Tag Archives: aspen

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Sierra Nevada

Fall Color, Eastern Sierra Aspens

October 11, 2010 G Dan Mitchell 10 Comments

On a week of brilliant fall color during an autumn when the color was exceptional in parts of the eastern Sierra, this little grove of aspens was almost absurdly colorful. I first saw them while driving away from a nearby shot – their fluorescent colors got my attention while I was looking in a completely different direction. The colors nearby were quite something, but they literally paled next to this grove. (I’ve heard trees like this referred to as Cheetos trees – and I think you can imagine why.)

Should you think that this color is simply something I’ve pumped up in post processing, take a look at the boulder in the lower part of the frame and see the tree trunks and the pale grasses at bottom right. The fact that I shot in over cast conditions, late in the day, and in a very light rain did intensify the colors a bit, but this is what they looked like.

These colors present some photographic challenges. The main one is that almost all of the light is in the red channel, and when shooting a digital camera it is easy to blow out (grossly overexpose) the red channel and not even realize it. I have found that with this subject it is critical to use the three-channel histogram display that shows the separate levels of red, green, and blue. The single luminosity histogram display averages the values of the three color channels, and if one is extremely hot (as is the red channel here) you can blow it out even if the histogram looks fine.

This photograph is not in the public domain and may not be used on websites, blogs, or in other media without advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

California Fall Color, News

Quick Eastern Sierra Fall Color Update

October 9, 2010 G Dan Mitchell 5 Comments

I visited a few locations in the Mammoth-to-Bishop area today, and can add a bit of information to the general knowledge floating around on the net. I can’t speak about the whole Sierra, obviously, but some of what I saw today might give an indication of how things are evolving.

As a point of comparison, when I was in the area last week (the first weekend of October) the colors were tremendous at some of the popular, higher elevation areas around and a bit north of Bishop. In fact, the colors then were as good as I’ve ever seen. This was enhanced by the light rain and the overcast, both of which intensify the colors and reveal more subtle details.

Between then and now the Sierra had some serious early season snow and, at the lower elevations, rain. Partly due to this weather and partly to the normal progression of color, this week those higher areas have many leafless or nearly leafless trees – the colors there have pretty much run their course. The colors have moved down a bit in elevation, but have not yet caught up to what they were before. You can find good colors now, but you have to look a bit harder.

The good news is that there are a lot of very green trees in many of the middle and low elevation areas. This bodes well for the color prospects in the next couple of weeks.

I really prefer to photograph aspens in overcast conditions with subdued light. In fact, when it is clear I’ll often photograph the trees before the light is on them or wait until the evening and photograph them after the shadows from higher peaks move across the groves. This weekend, however, it is bright and sunny. On all counts except for aspen photography, it is beautiful weather! Today there were two somewhat special conditions. First, there is significant snow on the higher peak, and especially on the White Mountains across Owens Valley to the east. And this morning there was a fair amount of fog in the valley areas. In fact, this seemed so interesting that I chose to shoot these conditions out in Owens Valley this morning rather than chasing aspens!

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.

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

Photographs: Fall, Photographs: Fall Color, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Sequoia-Kings Canyon

Bare Aspen Trunks and Fallen Leaves

October 9, 2010 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

The white trunks of nearly leafless aspen trees with fallen leaves below, Bishop Creek, California.

While the brilliant fall colors of the eastern Sierra aspens are an obvious attraction, I also like the bare, white trunks that begin to appear more clearly as the leaves fall. In fact, in some ways I prefer them as a subject to the leave. While I can’t stop myself from shooting those incredible colors, at some point they almost seem to produce a sort of visual overload. But the light-colored trunks, ranging from stout older trees to delicate and twisting small trees, especially against a background of rocks, fallen leaves, or the clutter of the forest have their own magic.

This is a scene from no special place – it is a just a spot along a road that I passed over more than once. I had shot in the general area earlier, but only noticed this as I passed by again on this cloudy and misty morning when the softer light allowed more of the details to appear and the slight rain brought out the colors a bit more.

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Sierra Nevada

Fall Aspen Leaves, Sierra Nevada

October 8, 2010 G Dan Mitchell 2 Comments

Aspen leaves at their peak of red, orange, and gold color in the North Lake area of the Sierra Nevada, California.

More wild aspen colors… On this morning I went to the infamous North Lake – infamous for the ridiculous crowds of photographers who flock to the lower end of the lake to make the same photograph of the surface of the lake, the colorful trees at the far end, a band of aspens ascending a hillside, and the taller peaks beyond. A year or two I had my first encounter with the throng when I arrived at this lake, not knowing about this business, and found perhaps 20 photographers in a row near the outlet stream. This year I knew what was coming when I arrived at the lake, but I was still somewhat shocked to see that the horde was now up to perhaps 60 or more photographers packed tripod to tripod along the banks of the lake at the outlet, and now also extending along the far side of the lake as well.

Fortunately, I had no intention of shooting that scene. Instead, my plan was to park my car, pack up my gear, and walk slowly along the road past the lake looking for intimate photographs of small details of the autumn scene, especially where some smaller aspen trees grow right up agains a short, rocky cliff. So I spent perhaps an hour wandering along here, mostly by myself but with an occasional friendly encounter with other horde-avoiding photographers, until I reached a small parking area further up the lake by the other iconic subject at North Lake, the “tree tunnel.” I also did not plan to photograph this, but I did figure that I could find some very colorful leaves near here in the forest along the side of the road, and that is where I photographed this very colorful grouping of aspen leaves.

This photograph is not in the public domain and may not be used on websites, blogs, or in other media without advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

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