Tag Archives: creek

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

Aspens, High Desert Valley

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Aspens, High Desert Valley
Autumn aspen trees line a creek through a high desert canyon, Eastern Sierra Nevada.

Aspens, High Desert Valley. © Copyright 2022 G Dan Mitchell.

Autumn aspen trees line a creek through a high desert canyon, Eastern Sierra Nevada.

Heading across the Sierra early in the third week of October, I wasn’t certain what kind of aspen color I would encounter. There’s always some color at this point in the season, but in many years it has been diminished by wind and passing early weather fronts. But it seemed that these influences were muted this year, and as I approached Sonora Pass I was encouraged by seeing much more color than I expected. I turned south after crossing the pass I headed south where the forests of the Eastern Sierra begins to meet the high desert sage country. As I passed this small valley — where I had not really paid attention to the color potential in the past — I caught a flash of bright color below. I quickly turned around and backtracked to locate a better camera position.

Getting just the right conditions for these trees that grow along shallow canyons like this one is tricky, especially on the eastern slopes of the Sierra. Typical daytime light is often quite harsh, though that diminishes a bit with autumn’s lowering sun angles. But this time I got lucky, and broken clouds created patterns of light and shadow on the sage-covered hills. I set up and waited for the light to show up in the right places, and eventually it lit up the trees in the Vally and produced alternating light and dark patterns in the hills and mountains beyond.

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: New England

Leaves, Boulders in the Stream

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Leaves, Boulders in the Stream
Autumn leaves lie on builders in the middle of a White Mountains forest stream.

Leaves, Boulders in the Stream. © Copyright 2022 G Dan Mitchell.

Autumn leaves lie on builders in the middle of a White Mountains forest stream.

After we stopped here to photograph a couple of lonely creeks passing though hardwood forest along a remote backroad I looked around for smaller subjects within the larger scene that had originally convinced me to stop. I had been looking at the forest as a whole, set off by the stream following a path bending beneath the canopy of trees. Eventually I thought to look more or less at my feet, where I noticed fallen leaves on boulders around which the creeks flowed.

Photographing these dense forest scenes in the Northeast can be something of a challenge. I’m used to more open forests that I see on the West Coast, where the light shines in between the trees, and the view extends some distance. In New England the trees are smaller and grow more densely, and it is often difficult to see more than a few feet into the woods, and even more difficult to find a view that without a trunk, branch, or stick intruding into the frame. All of this is by way of saying that it was not at all easy to isolate this little scene!

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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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: New England

Autumn Forest and Creek

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Autumn Forest and Creek
A creek flows beneath autumn trees in the White Mountains of New Hampshire

Autumn Forest and Creek. © Copyright 2022 G Dan Mitchell.

A creek flows beneath autumn trees in the White Mountains of New Hampshire

This is a photograph of another branch of the creek that was featured in a recent photograph. The creek in the previous photograph flowed under a bridge to join the creek seen here. Both flowed down gentle rocky sloped though a quiet hardwood forest that was perhaps just past the prime color. On a day when crowds were visiting the more famous sites in this mountain range, it was pleasant to stop here in the still quiet for a while.

People from the Northeast who have me advice on this trip recommended several thing. Some had to do with timing, some with the typical transitions of the color. Others were about locations — and as a first-time visitor to this area I needed that advice. In addition to pointing out some of the must-see locations, almost everyone also said to get off the main roads and poke around some of the backroads, especially the smaller gravel routes. This was one of those, a road that we followed on a whim — and we ended up off the beaten path in places that are not as frequently visited.

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.

Blog | About | Twitter | Flickr | Facebook | Email

Links to Articles, Sales and Licensing, my Sierra Nevada Fall Color book, Contact Information.

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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: New England

White Mountains Creek, Autumn

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White Mountains Creek, Autumn
“White Mountains Creek, Autumn” — Autumn trees along a boulder-strewn White Mountains creek littered with fallen leaves.

This photograph exists because we eventually thought to move beyond the lovely but iconic area we first photographed to explore a bit. We headed away from where we were staying, driving north and east, heading toward some locations that seemed interesting for little more than their names on a map. As we drove along one two-lane highway, for no reason that I can now recall I turned off onto a smaller road that took us through some lovely flatlands. A mile or two up that road a gravel road branched off — it had an intriguing name so I took it. It entered thick forest and began to rise, often following small creeks. We stopped where the roadway crossed one of them, got the cameras out, and began photographing this lovely and lonely area.

I was encouraged not only because this turned out to be a nice locations but also because it marked a transition from taking in the icons (often a great way to begin) to exploring, poking around, and discovering subtle little treasures that one usually won’t find on the main roads. Taking this detour also confirmed some advice I had been given by photographers with more experience in this region: explore those little side roads!

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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” (Heyday Books) is available directly from him. Blog | Bluesky | Mastodon | Substack Notes | Flickr | Email

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