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Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Sierra Nevada

Brown Aspen Leaves

October 19, 2010 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Closeup of a group of brown autumn aspen leaves against a background of yellow leaves.

While I like the brilliantly colored yellow, orange, red, lime green, and golden fall aspen leaves, this color isn’t the only thing that appeals to me about these trees. I enjoy photographing their trunks, too – sometimes when most or all of the leaves are gone. I’m also interested in photographing the brown and sometimes black leaves that seem to appear after a freeze. I found this grove along a slope not far from Mammoth Lakes, and I spent some time wandering up a hillside among the trees in the middle of the day. Although this is not typically the best time for photographing the intense aspen colors, by working under a canopy of leaves and by looking for a few backlit leaves I managed to find a few shots that work. This group of brown leaves ended up being almost colorful because light filtering through the overhead trees and leaves created backlight that was a bit softer and diffused that the “normal” midday light.

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

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

Autumn Light, Yosemite High Country

September 26, 2010 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Late season evening light on a trees and a small meadow near Upper Young Lake, Yosemite National Park, California.

After hiking up from Lower Young Lake and arriving at the upper lake well before the good light I wandered off along the southwest shoreline of Upper Young Lake to scope out photographic subjects for the “good light” period that was going to start very soon. First I walked along the shoreline where I found several prospective shots of a rock outcropping with trees at the end of a peninsula that curves into the lake. I kept walking along the shoreline and found a few more interesting formations with the backdrop of the more distant hillside leading to the ridge that runs along the edge of the basin. Eventually I worked my way a bit beyond the lake to a point where small, grassy gullies began to drop toward the steeper terrain leading to the next lake down the valley, and here I found some interesting backlit trees and boulders, again with the hazy image of the more distance hillside beyond.

This photograph was made pointing almost directly toward the lowering sun – it is actually just a bit to the right and behind some rocks and trees that are out of the frame. Because it was so close to the end of the day – and because of the late time of the season – the light soon became very saturated and warm colored. To me this scene says “end of summer” in the high country – while it is still comfortable and the winters snowfall is still weeks in the future, there is a time in September when the days shorter, the grasses turn golden brown, the aspen color is only weeks away, and most of the tourists have left when the changing of the seasons can no longer be denied.

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

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

Trees and Granite Slabs, Morning

August 4, 2010 G Dan Mitchell 2 Comments

Morning backlight catches a group of lodgepole pine trees growing on a series of granite slabs in the high country of Yosemite National Park.

This photograph carries with it what almost amounts to a bit of embarrassment – of the “how did I not see this” category. I have driven past this spot literally scores of times, more likely hundreds of times, and not seen the possible photograph here. In fairness, it was not always at this particular time of day, and it is in a location where it would be natural to be distracted by other visual interests.

In any case, this series of granite slabs on a low dome-like feature is fairly typical of the Sierra high county of Yosemite, and I am always attracted to the combination of the widely separated trees and the glacially-formed granite slabs. Here I was also attracted to the way the main trees were set off against the muted tones of the distant ridge which is still in shadow at the early hour of the day.

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

keywords: lodgepole, tamarack, pine, granite, dome, slab, benches, morning, light, haze, back, glacial, polish, ledge, forest, yosemite, national, park, california, usa, north america, high, sierra, nevada, mountain, range, tioga, pass, road, tenaya, lake, highway, 120, landscape, nature, scenic, travel, stock

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

Ice, Water, and Reflected Clouds

July 5, 2010 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Black and white photograph of clouds reflected in the surface of shoreline water on a frozen alpine lake, Yosemite National Park.

Once I discovered the reflections of evening clouds in this narrow band of water between the ice and the shoreline of this frozen lake, I managed to make several exposures as the clouds continuously moved past. (I earlier posted a color photograph taken at about the same time.) As I went through the group of images I wanted to try one in a black and white rendition and this one seemed like the of the bunch for that interpretation.

Since the “abstractness” of this scene is what drew me to it, I decided to run with that idea in this version. Although it may not be apparent, this interpretation is the result of more post-processing work than was the case with the similar color photograph.

G Dan Mitchell Photography

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