Tag Archives: early

Photographs: Fall, Photographs: Fall Color, Photographs: Nature

First Autumn Color

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First Autumn Color
Early season fall color comes to aspen-covered mountains east of the Sierra Nevada

First Autumn Color. © Copyright 2016 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Early season fall color comes to aspen-covered mountains east of the Sierra Nevada.

Sometimes heading away from the sure thing reveals wonderful surprises. Sometimes following up on previous explorations works, too. Occasionally the two align. A year to two earlier we had taken a long drive east of the Sierra Nevada on a fall day. We had been photographing autumn color on the east side of the range, and one morning we simply decided to try something different, so we went the opposite direction, ultimately ending up along the Nevada border. On a long, looping drive back toward the Sierra we drove down a long valley where we “discovered” a single, marvelous grove of aspens. We kept going, reaching a junction, and after exploring a bit more took a turn that headed back toward the area near Yosemite. Driving up a long, dry valley I looked west toward a range that stood between us and the Sierra and saw that there were aspens up high on its flanks.

On the trip when I made this photograph I really didn’t think I was likely to find aspens, and my plan was to head out here — again to the east of the Sierra — to do a bit of reconnaissance in preparation for returning a few weeks later during the normal peak of the fall color season. One thing led to another, and I ended up on some backroads passing through the very mountains that I had looked at on that previous visit, and much to my surprise there were already vast groves of aspens that had turned. To make this photograph I drove up to a rather high spot — 4WD was my friend on this little detour — from which I could look down at the forest and across to the highest peaks above them, past the still-green heart-shaped grove in the foreground.

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: Central California, Photographs: Nature

Pond And Early Morning Autumn Sky

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Pond And Early Morning Autumn Sky
A marshland pond reflects cloudy early morning autumn sky

Pond And Early Morning Autumn Sky. © Copyright 2018 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A marshland pond reflects cloudy early morning autumn sky.

I regard this as a sort of “almost winter” landscape, since I made the photograph in mid-December, about a week before the winter solstice. By this time of year California is solidly into the wet-season regime — the polar opposite of the state’s summer. Pacific weather fronts from the Gulf of Alaska sweep across the state periodically, and when the weather behaves somewhat normally the states wetland areas come back to life. And, yes, by California it is definitely the “cold season” by mid-September!

Scenes similar to this one may be found all over the state. All you need is a source of water and some expanse of relatively flat terrain where the water can pool. This one is located in an agricultural plain in the central part of the state, but I’ve seen similar pools across the entire state from south to north and east to west. You can even find them at times in the desert areas. This morning brought skies filled with clouds portending the arrival of one of those winter weather systems. After an initial burst of sunrise light the sun moved behind clouds and the colors softened. I photographed past some remnant shallow water plants, now gone to winter brown, and toward the early morning sky to the north.

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: Central California, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Ocean & Coast

Headlands And Mist

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Headlands And Mist
Strong late-autumn surf raises clouds of mist above rocky headlands along the Big Sur coast.

Headlands and Mist. © Copyright 2018 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Strong late-autumn surf raises clouds of mist above rocky headlands along the Big Sur coast.

Today I continue with photographs from my visit to the upper Big Sur coastline in the middle of December, on a day when distant Gulf of Alaska weather fronts were sending giant surf crashing against the beaches, sea stacks, and cliffs. This is perhaps my favorite set of conditions for California coastal photography — a clear, post-storm day with giant surf that raises a layer of mist along the shoreline. When I see reports of such conditions I try my best to get over there quickly!

On the drive down, even as I passed Monterey Bay I could see the effects on the water. Waves in the bay didn’t seem unusually large, but off in the distance I could see the land at the northwest end of the Monterey Peninsula where gigantic white breakers created a line against the horizon. Once I got south of Carmel and right next to the coast the picture was even clearer, and I soon stopped on a bluff to get “up close and personal” (but from a safe spot) with the show. I made this photograph a bit further south in a spot that I’ve photographed many times. Here there is a view across several rocky ribs at the water’s edge and on to a taller hill beyond — and I know this as a spot with great potential for surf and light and for raising clouds of spray and mist.

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: Nature, Photographs: Sierra Nevada

Shoreline, Early Morning

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Shoreline, Early Morning
Fractured rocks and late-season grasses along the shoreline of a subalpine Sierra Nevada lake.

Shoreline, Early Morning. © Copyright 2018 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Fractured rocks and late-season grasses along the shoreline of a subalpine Sierra Nevada lake.

Does this scene look cold? It was! I had headed out around the circumference of the lovely subalpine lake next to which we had been camped for several days, with a goal of reaching the outlet stream at the far end of the lake. On the scale of Sierra Nevada backcountry lakes, this one is perhaps a bit larger than the typical size, but not extraordinarily large. However, the hike around the lake took longer than expected — party due to my tendency to stop a lot to look and photograph, and partly due to its complex shoreline. It is lined with small bays that necessitate either an inland loop or an ascent across the intervening land.

This photograph was made near the bottom of one of those bays. Because the tall peaks to the east — seen here at the upper left — blocked the morning sun until several hours after actual sunrise the area was still in shade… and cold and a bit windy. For this photograph I did something that is a bit unusual for me. I put my ultra-wide-angle lens on the camera, got very close to my foreground subject, and took advantage of this setup’s ability to include the near and the far in the frame.

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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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