Tag Archives: aspen

Pond, Bishop Creek

Pond, Bishop Creek

Pond, Bishop Creek. Sierra Nevada, California. October 5, 2008. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Autumn colors reflected in a pond on Bishop Creek, Sierra Nevada, California.

After starting my shooting very early in the morning – I had earlier photographed some groves near the turnoff to North Lake and some expansive views of Sabrina Basin from near Aspendell – I continued up the Bishop Creek drainage to this small pond along the upper reaches of Bishop Creek. As I set up in this spot along the southeast shore of the creek, the sun was just beginning to come over the high ridge behind me. As it did so it illuminated the aspen grove on the far side of the creek and added a glow to the dry ferns and creekside plants. I worked quickly and got a few shots as the sun/shade line moved across the trees and plants and soon hit the creek itself.

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North Lake, Autumn

North Lake, Autumn

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

Autumn at North Lake with aspen trees turning yellow and orange and new snow dusting Piute Peak.

Photographed right after the passage of an early season weather front that had dusted Piute Peak with a bit of snow – in fact, it is still snowing up there in this photograph. This photo was made at the lower end of the lake it what is one of the classic photograph spots at North Lake, or so it seems. The next morning I came back to this lake to photograph a nearby aspen grove and I passed by here thinking I might stop and photograph the lake again. That is, I thought so until I passed the spot and saw photographers lining the shoreline here tripod to tripod – I’ve never seen so many photographers trying to find their own personal vision from exactly the same spot at the same time before… ;-) Needless to say, I settled for the photos of the lake I had made the day before, when high winds and intermittent snow seemed to reduce the number of photographers to a more reasonable level.

keywords: autumn, fall, season, north, lake, piute, peak, mountain, ridge, sierra, nevada, range, california, water, reflection, grass, meadow, meadow, forest, grove, aspen, yellow, orange, gold, sky, cloud, snow, dusting, california, usa, scenic, travel, landscape, stock

North Lake and Piute Peak, Autumn Snow

North Lake and Piute Peak, Autumn Snow

North Lake and Piute Peak, Autumn Snow. Sierra Nevada, California. October 4, 2008. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

An autumn snow squall moves across the upper reaches of Piute Peak with fall colors around North Lake in the foreground. The snow is still falling on the peaks in this photograph, and the high winds have created some choppy lake water. Yes, although you probably can’t tell from this photograph, it was COLD when I shot this!

Photographed on a very cold October morning right after an early season weather front had passed through, dusting Piute Peak with a bit of snow. The post front weather was very windy, as evidenced by the chop on the surface of this small lake.

keywords: piute, peak, north lake, autumn, fall, snow, squall, shower, cloud, blue, sky, mountain, ridge, morning, light, sun, aspen, tree, forest, grove, orange, yellow, green, gold, water, ripple, wave, grass, shore, shoreline, snag, grass, meadow, brush, sierra, nevada, california, range, usa, scenic, travel, season, landscape, stock

Aspens and Early Snow, North Lake

Aspens and Early Snow, North Lake

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

An early autumn snow fall dusts the ridge above the aspen groves at North Lake, Sierra Nevada, California.

Another photograph from my early October 2008 visit to the Bishop Creek area. On the first morning I left Bishop very early, waiting only long enough for the local Starbucks to open. (There I admired a couple of Vern Clevenger photos hanging on the wall – his gallery is next door – and saw a few other bleary-eyed photographers getting some much-needed coffee.) Although the weather was clear in Bishop, it began to cloud up as I drove up toward North Lake. When I arrived before sunrise it was cloudy there, but it looked the conditions might be good for some early morning aspen photography.

But not for long. Almost as soon as I took my gear out of the car the wind came up, the temperature dropped and it began to rain and then snow. I quickly holed up in my car to wait it out, and an hour later the sun began to emerge in between the light snow showers. This well known grove of aspens on the far side of the lake climbs a valley toward the ridge. Although many leaves came down quickly in the wind as the front passed, there was still a lot of color in the grove. Here there is still light snow falling on the ridge, even as sunlight slants in from the right.

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