Tag Archives: autumn

Photographs: Fall, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Owens Valley, Photographs: Sierra Nevada

Autumn Snow Storm, Eastern Sierra

October 6, 2015 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

An early autumn storm drops snow along the summit of Wheeler Ridge, Sierra Nevada

This is not a photograph of eastern Sierra Nevada autumn aspens, a subject that has been quite visible in my stream recently. However, it is as much a photograph of autumn in the Sierra as is another photograph of those trees. During October we often seen the beginning of the grand changing of the gears that moves us from summer to winter. At times it may seem like summer will stick around forever, especially on one of those beautiful, crystal clear autumn days when the light simply glows. But inevitably these days cannot last and soon the first Pacific weather fronts arrive. The first few may only leave a dusting of snow, but the message is unmistakable — winter is coming.

This was such a weekend in the eastern Sierra. On the first day it was sunny and warm, and there was barely any sign that a change was imminent. Yet that night the change most certainly arrived, and when I awoke early in the morning it was in the low thirty-degree range at my camp and snow pellets were falling. Looking outside, through the clouds I could see that the surrounding peaks were covered with a thin coat of snow. After a bit of early morning photography I began my long drive back home, heading up US 395 along the eastern escarpment of the Sierra. Conditions were very changeable, and this scene quickly went from being completely obscured by clouds and rain to clearing conditions with only a remnant of the precipitation along the summit of immense Wheeler Ridge above Long Valley.

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: Sierra Nevada

Aspens and Rocky Cliff

October 5, 2015 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Aspens in full autumn color against a granite cliff in the eastern Sierra Nevada

On this morning I woke up at my 8000′ eastern Sierra camp to temperatures in the mid-thirty degree range and light graupel, or snow pellets. But the clouds looked thin, and the combination of aspens and snow is appealing, so I headed up the canyon to a higher location where I thought that there might be colorful aspens and snow. When I got there, I wasn’t disappointed — the temperature was still down in the thirties, and the light snow continued to fall… and the trees at this location were probably at their peak color of the season.

The color of the trees was intense, but the soft light of the snowy, cloudy weather intensified colors even more. I went to the far side of the lake where I know of an accessible area that is a bit higher than the lake, with my plan being to photograph these trees against the backdrop of broken granite walls, using a long focal length to narrow the boundaries of the compositions and exclude distracting objects. For intense color everything was working in my favor: the peak color of the trees, the muted tones of the background rock, and the effect of the soft light from the overcast skies.

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: Sierra Nevada

Aspen Trees, Shoreline

October 2, 2015 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Colorful autumn aspen trees along the rocky shoreline of a subalpine Sierra Nevada lake

The Sierra Nevada autumn color season seemed to start earlier than usual this year. The question of when it would start has been on the minds of many of us who chase the aspen and other color each fall, especially given the effects of California’s fourth year of drought. We wondered (and still wonder) how many trees would die, how early the color would arrive, how good it would be, and much more. The picture isn’t yet fully clear, but I think that I can perhaps make three generalizations. First, the color did arrive early — I made this photograph during the last week of September, and such color typically arrives in this location perhaps a full week later. Second, some trees have clearly been stressed by the drought — in places trees that would usually be developing colorful leaves have instead simply dropped their leaves early. Third, in places where the water situation isn’t quite as dire there are still a lot of very green trees, and they will possibly prolong the color season well into October.

When I visited this spot I already had a long familiarity with this colorful group of trees growing along the shoreline of this subalpine lake. Ironically, it was in this drought year, when I arrived at an atypically early point in the season, that I found what may be the best colors I’ve seen on them. In the Sierra the predominant autumn aspen leaf color is a sort of golden-yellow. However, there are other colors ranging from orange through read and even to some deep almost red-brown colors. In some ways, those are the “prize” colors that we look for. And this little strip of trees has those colors in abundance!

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

Autumn Haze, Sabrina Basin

October 1, 2015 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Aspen colors scattered across the rugged granite landscape of Sabrina Basin

This particular view may be a familiar one to many who follow the autumn aspen color in the eastern Sierra Nevada, as Sabrina Basin and, more broadly, the Bishop Creek area, is well-known for extensive groves of aspens. This photograph comes from a point just a bit earlier in the color transition season than most of my photographs of the area, and a close look at some of the more distant ridges reveals extensive color among the smaller, high elevation aspens that typically change colors first. The foreground trees were also more colorful than usual for this late September date, though the afternoon backlight emphasizes the effect.

The Sierra present many different appearances, ranging from gentle meadows full of green grasses and flowing water to the most rugged, spare alpine regions filled with rocks and the hard edges of ridge lines. While an up close view of certain parts of this scene — perhaps from standing within one of the colorful aspen groves in the foreground — would present more of the gentle view, the panorama from this high, exposed location reveals the tremendous world of rugged granite in this part of the range, where the Sierra crest rises quite quickly from the high desert terrain to the east.

G Dan Mitchell Photography

Tag Archives: autumn

Autumn Snow Storm, Eastern Sierra

Aspen Trees, Shoreline

Autumn Haze, Sabrina Basin

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