Tag Archives: eastern

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Sierra Nevada

Clearing Storm, Sierra Crest

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Clearing Storm, Sierra Crest
A late-spring storm clears along the Sierra Nevada crest near Bloody Canyon.

Clearing Storm, Sierra Crest. © Copyright 2022 G Dan Mitchell.

A late-spring storm clears along the Sierra Nevada crest near Bloody Canyon.

This photograph comes from an early-season trip across the Sierra crest a few years ago. It must have been quite a day. The first photographs from the set were in springtime Yosemite Valley. By the end of the day I had crossed Tioga Pass and headed out to the east of the range and into high desert near Mono Lake, the location from which I made this photograph late in the afternoon.

If only I kept a diary of these things! My hunch is that this was my “first trip of the season” across recently-cleared passes, on which I often take stock of the conditions at the beginning of a new summer season. From the looks of the clouds hugging the crest along the eastern Yosemite boundary, winter had not yet quite let go. There was still a decent amount of snow, clouds draped the crest, and it looks like there is some active precipitation.

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: Sierra Nevada

Aspens, Autumn Snow

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Aspens, Autumn Snow
A morning snow squall above a grove of autumn aspen trees, Sierra Nevada.

Aspens, Autumn Snow. © Copyright 2022 G Dan Mitchell.

A morning snow squall above a grove of autumn aspen trees, Sierra Nevada.

Since it is now July, it seems about time to start dreaming of autumn color, right? I always start thinking of fall color at about this point in summer. I’m not sure if this is a reaction against the hot weather season or just my natural inclination to always feel that my favorite season is the one that is coming next. On a ninety-degree day here in my (relatively cool!) part of California, I have to say that these conditions look pretty appealing right about now!

If I recall correctly, I made this photograph on a morning when it seemed that the conditions were conspiring against me. I had arrived here very early, well before sunrise, and in the faint light I could see that the aspens were thick with colorful leaves. As I started to prepare in the near-darkness a sudden squall swept through — the wind suddenly picked up, the temperature dropped, it began snowing, and I retreated to my vehicle. As it began to clear I realized that perhaps half of the leaves had blown of the trees, but the new dusting of snow on the ridge was compensation.

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

Fallen Aspens, Canyon Light

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Fallen Aspens, Canyon Light
An autumn aspen grove in late afternoon light, with some trees that have fallen over.

Fallen Aspens, Canyon Light. © Copyright 2021 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

An autumn aspen grove in late afternoon light, with some trees that have fallen over.

As I posted this photograph it occurred to me that “leaning aspens” or “falling aspens” might better describe what is going on here — but I’m sticking with the original title. This is a somewhat different view of a subject that I shared previously, photographed on an autumn day when the sun was just about to drop behind high ridges to the west and the hazy air glowed in the backlight. The primarily photograph I came away with included a larger portion of the scene, but I also grew to like this one that narrows its focus to a group of small-trunk trees. The trees at right on on the edge of a pond, and I suspect that they are leaning as a result of growing in wet, unstable soil.

This will almost certainly be my final aspen photograph of 2021, so I’ll add a few general comments about photographing this subject in the Eastern Sierra Nevada. One feature of the Sierra aspens is that they grow in wildly different niches. Some trees find large, flat areas with good soil, ample water, and protection from the elements, and they may grow into tall, straight, massive trees. Many others seem to struggle in rocky soil, drier locations, high elevations, limited light, exposure to wind, and these trees — the majority of Sierra aspens, in my experience — often show the effects. They can be twisted, stunted, knocked over by avalanches, and more. Superficially you might think that this reflects poorly on “our aspens.” But the reality is that we can find a great variety of aspen forms — more, I think, than in some areas known for these trees.

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: Sierra Nevada

The Edge Of The Grove

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The Edge Of The Grove
Autumn color at the edge of a grove of white-trunk aspen trees.

The Edge Of The Grove. © Copyright 2021 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Autumn color at the edge of a grove of white-trunk aspen trees.

In a recent post I mentioned that I was almost done with fall color photographs for the year. Maybe. Sort of. But no promises. So here’s another one. This grove is a bit atypical for the Eastern Sierra, where we often see small groves of trees that are twisted and bent, and where continuous groves a tall, straight trees are the exception. I’m not certain why this is the case in “my” mountains, but I suspect it has to do with the rugged and often-rocky landscape, the relatively dry climate in parts of the range, and likely other factors. This grove on the eastern edge of the range abuts sagebrush high desert country, and perhaps the more open terrain allows the trees to get more light than they might receive in a deep valley.

This photograph differs from most that I share in that it is a re-working of a photograph that I shared a few years ago. A photograph is not necessary a finished thing, and a given version represents what and how the photographer saw the image at a particular point in time. We change and our way of seeing changes, and when we look back at earlier work it is common to reimagine how we might interpret the subject. Here the changes are mostly along the lines of “tuning up” the image a bit. There’s a slight tightening of the crop, some differences in how the colorful leaves appear, and some small changes to the foreground and the shadows.

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.