Tag Archives: conifer

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

Forest and Ferns

November 6, 2016 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

A bed of ferns leads to conifer trees, big leaf maples, and the cliffs of Yosemite Valley

The autumn ferns of the Sierra have fascinated me for some time, and I think of them as among the most interesting of the harbingers of fall. I recall years ago driving across the Sierra to get to the east side in October and finding the transformation of the forest floor that they bring to be fascinating, especially in the evening when they seem to almost glow among the dark trunks of trees. Autumn color in the Sierra is most certainly not just about aspens!

I photographed this bed of ferns going dormant in a small meadow in Yosemite Valley. I stopped at a popular place, but then crossed the road to walk away from that spot and spend some time wandering meadows and forest of conifers and oaks. In this slight clearing at the end of the conifers there was a remarkably lush growth of ferns around this fallen tree, with more trees and more autumn color beyond.

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

High Country Aspens

September 28, 2015 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

A row of autumn aspens in front of receding conifer forest and rising slopes near Sonora Pass on a Sierra Nevada fall evening

Although I’ve driven across Sonora Pass for years, I feel that I have perhaps neglected its photographic potential, perhaps because it is somewhat out of the way for me on many of my Sierra trips — the major Tahoe area routes are farther north, and my favorite trans-Sierra route further south is Tioga Pass through Yosemite. I have photographs from the base of the pass on the east side, but my collection of photographs from the highest reaches of the pass is very small. With this in mind, I decided to return from this trip to the eastern Sierra by way of this pass, and I timed the traverse for the late afternoon when I thought the light might be idea.

Although this pass is not quite as high as Tioga Pass, it has a much more alpine feeling. The road is very steep in places and frequently quite narrow as it twists and turns up and down and around trees and boulders. I recall once thinking many years ago that driving this pass is about as close to the feeling of hiking the high country as one can get on a road. There are a lot of aspens along this route, but in many places they are mixed in with the conifer forest, making them a bit more difficult of a photographic subject. Finally, perhaps a couple miles east of the pass, the terrain opened up to high forests and meadows and I found a few beautiful aspen groves standing apart.

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

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

Dogwood Thicket and Forest, Evening

September 9, 2013 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Blooming dogwoods among the conifer forest in evening light, Yosemite National Park

Among photographers and others who watch the seasons change in the Sierra, the spring blossoming of the Yosemite Valley dogwood trees is an important indicator that winter is over, spring is here, and summer cannot be far away. At the right time, in many locations in The Valley these flowers can bloom profusely, and this year’s bloom was exceptional. However, many who focus their visits on the brief (a week or two?) bloom in Yosemite Valley may overlook the beautiful though perhaps a bit different bloom that continues in the higher country.

I was in the Valley on this early May day for various reasons, but as evening approached I decided to drive up out of the Valley to a particular little tree-filled Valley where I often stop – in spring for the dogwood flowers and in fall for the autumn colors of these trees. I arrived during the hour before sunset when the late sunlight still shines over the top of a low ridge to the west and filters through the mixed forests to backlight the thickets of dogwood trees growing among the more typical forest trees of the area, and I spent the evening quietly looking and walking among the trees of this little section of forest.

(Note: This photograph was made in late spring, but it appears on my blog in early September… following the gigantic “Rim” fire in the vicinity of the northwest boundary of Yosemite National Park. From what I can tell from the fire maps on the Internet, there is a possibility that these trees are now gone, though I have not had a chance to check yet. They are/were on the west side of the road that formed one of the fire breaks, so I’m hopeful that they might have been saved. I’ll know soon.)

Text, photographs, and other media are © Copyright G Dan Mitchell (or others when indicated) and are 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

Mist and Curving Ridge, Yosemite Valley

November 27, 2010 G Dan Mitchell 2 Comments

Mist from an autumn storm flows across the crest of a curving ridge high on the walls of Yosemite Valley.

The mist from this late-October storm is flowing over the edge of a curving ridge high above the floor of Yosemite Valley, leaving just a hint of the higher, curving ridge above this pinnacle through the clouds at upper left. This photograph, like one I posted very recently, was made as I alternated my attention between the image of Upper Yosemite Fall alternately transitioning between filtered sun and obscuring clouds and small details of the closer Valley walls as seen in this image. From moment to moment there were many interesting combinations of light, cloud, trees, and rock… but they came and went quickly and almost without warning.

I usually post photographs here before printing them, and not all of the posted photographs necessarily get printed. This one is an exception in that I made the first print of it yesterday. I’m also happy to say that some very subtle details that are barely or not visible in this web jpg reproduction are there in the print, including some faint outlines of trees in the upper left portion of the frame and some details of the rocky face at lower right.

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.

G Dan Mitchell Photography

Tag Archives: conifer

Forest and Ferns

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High Country Aspens

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Dogwood Thicket and Forest, Evening

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

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