Tag Archives: branch

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Sierra Nevada

Three Autumn Aspens, Cliff Face

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Three Autumn Aspens, Cliff Face

Three Autumn Aspens, Cliff Face. Sierra Nevada, California. October 3, 2009. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Three autumn aspens with colorful leaves in front of a granite cliff face near South Lake, Sierra Nevada, California.

These trees grow along a rocky area on the road to South Lake just before Parcher’s Resort, where the road ascends past a steep rocky section with some low cliffs. I’ve long been intrigued by the rocks here and when I drove past earlier this day – in somewhat harsh light – I thought it would interesting to come back later in the day when this area was in shade and the light was softer and more diffused. When the aspens change color this spot turns out to be a veritable shooting gallery of rocks and trees, with many interesting juxtapostions of these two elements.

The only real technical challenge – aside from staying out the way of passing cars! – was dealing with the combination of low light in the shaded area and very windy conditions on this day. A significant early-season storm was making its way into the Sierra and the winds were really ramping up in the afternoon and evening. Normally I might try to deal with this by using a faster shutter speed, but shooting in the low-light shade made this less of an option, and I ended up standing around a lot waiting for brief and infrequent lulls in the wind. I also decided to accept a bit of motion blur from the leaves – in the end I don’t think that is necessarily a problem.

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

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keywords: three, aspen, tree, leaf, branch, trunk, slender, young, thin, red, yellow, gold, green, foliage, flora, rock, boulder, lichen, season, fall, autumn, south, lake, fork, bishop, creek, california, usa, sierra, nevada, mountain, range, scenic, travel, landscape, nature, stock

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Sierra Nevada

Dense Aspen Grove, Autumn

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Dense Aspen Grove, Autumn

Dense Aspen Grove, Autumn. Sierra Nevada, California. October 3, 2009. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Small trees grow closely together in a dens aspen grove near South Lake, Sierra Nevada, Callifornia.

I have photographed this dense stand of Sierra Nevada aspens below South Lake in the past. I first found it a year ago while exploring a short gravel road off to the side of the main road to South Lake, and I’ve come to like photographing it in late afternoon, evening, or cloudy light – all of which diffuse and soften the light, allowing more visibility into the center of the very dense trees.

This year the leaf color was not nearly as intense in this grove as it was when I visited last year, though here I think the complexity of the branch patterns shows up better. (Though that will be almost impossible to see in this small jpg version – I’ve tested for a print at 10″ x 30″ size where the detail is more clearly seen.)

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

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keywords: dense, close, small, grove, forest, stand, aspen, trunk, branch, stem, color, autumn, fall, season, yellow, gold, red, orange, green, grass, plant, foliage, flora, south, lake, highway, 168, bishop, creek, fork, plant, flora, foliage, bare, pattern, thick, white, sierra, nevada, mountain, range, california, usa, landscape, scenic, travel, stock

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

Corn Lily Leaves, Early Fall

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Corn Lily Leaves, Early Fall

Corn Lily Leaves, Early Fall. Cathedral Lakes, Yosemite National Park, California. September 26, 2009. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Dry corn lily leaves and plants as Sierra Nevada summer plants go dormant at the beginning of the fall season – Upper Cathedral Lake, Yosemite National Park, California.

On the first evening of my brief two-day visit to Upper Cathedral Lake, I wandered up a narrow ravine near where we were camped, hoping to eventually get up high for some photographs of dome-like formations and the lake and Cathedral Peak beyond. But almost immediately I became distracted by much more intimate subjects closer at hand in the shaded and diffused light of the gully. Near the top of a narrow section I came across a large bed of old corn lily plants that had reached the end of their short summer-season lives and had fallen over in interesting and complex patterns.

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

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

Granite Cliff and Ledge – Upper Cathedral Lake

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Granite Cliff and Ledge - Upper Cathedral Lake

Granite Cliff and Ledge – Upper Cathedral Lake. Yosemite National Park, California. September 26, 2009. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Fractured cliff face and bench with colorful lichens and trees near Upper Cathedral Lake, Yosemite National Park, California.

During the last week of September I managed to squeeze in a very shot pack trip to Upper Cathedral Lakes, just out of Tuolumne Meadows in the Yosemite National Park high country, where I met five outstanding Yosemite photographers who were there for a week of shooting. Although I was only at the lake for perhaps 24 hours, I tried to make the best of it and I shot early and late all around the upper lake.

On the first evening I decided to explore some rocky gullies ascending above the lake on the side opposite from Cathedral Peak. The first gully I followed was very narrow and quite deep – I had to climb a good distance to finally find a spot where I could climb out of it onto the glacier-smoother dome-like formations above the lake. This photograph shows a tremendously fractured section of the wall of this gully, with the bases of a few trees included for scale.

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

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keywords: cliff, granite, rock, face, crack, fracture, pattern, bench, ledge, lichen, brown, green, black, gray, grass, tree, pine, trunk, branch, rock, boulder, snag, root, stain, cathedral, lake, upper, yosemite, national, park, california, usa, landscape, scenic, nature, wilderness, hike, backpack, camp, tuolumne, meadows, geology, stock