Tag Archives: cottonwood

Photographs: Desert, Photographs: The Southwest, Photographs: Utah

Cliff, Fall Color, Escalante River

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Cliff, Fall Color, Escalante River - Fall foliage of cottonwood and box elder trees at the base of a cliff along the Escalante River, Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument
Fall foliage of cottonwood and box elder trees at the base of a cliff along the Escalante River, Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument

Cliff, Fall Color, Escalante River. Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument, Utah. October 29, 2012. © Copyright 2012 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Fall foliage of cottonwood and box elder trees at the base of a cliff along the Escalante River, Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument

This portion of the Escalante River treated us in two very different ways during our late-October visit. Early in the trip, we were anxious to explore this section of the river, where fall colors of cottonwood and box elder trees and more were arriving and where the river continuously twists and turns among sandstone cliffs. In the morning we drove out to our trailhead, noticing two things about the weather – it was cold and there was a lot of the thing that no one wanted to mention but which we might refer to as “W”. (Hint, it moves the branches and leaves a lot!) Undeterred, we entered the canyon and encountered very beautiful conditions, especially when it came to autumn foliage color. However, the “morning breezes” turned into a midday gale, at times forcing us to stop moving as strong gusts momentarily pinned us down. Some clouds began to move overhead. Low light and screaming winds in a deep canyon make for challenging foliage photography, to say the least! By the time we finally left the canyon, it was trying to rain, and across the valley we could see snow falling on higher peaks.

With that first visit in mind, near the end of our trip we found ourselves with time to go back to this canyon. The “I’ve already been there” thoughts were overwhelmed by the “maybe this time we can actually make photographs” thoughts, and so we re-entered this location. On this morning, there was no “W” and it was a few degrees warmer. As we continued up the canyon, the colors were just as beautiful as before, with blown-down leaves having been replaced in many locations by leaves that had more recently changed colors. The light was gorgeous, and we shot almost continuously as we walked downstream, only turning around reluctantly when we ran out of time and energy, though we did get a bit further down-canyon this time. The scale of this photograph may be difficult to understand in this small web jpg, but the trees are good-sized cottonwoods at the base of a giant cliff of light-colored sandstone that towers overhead at a bend in the river.

G Dan Mitchell is a California photographer whose subjects include the Pacific coast, redwood forests, central California oak/grasslands, the Sierra Nevada, California deserts, urban landscapes, night photography, and more.
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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: The Southwest, Photographs: Utah

Cottonwood Trees and Sandstone Cliffs

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Cottonwood Trees and Sandstone Cliffs - Cottonwood trees in Capitol Gorge at the base of sandstone cliffs, Capitol Reef National Park
Cottonwood trees in Capitol Gorge at the base of sandstone cliffs, Capitol Reef National Park

Cottonwood Trees and Sandstone Cliffs. Capitol Reef National Park, Utah. October 7, 2012. © Copyright 2012 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Cottonwood trees in Capitol Gorge at the base of sandstone cliffs, Capitol Reef National Park.

Although we had passed through Capitol Reef National Park on our way to Moab earlier this year, I really was mostly unaware of the nature or extent of this park. On this trip we decided to spend some more substantial time here and investigate something more than just the highway that passes through it! Although this park still warrants a lot more exploration (especially in its northern section) we visited the popular west-side scenic areas and drove the long gravel road down the east side of the park, up the steep switchback road into the high country, and then followed the Burr Trail back down to Boulder.

This photograph was made in one of the more accessible places along the west side. Photographing cottonwoods was on my (rather long) list of things to do on this visit, and there are plenty of them in this park! I was a bit too early, for the most part, to find the brilliant yellow-gold autumn color, but the way that the tops of this group of trees lined up with the slanting angles of the huge sandstone layers and cliffs caught my attention, along with the colors intensified by the backlight.

G Dan Mitchell is a California photographer whose subjects include the Pacific coast, redwood forests, central California oak/grasslands, the Sierra Nevada, California deserts, urban landscapes, night photography, and more.
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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: The Southwest, Photographs: Utah

Escalante River, Early Fall

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Escalante River, Early Fall - Early fall colors begin to come to the trees lining the Escalante River, Utah.
Early fall colors begin to come to the trees lining the Escalante River, Utah.

Escalante River, Early Fall. Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument, Utah. October 6, 2012. © Copyright 2012 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Early fall colors begin to come to the trees lining the Escalante River, Utah.

If I have any regrets about this photograph, it might be that if I had been there a few days later the entire cottonwood-covered river bottom might have been the color of the leaves on the one brilliant foreground tree. But seriously, it was a stunningly beautiful scene. The trees here ranged from regular old green to quite brilliant yellow and gold, and the partly cloudy skies sent alternating cloud shadows and sunny breaks hurrying across the landscape. As I set up on this hill above the river valley, I would look back over my shoulder to spot the next break in the clouds, try to predict where and when it would cast its light, and then make several exposures as the light traversed the scene from near to far, first illuminating the foreground trees, then the red cliff faces, and finally the towers at the far end of the valley.

The terrain in this area is truly stunning. After dropping down a steep descent and traversing rolling waves of sandstone, the road makes a brief descent to the river bottom. It then begins to rise and is soon traveling along a length “hogback” with sheer drop-offs on both sides, and the river valley far below.

G Dan Mitchell is a California photographer whose subjects include the Pacific coast, redwood forests, central California oak/grasslands, the Sierra Nevada, California deserts, urban landscapes, night photography, and more.
Blog | About | Flickr | Twitter | Facebook | Google+ | 500px.com | LinkedIn | Email

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: The Southwest, Photographs: Utah

Spring Cottonwoods, Zion Canyon

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Spring Cottonwoods, Zion Canyon - New spring leaves appear on cottonwood trees along the Virgin River in Zion Canyon, Zion National Park.
New spring leaves appear on cottonwood trees along the Virgin River in Zion Canyon, Zion National Park.

Spring Cottonwoods, Zion Canyon. Zion National Park, Utah. April 3, 2012. © Copyright 2012 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

New spring leaves appear on cottonwood trees along the Virgin River in Zion Canyon, Zion National Park.

I encountered this scene a short distance up the trail from the Temple of Sinawava area in Zion National Park, in the area below the start of “the Narrows.” Here the canyon of the Virgin River becomes quite narrow, eventually narrowing so much that the river often spans its entire width. These young trees, which were just beginning to show their spring leaves, are in along a slightly wider section where the river curves, and just be flooded during times of high water. Beyond, the river and the canyon twist right, left, and then back to the right again between the steep sandstone walls.

I’m always intrigued by trying to photograph these scenes of very dense foliage in which the frame ends up filled with a huge amount of detail. It is a challenge to try to create anything like an effective composition out of this complexity, and I think it is even more difficult to make such photographs “work” in the small presentation necessary for sharing on the web.

G Dan Mitchell is a California photographer whose subjects include the Pacific coast, redwood forests, central California oak/grasslands, the Sierra Nevada, California deserts, urban landscapes, night photography, and more.
Blog | About | Flickr | Twitter | Facebook | Google+ | 500px.com | LinkedIn | Email

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.