Tag Archives: aspen

Another Epic Sierra Round Trip

The time was ripe this weekend for a visit to Yosemite Valley and perhaps other places, so a two-day photo trip was in order. As is sometimes the case when I do these short up-and-back runs, some things happened according to plan and others, uh, evolved.

I left the SF Bay Area at 3:30 a.m. on Saturday morning. The plan was to head to the Valley early and then possibly get on the wait list for a camp spot with the rest of the plan being to shoot spring subjects there for a couple days. Continue reading Another Epic Sierra Round Trip

Aspens and Cliff, North Lake

Aspens and Cliff, North Lake

Aspens and Cliff, North Lake. Sierra Nevada, California. October 4, 2008. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Aspens with their last autumn leaves agains the backdrop of a cliff, North Lake.

This is a photograph from last fall’s autumn color photography in the eastern Sierra Nevada. This photograph was made on a blustery and snowy morning at North Lake, in the area above Bishop, California. I had finished shooting some of the more typical North Lake autumn scenes and was wandering back along the road when I started seeing the nearly bare aspens against the roadside cliffs.

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

keywords: aspen, tree, white, trunk, branch, yellow, green, gold, leaf, autumn, fall, cliff, rock, face, texture, pattern, red, brown, nature, scenic, landscape, detail, north, lake, bishop, creek, sierra, nevada, mountain, stock

What the Heck is Dan Shooting!?

Some of you who like my landscape/nature work may wonder what the heck I’m doing with the “urban photography” that I’ve posted here during the past few weeks. Get ready for more – there are currently about 10 photographs of similar subjects in the pipeline. Perhaps some explanation is in order.

This isn’t really a new thing for me – I’ve posted urban and “industrial” photographs in the past. (See the night photography section in my Gallery for some obvious examples, and also take a look at some of the “City” photographs while you are there.) Quite a few of them are what I think of as urban landscape photography, and to some extent I approach making these photographs much the same way I approach nature and landscape shooting. I wander about looking for stuff that appeals to me, often looking for effects of light, pattern, or color – and then I photograph it.

Besides the obvious subject differences – yes, I do realize that dilapidated buildings are not the same as aspen forests – I shoot differently, at least for some of this photography. While I do sometimes cart a tripod into urban environments, more often I travel light – ironically perhaps, usually lighter than I do when I go out for a weeklong pack trip! I generally do not use a tripod, I virtually never carry all of my lenses, and sometimes I just go out with a prime or two.

I hope you enjoy this change of pace, and that in some way you can see connections to my photographs of the natural world. (There is actually a long philosophical discussion I could have about that very topic, but I’ll spare everyone…) In any case, I’m sure that the flow of landscapes and nature photographs will resume in a week or so.

Aspens, Forest, and Snow Showers – North Lake

Aspens, Forest, and Snow Showers - North Lake

Aspens, Forest, and Snow Showers – North Lake. Sierra Nevada, California, October 4, 2008. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Early autumn snow falls on peaks above the aspen groves at North Lake, California.

I had arrived at North Lake on this early October morning to photograph the renowned aspen stands surrounding the lake. After arriving before dawn and getting all of my gear out and ready to shoot… it began to snow! I retreated to my car for nearly an hour, but soon the early season front passed through and the sun began to shine through in between the light snow showers. This photograph was made from the road near the “aspen tunnel” near the upper end of the lake. I like the multiple layers of bright fall aspen color in the foreground, green forest on the ridge in the middle, and the combination of thin sunlight and snow showers on the high peaks beyond.

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

keywords: aspen, tree, grove, color, yellow, red, orange, gold, forest, ridge, mountain, snow, squall, flurry, peak, cloud, mist, fog, rock, north lake, california, usa, sierra, nevada, range, alpine, bishop, creek, nature, autumn, fall, season, scenic, landscape, travel, stock