Tag Archives: back light

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Northern California, Photographs: Sierra Nevada, Photographs: Yosemite

Trees and Haze, El Capitan

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Trees and Haze, El Capitan
Late-afternoon spring haze mutes the contours of El Capitan, standing beyond groups of Yosemite Valley trees.

Trees and Haze, El Capitan. © Copyright 2023 G Dan Mitchell.

Late-afternoon spring haze mutes the contours of El Capitan, standing beyond groups of Yosemite Valley trees.

Near the end of my one-day (one very long day!) visit to Yosemite Valley the week before the Memorial Day crowds arrive, I visited a few spots in the lower Valley that are familiar to me. I went to this location mainly to photograph a flooded meadow that is surrounded by trees and from which granite cliffs are visible. These trees were silhouetted against the base of El Capitan, whose form and textures were muted by afternoon haze.

Haze can be the photographer’s enemy or friend. It certainly interferes if you are looking for clear, detailed photographs of distant subjects. On the other hand, it can accentuate the distance between objects, mute distant details to bring attention to closer subjects, and lend a moody emotion to a scene.

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” is available from Heyday Books, Amazon, and directly from G Dan Mitchell.

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

Autumn Aspens, Rocky Ledge

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Autumn Aspens, Rocky Ledge
A line of aspen trees, with backlit peak color, on a rocky ledge, Eastern Sierra Nevada.

Autumn Aspens, Rocky Ledge. © Copyright 2022 G Dan Mitchell.

A line of aspen trees, with backlit peak color, on a rocky ledge, Eastern Sierra Nevada.

These trees defied one of my working assumptions about Eastern Sierra Nevada autumn aspen color, namely that the high-elevation clusters of smaller trees growing in challenging surroundings usually turn and then drop their leaves earlier in the season. I know that’s often true, because I have seen it for myself in many locations. But this year seemed different, and in places where I have seen bare trees before the middle of October there were quite colorful groves this time. This line of trees was up very high in very rocky terrain, yet it managed to produce enough color to glow like flame in the morning back-light.

This wasn’t the only location where I saw this surprising change. I’m pretty familiar with groves along the June Lakes Loop, including some that are well above the loop and only accessible in some relatively difficult ways. I have photographs of those trees from previous years, and they peaked and then dropped leaves early. Yet this year, as I drove that loop on the last day of my visit, at the end of the third week of October, the same trees were producing vibrant gold colors. All of this reminds me that while the trees tend to follow the same general schedule from year to year, each season has its own personality.

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” is available from Heyday Books, Amazon, and directly from G Dan Mitchell.

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Links to Articles, Sales and Licensing, my Sierra Nevada Fall Color book, Contact Information.

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Photographs: Death Valley, Photographs: Desert, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Southern California

Backlit Desert Hills, Morning

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Backlit Desert Hills, Morning
Early morning sun back lights rocky desert hills, Death Valley National Park.

Backlit Desert Hills, Morning. © Copyright 2022 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Early morning sun back lights rocky desert hills, Death Valley National Park.

Given the opportunity, I like to visit Death Valley twice each year — once during winter and again around the start of spring. While the spring visit brings the hope of seeing a brief wildflower bloom, winter is less crowded (and, yes, it can be crowded in this park) and feels more elemental. I’m just back from the winter visit, and I had the chance to both revisit some familiar places and push out the boundaries a bit by visiting locations that were new to me.

I was in a fairly remote part of the park on this morning, awake early to walk a mile or so to my intended subject. Due to the sun direction and geography, I didn’t need to start out in complete darkness… which inevitably meant that I was distracted by the landscape as I walked toward my primary goal. The sand-covered hills in this photograph are located at the end of a much taller ridge, and their extension into the large valley beyond places the tallest peaks in the early morning sunlight. More desert mountains rise in the distance beyond the wide valley.

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” is available from Heyday Books, Amazon, and directly from G Dan Mitchell.

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Links to Articles, Sales and Licensing, my Sierra Nevada Fall Color book, Contact Information.

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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

Autumn Color, Aspens and Brush

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Autumn Color, Aspens and Brush
Backlight on a high country brush and a small copse of aspens with fall colors.

Autumn Color, Aspens and Brush. © Copyright 2021 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Backlight on a high country brush and a small copse of aspens with fall colors.

There is a good chance that I’m approaching the end of this season’s fall color photographs — though there are still at least a couple in the pipeline. Given that in prior years have managed to hunt down a few remaining examples of autumn leaves in early January, well, there could are more! Here on the West Coast, by starting high in the Sierra in September and continuing into the lowlands as fall ends and winter begins, it is possible to experience a “fall” color season that lasts up to four months!

This scene comes from a location where the color transition begins near the beginning of this period. It is in the Eastern Sierra Nevada, at close to 8000′ elevation, where the semi-arid high desert terrain rises to meet the eastern escarpment of the range. Years ago I did not pay much attention to this zone, preferring instead to head straight to the high country. More recently, at least in part as a result of my fall color photography, I have become fascinated by this region. It is a complex zone, and the boundaries are affected by water, exposure, elevation, and soil conditions. The foreground brush is more typical of the high desert, while we usually tend to think of aspens as belonging to the near-alpine high country.

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” is available from Heyday Books, Amazon, and directly from G Dan Mitchell.

Blog | About | Flickr | Facebook | Email

Links to Articles, Sales and Licensing, my Sierra Nevada Fall Color book, Contact Information.

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