Tag Archives: dense

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Sierra Nevada

Dense Stand of Bare Aspens

October 25, 2013 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

A dense stand of nearly bare aspen trees, eastern Sierra Nevada

Those who photograph the eastern Sierra fall aspen color over a period years begin to recognize certain patterns which, in retrospect, are probably somewhat obvious. The color transition begins very close to the same time each year, near the end of September, though there are variations that are probably caused by annual differences in the climate. The first trees to change are found at higher elevations, and sometimes a few transitional leaves can be spotted even in mid-September. Once the change begins it works its way down in elevation, with the peak color occurring between the first week of October and perhaps through the third week in a typical year. If you look for color early, you start high. If you visit later, you look low.

This year the color change seemed to begin a bit early, probably due to a sequence of two drought years in the Sierra. By the time we arrived in the mountains in the second week of the month, most of the high elevation trees had completely lost their leaves, the mid-level color was at its peak, and the low elevation trees were more colorful than in a typical year. Even though we knew that the higher trees were mostly spent, we did head high up into some canyons to see the bare aspen trunks. In a few spots, such as this narrow stand of trees that grows in a valley along a creek, there were still a few golden leaves among the otherwise bare trunks.

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Photographs: Coastal Redwoods, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Northern California

Redwood Creek

September 19, 2013 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Redwood creek flows though lush forest at Muir Woods National Monument, California

This was more or less the first photograph I made on this August early morning visit to Muir Woods National Monument, and its main redwood groves. I had arrived very early – well before the park opened and other visitors arrived – and I was almost all alone as the first morning light begin to filter down through trees into this valley.

The photograph was made at a rather prosaic location, the first footbridge on the main “nature trail” though the popular monument. However, being here so early, I had the rare opportunity to set my tripod up on the bridge without having to worry about inconveniencing other visitors (there weren’t any!) or waiting for the bridge to stop vibrating as hordes of people walked across. And, yes, that is an issue here, since when I shoot at low ISOs and small apertures I often end up with exposure times measured in seconds when shooting in the deep shade of the redwood forest. One of the most challenging things when shooting in this lush environment, at least for me, is to try to tease a coherence composition out of scenes that often include a ton of detail. This is certainly one of those scenes, but I think that the curving trees, the downward arc of branches on the left, the foreground stream, and perhaps a sense of depth creating by further trees in brighter light might make this work.

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Pacific Northwest

Olympic Peninsula Forest

August 23, 2013 G Dan Mitchell 1 Comment

Sunlight filters through dense forest in Olympic National Park, Washington

During mid-August we traveled to the Seattle area – not primarily for photography but mainly to see the Seattle Opera production of Richard Wagner’s Ring Cycle. The Seattle Ring is sometimes referred to as the “Green Ring,” largely because the production design draws heavily on the natural world of the Pacific Northwest, and especially on the forests. Even when photography is not the primary focus, it is never too far away, so on a day when there were no performances we decided to take the ferry across Puget Sound to the Olympic Peninsula and see what we could find. We left the Seattle area in heavy fog – the subject of at least one photograph that I’ll post later on – but when we got across the water it was relatively clear. That was a bit surprising since I’ve had seem some pretty cloudy and rainy weather out there in the past, including one memorable trip to Hurricane Ridge when we arrived to find visibility that must have approached, oh, about fifty feet.

One of my brothers, also a photographer, lives in the area and after seeing the positive weather forecast he had suggested that we start at Sol Duc Falls. In actually turned out that the weather was perhaps a bit too nice, as this heavily forested area ended up exhibiting that deadly combination of bright light beams coming through the trees and deep shadows down below, an effect sometimes called “pizza light.” It is about the most difficult thing to photograph, as the dynamic range of the scenes is just far too large for cameras. We hiked to the falls, a short and pleasant hike, and arrived to find that the base of the fall, which is in a deep gorge, was in dark shade while brilliant direct sunlight hit the top of the water. I decided to not try to photograph this – “been there, done that!” – and instead see what I could find in the surrounding forest itself. The light issue remained here, too, but I noticed that a few puffy clouds were blowing around and I figured that I could set up the shot and wait for the nice soft light to arrive in the shadow of one of the clouds. This photograph was made in exactly those conditions – a passing cloud momentarily obscured and softened the light. I think that seeing the beautiful forest-inspired set of Seattle’s Ring had put me in a frame of mind to find and photograph this sort of thing, and I feel like this photograph reflects that connection.

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Northern California

Point Reyes Forest

August 18, 2013 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Morning light in a pine forest at Point Reyes National Seashore

As I have visited Point Reyes over a period of years, I have often returned to the same familiar places – the “Point” and the lighthouse area, Limantour Beach, the area where the tule elk congregate, and a few other spots. These are areas of obvious photographic interest, but eventually I want to get to know a place better and to find other subjects. This year I’ve done a bit more of that – hiking some trails around Drakes Bay and Limantour for example, and trying to see the beauty in the pasture lands leading out toward the Point.

On many of the earlier visits I had passed by the turn off to Mount Vision Road without stopping, as I was often intent on getting to some other specific spot. Earlier this year, on a momentary whim, I finally turned left and headed up this route, not having much of any idea of what I would find. At first the road winds steeply up forested slopes, eventually emerging into more open country that affords views out toward Drakes Bay and the Pacific Ocean. (I have some ideas for photographs from up here, but so far the atmospheric conditions haven’t quite cooperated.) On the last visit, I looked a bit more closely at the dense forest growing along this road, and I stopped at one point to photograph this thick area of backlit trees.

G Dan Mitchell Photography

Tag Archives: dense

Dense Stand of Bare Aspens

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Redwood Creek

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Olympic Peninsula Forest

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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.