in the area. (It seems like an odd place for a dairy, but I confess that my dairy experience is… limited.)

The area interests me photographically on a number of counts. Perhaps most obviously, it sits right beneath one of the most magnificent sections of the Sierra crest, and open views of these mountains are available throughout the region. Additionally, the rounded boulders and other formations that attract climbers are plentiful and quite different than the usual east side terrain. It also is one of those wonderful Eastern Sierra interfaces between the high desert and the beginnings of the more alpine world. That latter is what we were looking for when we visited recently, navigating far enough on some of the rough roads that we got to where the small aspen groves begin. It was a lovely morning — a dusting of new snow was on the nearby mountains, brilliant sun was shining, and a bit of haze accentuated the distance between near and far subjects.

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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Links to Articles, Sales and Licensing, my Sierra Nevada Fall Color book, Contact Information.

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

Aspens and Dome, Eastern Sierra

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Aspens and Dome, Eastern Sierra
A line of autumn aspen trees in front of a rocky dome, Eastern Sierra Nevada.

Aspens and Dome, Eastern Sierra. © Copyright 2021 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A line of autumn aspen trees in front of a rocky dome, Eastern Sierra Nevada.

This photograph comes from a morning of Eastern Sierra exploration into an area that I would not typically go to for fall color photography — not because there is no fall color there to photograph, but because it isn’t exactly the most accessible place to find it. For sure, there are easier places to find the color nearby. We put the 4Runner in 4WD and slowly tracked up toward the base of the range, eventually gaining enough elevation that there were aspens, the sort that live in harmony with surrounding high desert foliage of rabbitbrush and sage.

It was a beautiful morning of the sort that you’ll only find here in autumn. A weak storm has been through a few days earlier, and there was a dusting of snow on the highest Sierra crest peaks and behind us, across Owens Valley, on the White Mountains. Despite the recent storm the morning warmed nicely, and the sunlight was warm as we photographed. Here a small row of aspens, midway through the color change process, stood against a small, rocky dome, and beyond that in the haze-obscured distance were higher hills rising toward the summit of the range.

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.

Blog | About | Flickr | Facebook | Email

Links to Articles, Sales and Licensing, my Sierra Nevada Fall Color book, Contact Information.

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All media © Copyright G Dan Mitchell and others as indicated. Any use requires advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.