Tag Archives: autumn

Photographs: Sierra Nevada, Photographs: Yosemite

El Capitan Meadow, Autumn

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El Capitan Meadow, Autumn

El Capitan Meadow, Autumn. Yosemite Valley, California. November 2, 2008. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Photograph of El Capitan Meadow in autumn with plants and trees in fall colors.

I wish I knew the identity of the leafy plants carpeting this section of the meadow under the oak trees (hint, hint… :-), but every year I’m attracted to the splash of red color they provide beneath these oak trees in the meadow near the base of El Capitan. During my otherwise very rainy early November visit to the Valley, there was a bit of brief clearing as I stopped to photograph this scene. (Actually, that was true this time – I had stopped here earlier during the weekend, contemplated carting my camera equipment into the meadow during the rain, and simply stayed in the car.)

Update: Some people asked about the equipment used for this photograph. It was photographed with a Canon 5D full frame DSLR using the excellent ultra wide EF 17-40mm zoom at the wide end of its range. A small aperture helped produce relatively deep depth of field. One complexity in this photograph was the extreme dynamic range between the shadows among the foreground plants and the sunlit clouds above. Two exposures were combined to deal with this, one exposed for the sky and the other for the shaded areas.

keywords: el capitan, meadow, autumn, fall, season, color, yellow, gold, brown, orange, oak, tree, leaf, leaves, sky, clouds, yosemite, valley, national park, california, usa, scenic, landscape, travel, stock, sierra, nevada, mountains

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Sierra Nevada, Photographs: Yosemite

Merced River Fall Color, El Capitan Bridge

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Merced River Fall Color, El Capitan Bridge

Merced River Fall Color, El Capitan Bridge. Yosemite Valley, California. November 1, 2008. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Fall color along the banks of the Merced River at the El Capitan Bridge, Yosemite Valley.

This is a second photograph that I made of this scene last weekend. (I posted the other one here a few days ago.) The first major winter storm of the season was just coming in, and it had already rained enough to cause the Merced River to begin to rise – which explains the debris floating on the surface in this photo.

I decided to work this scene with prime lenses rather than my zooms, so I made the previous photograph using the somewhat wider view of my 35mm lens and made this one using a 50mm prime. Frankly, I’m still going back and forth on which I like best. I like the way that this tighter crop fills the frame with the fall colors, but I like the composition of the wider view, too.

keywords: fall, autumn, color, foliage, leaves, gold, yellow, green, tree, oak, leaves, plants, nature, water, merced, river, bend, el capitan, meadow, bridge, mountain, cliff, face, reflection, yosemite, valley, national park, seaon, fog, cloud, california, usa, log, landscape, scenic, travel, stock

Photographs: Sierra Nevada, Photographs: Yosemite

Yosemite Falls and Mist, Autumn

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Yosemite Falls and Mist, Autumn

Yosemite Falls and Mist, Autumn. Yosemite Valley, California. November 2, 2008. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Yosemite Falls in mist following an autumn rain storm.

In almost every way last weekend was a special one for photographers in Yosemite Valley. Not only were the fall colors intensified by the rain, but the good sized storm restarted creeks, rivers, and waterfalls that in many cases had gone more or less dormant for the season. When I arrived on Saturday morning there was just a trickle of water coming over Yosemite Falls. But that afternoon the flow was approaching typical early summer levels, and many small seasonal falls had come to life all over the valley – water was running everywhere.

When I stopped in this meadow to admire Yosemite Falls I first only thought of photographing the interesting nearly leafless trees near the Merced River – partly because I usually don’t bother to photograph the view of the falls from this spot and partly because the upper fall was obscured by thick fog anyway. But soon it became apparent that the fog was in motion and the sun was occasionally getting through and striking the cliff faces around and below the fall. I started to think something special might happen and in the end I spend a good hour in this spot waiting for the right combination of light and fog.

keywords: yosemite, falls, valley, national park, waterfall, mist, fog, cloud, sky, ridge, cliff, mountain, forest, grove, tree, meadow, grass, autumn, season, california, usa, landscape, scenic, travel, stock, trunk, branch, sierra, nevada

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Sierra Nevada, Photographs: Yosemite

Tree and Cliff, Yosemite Valley

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Tree and Cliff, Yosemite Valley

Tree and Cliff, Yosemite Valley. Yosemite National Park, California. November 2, 2008. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A lone tree growing against a cliff face in Yosemite Valley near the Ahwahnee Hotel.

I often walk along the north wall of the Valley between Yosemite Village and the Ahwahnee looking for interesting rocks, trees and plants, or seasonal waterfalls – especially in fall and spring. This time I had been shooting an oak tree against this section of the lower cliff when I spotted this less colorful tree nearby and, on a whim, decided to shoot a few frames. (The conditions were "interesting." It rained all weekend and was sprinkling as I made this photograph.)

keywords: tree, fir, cliff, rock, crack, root, rock, lichen, leaves, green, brown, trunk, rain, wet, ahwahnee, hotel, yosemite, valley, national park, scenic, landscape, nature, travel, fall, autumn, california, usa, stock