Tag Archives: conifers

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

Drifting Clouds, Eastern Escarpment

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Drifting Clouds, Eastern Escarpment
“Drifting Clouds, Eastern Escarpment” — Clouds drift across the rugged slopes of the eastern escarpment of the Sierra Nevada.

If my memory is correct, I made this photograph as I started my long drive back to the Bay Area from the Eastern Sierra. My typical final day over there starts early with some photography at “one last spot,” after which I pack up and get on the road. But almost invariably I spot some distraction during the drive and end up pulling out the photography equipment along the way.

There is a lot of seasonal autumn stuff in this photograph if you know what to look for. Some is obvious, like the golden-brown grasses and high desert plants in the foreground. Some is a bit harder to spot, including the aspen groves on the lower slopes where the high desert meets the first conifers. Those soft, drifting clouds are another hint – they can happen at any time, but at this time of day they are much less common in the summer. Finally, way up on the high ridge there is a dusting of snow from an autumn storm.

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

Aspens and Conifers, Autumn

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Aspens and Conifers, Autumn
“Aspens and Conifers, Autumn” — A small stand of conifers surrounded by scrub aspen in autumn colors, Eastern Sierra Nevada.

In our search for the biggest, most spectacular aspen trees and the biggest and most expansive groves, we sometimes overlook these smaller “scrub aspen” trees. At least I do. But often they are just as colorful as the bigger trees, and they can be quite fascinating when draped across the right kinds of terrain. Their color is every bit as vibrant as that of the bigger trees, and sometimes they are the earliest to turn fall colors. I have even photographed them in September, the month before the main October peak of color.

The trees in this photograph might not be all that impressive up close. They are, after all, quite small — probably no taller than you are. But from a distance they form a more unified subject, a sort of blanket of color lying across this gentle landscape and surrounding a small group of conifers in early evening light.

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: Articles, Sales and Licensing, my Sierra Nevada Fall Color book, Contact Info.

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Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Northern California

Forest, Fog, Soft Light

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Forest, Fog, Soft Light
“Forest, Fog, Soft Light” — Soft morning light filtered through coastal fog on a forested hillside near the California coast.

It isn’t news that California and the West have been suffering under an extreme and long-lasting heat wave. Here in the San Francisco Bay Area it has been bad — though clearly it is much worse in other locations. This week I finally had enough, and I drove over the hills to the coast early in the morning to seek out fog. I found it! In fact, it was so thick on the coast (where the temperature was a blessed 55 degrees) that it interfered with my intended photography. So I followed side roads that took me inland to the edge of the fog, where soft light was starting to illuminate the landscape.

By most measures, this is a rather nondescript location. (I actually parked in from of a CalFire Station.) But across the small valley, trees led up the hillside, catching the soft light that was just barely penetrating the fog. There’s an additional detail here: A large wildfire swept through a few years back, denuding the landscape in many places. These trees at the bottom of the valley were spared, but you can see skeleton of dead trees on top of the ridge.

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: Articles, Sales and Licensing, my Sierra Nevada Fall Color book, Contact Info.

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

Tall Trees and Monolith, Morning Light

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Tall Trees and Monolith, Morning Light
El Capitan beyond tall trees in morning lilght, Yosemite Valley.

Tall Trees and Monolith, Morning Light. © Copyright 2023 G Dan Mitchell.

El Capitan beyond tall trees in morning lilght, Yosemite Valley.

This in alternate version of a photograph of this scene that I shared earlier. It was the first subject I photographed on a very long day when I arose before 3:00AM, drove from the San Francisco Bay Area to Yosemite, photographed all day, and drove back at night, arriving home after midnight. After nearly four hours of driving I entered the Valley and stopped here, where the view opens up for the first time. At this early hour it was still quiet and the morning light was slanting through the thin haze between me and El Capitan.

You might wonder, “Why two versions of the same subject?” A complete answer would take more than a paragraph, but here are a few quick thoughts. Sometimes someone needs the photograph in a particular format, so in cases where the subject can work two ways I make portrait and landscaper orientation versions. Sometimes I just want to see how to make the subject “work” both ways… and then I may end up liking both options!

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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