Tag Archives: dogwood

Photographs: Sierra Nevada, Photographs: Yosemite

Spring Forest

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Spring Forest
Dogwood trees begin to leaf out in a dense Yosemite Valley forest

Spring Forest. © Copyright 2018 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Dogwood trees begin to leaf out in a dense Yosemite Valley forest

Following a string of wintry photographs from Yosemite, today’s photograph reflects the early signs of spring. I made the photograph on one if this year’s visits, and the visit that most clearly demonstrated the wild variations in conditions that can occur during this transitional season. A day before I had photographed new snow, including an actual snow storm on the first day of my visit. Now, only a short time later, I found myself making photographs that included no obvious signs of winter and quite a few signs of spring!

The very dense section of forest is not the most typical sight in much of the Sierra, where forests are often more dry and open — especially so where natural effects of fire have periodically cleared out the undergrowth. Here a mostly-conifer forest is interrupted by lots of dogwood trees, and on the day I was there the dogwoods were just barely starting to show their first spring buds, with a few of them starting to open into leaves. It was a bit later in the morning, so gently backlight was filtering down through the trees.

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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” is available from Heyday Books and Amazon.
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Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Sierra Nevada, Photographs: Yosemite

Dogwood Blossoms, Dark Forest

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Dogwood Blossoms, Dark Forest
Blossoming dogwoods in dark, dense forest, Yosemite Valley

Dogwood Blossoms, Dark Forest. © Copyright 2018 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Blossoming dogwoods in dark, dense forest, Yosemite Valley

On one morning during my recent sojourn to photograph spring subjects in Yosemite Valley I had extraordinary lighting and atmospheric conditions. The morning produced a number of photographs that have been and will be shared here. They make me think of “channeling Bierstadt” — with effects of clouds and haze and light combined with dramatic ridges and cliffs. This is not one of those photographs. In fact, this image is inserted here to break up the flow of those others…

The timing and nature of some spring events in Yosemite Valley is variable — the amount of snow in the high country and when it melts out, for example, determine the timing and character of river and waterfall flows. Other events hold to a pretty consistent schedule from year to year, though climate change is edging some of these in new directions. One of the fairly consistent events is the arrival of dogwood blooms in the Valley and then in higher locations nearby. When I visited two weeks ago I saw the first buds on these trees and only a few tiny, green blooms. A week later there were many more blooms, and some trees were nearly full of them. I photographed this forest scene, with a primary tree full of blooms and other more distant blooms seen less vividly in the darker forest, one evening after the direct sun had left this spot.

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 and Amazon.
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Photographs: Fall, Photographs: Fall Color, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Sierra Nevada, Photographs: Yosemite

Dogwood and Granite, Autumn

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Dogwood and Granite, Autumn
A small dogwood tree with autumn colors against the face of a granite boulder

Dogwood and Granite, Autumn. Yosemite Valley, California. October 21, 2017. © Copyright 2017 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A small dogwood tree with autumn colors against the face of a granite boulder

I’m certainly not the only photographer in Yosemite Valley to be intrigued by the juxtaposition of (near) permanent granite and impermanent seasonal subjects, but how can anyone resist? Such opportunities are everywhere, given that the valley is ringed by granite cliffs and filled with large reminders that chunks of these cliffs do periodically break loose and fall into the valley below. We often seem surprised with the news of a rock slide in the Valley, but even a little familiarity with the place makes it obvious that these are the rule and not the exception. Giant rock piles sit at the bases of cliffs. Recent slides are visible. And almost everywhere in the Valley, often surprisingly far from the cliffs, there are gigantic boulders that could only have arrived there from one source.

I happened upon this yellow autumn dogwood and its boulder while driving along one of the valley roads. Yes, that is almost an embarrassing admission — though most of my photographs of this type come while hiking. It was one of those moments when I catch a glimpse of something out of the corner of my eye, immediately pull over (from driving or hiking) and see if I can find a photograph in it. Since I’ve already admitted to finding this photograph while driving, how about another admission? The biggest challenge of making this photograph? Waiting for the leaves to stop swinging back and forth in the breeze created by passing cars!

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 and Amazon.
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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: Sierra Nevada, Photographs: Yosemite

Forest, Morning, Autumn Color

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Forest, Morning, Autumn Color
Early morning autumn colors in the underbrush of a Yosemite forest.

Forest, Morning, Autumn Color. October 22, 2017. Yosemite National Park, California. © Copyright 2017 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Early morning autumn colors in the underbrush of a Yosemite forest.

I like to visit Yosemite National Park every year around Halloween, when fall colors often peak in Yosemite Valley — including oaks, dogwood, cottonwood, big leaf maple, and more. This year I went a bit earlier — slightly more than a week before the end of October — since I wanted to drop in on a gallery opening reception in Oakhurst, for the last hurrah of the 2017 Yosemite Renaissance exhibit, which includes one of my photographs. I went up on the day of the opening, starting in Yosemite Valley. I spent the day photographing, but also marveling at the astoundingly huge number of people who were crowding the place. I try to avoid The Valley in the summer, especially on weekends, but I figured that October wouldn’t be so bad. I was wrong! In any case, by going away from the most popular places and a few other strategies, I was able to find some relative solitude.

I stayed in Oakhurst than night and then got up well before dawn the next morning. My loose plan was to head toward Glacier Point for sunrise, but I was sidetracked along the way — first by these fall colors and later by the opportunity to photograph a forest covered with wildfire smoke. Regarding that color, I already knew that there can be a lot of beautiful color along the road between Oakhurst and the Valley, and that it can be especially beautiful very early in the morning, when there are few people and the direct sunlight has still not arrived. I found this spot that I had scoped out the previous day, and I paused for some photography. Subjects like this are about as far from “iconic” as one can be, but they often evoke deeper associations with the feelings of such places than photographs of another popular mountain. As I made this photograph it was quiet, still, and cold, and the pre-dawn light was filtering down into the darkened forest. The colorful underbrush was the first thing I saw, but soon I realized the quiet beauty of the tall trees in this burned-over area as they marched up the hill toward the 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 and Amazon.
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All media © Copyright G Dan Mitchell and others as indicated. Any use requires advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.