Mountainsides of autumn aspen color rise toward the Sierra Nevada crest
I had a whole bunch of other photographs (late-summer in the Sierra, European travel/street photography) queued up to post right about now… but fall color is currently happening, and it seems better to post the timely stuff. With that in mind, here is another Sierra Nevada fall color photograph, with others to come shortly. By the way, if you are wondering when to go to the Eastern Sierra to see (mostly) aspen fall color, the core season generally includes about the first three weeks of October, with the middle week often being the most reliable. So, as of today… there is still time!
This is probably a familiar scene to those who travel around the Sierra Nevada’s east side in October to search for aspen color. This valley and these peaks are in one of the more popular locations — though, in truth, you can find good aspen color up and down the east side of the range and in a few places west of the crest, too. I’m most often in this particular spot quite early in the day, but I made this photograph later in the afternoon, when backlight illuminated and highlighted the aspen colors, a few clouds cast moving shadows across the scene, and a gentle haze softened the details of the highest peaks.
A grove of autumn aspen trees descends to the shoreline of a reflecting lake
I’ll use today’s post for several purposes — the usual photograph shared with comments, plus some thoughts and observations about the Sierra Nevada autumn color season. The photograph comes from a well-known location in the Eastern Sierra. I was fortunate to visit on a day when the usual crowds weren’t there, and I had the place almost to myself! It probably helped that I arrived at an unusual time of day, taking advantage of some broken clouds that produced some special light on the river of aspen trees flowing down the hillside to the edge of this subalpine lake. Parts of the grove were past the proverbial prime, but in some ways I like seeing a few bare trees in the scene.
On this past week’s short trip to photograph Eastern Sierra Nevada fall color I thought a bit about what I’ve learned over the years regarding the timing of the annual transition. One thing that I finally have accepted is that it is more or less impossible (with some minor exceptions) to accurately predict the evolution of the color in a particular year. A second thing I’ve realized is that, despite year-to-year variations within the season, the overall color transition tends to take place on more or less the same schedule each year. In other words, leaving aside truly exceptional times such as year five of the recent five-year drought, things tend to start and end on about the same schedule each year — despite the annual initial “observations” about how the season is going to be an unusual one — beginning high and working down the mountains to lower elevations, with other local variations in the evolution. (I confess… I’ve made those predictions, too.)
While the start/end times of the fall color transition tend to be fairly consistent (for example, week two of October is almost always a good bet), there are sometimes variations within that time frame. Some are obvious. For example, a big, windy storm when there are lots of yellow leaves will blow down many of those leaves, and there will be a gap of a few more days before other leaves change color and take their place. Others are more mysterious. I noted a few of those mysteries this year. For example, in one location where I often find trees losing their leaves somewhat earlier than elsewhere, this year there were still some green trees! Yet, in other nearby locations trees that are often coming into form just a bit later… were in full color already!
What to do? My advice is still pretty much the same. Target a time around the end of the first week of October for your visit, expecting that the week starting then is likely to produce good color. Once on the scene, be alert for variations and be ready to change plans. If one area is still green, try going higher. If the trees you visit seem to be losing (or have already lost!) their leaves when you get there, try a lower elevation, a location with larger trees, or a deep east side canyon. And realize that it is almost unheard of for all the trees in an area to be at peak color simultaneously — you are far more likely to find some bare and some green trees mixed in with your trees in prime condition.
What about this year? Based on what I saw last week, this weekend (October 12, 13, 14) should be great in many places. In addition, given the number of purely green trees I saw in various locations, it should be quite possible to still find excellent color in another week.
A grove of colorful autumn aspen trees traces the path of a Sierra Nevada gully
Perhaps a more appropriate title could be “Another River of Aspens” — such features are ubiquitous in the Sierra and other locations, where aspens frequently are found along stream beds and can spread out as water might when they reach the lower and flatter elevations. As a result, the “streams” of trees can seem to flow in almost that same way that water might. This is a particularly obvious example, as the trees meander along the descending gully, spread out into a fan at its base, and then arrive at the shoreline of a lake. (The pattern also is similar to that of alluvial fans and even some forms seen below glaciers.)
We were at this location rather early on a fall morning. It is a place that is popular — a bit too popular these days — with photographers and others, but hard to resist if one is nearby for other purposes. We arrived before dawn and spent some time photographing in the cold, pre-sunrise light before we packed up and headed off to those “other purposes” nearby. This very early light is different from what we experience a bit later in the day. It can be quite blue in quality — often so much so that compensation is required during post processing — but the soft light can produce a more subtle effect with light getting into the shadows and revealing some of their details.
Bare aspen tree trunks and branches against a backdrop of a Sierra Nevada rock face
There are all kinds of ways to photograph aspens, and they can be photographed during virtually any season: winter trees with snow, spring trees with new leaves, summer trees surrounded by wildflowers and grasses, autumn colors, and this wonderful time when the bare trees stand out against the rest of the surrounding terrain. At this latter stage they can be photogenic on their own or they can be set off against backdrops of other trees, rocks, or the fallen leaves littering the ground.
These specific trees have gotten my attention in the past. They grow against a fractured granite backdrop, and they are in a location where I might go to photograph other fall subjects. So when I go to photograph those subjects, I often end up walking past this spot and pausing. While nearby trees still had a lot of colorful leaves, these smaller trees had already dropped almost all of theirs.
Photographer and visual opportunist. Daily photos since 2005, plus articles, reviews, news, and ideas.
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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 and Amazon.
