Tag Archives: eastern

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

Aspens, Before Sunrise

November 24, 2017 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

A large grove of eastern Sierra fall aspen trees in pre-sunrise light

After spending so many years exploring the Sierra, and for the past 15 or so expanding my explorations to include some of the high east side locations mostly accessible by vehicle, there are little spots all over the range that have become personal favorites — places I return to regularly whenever I get a chance. You might think that they would get “old” after a while, being so familiar. Instead, I find that there is always something new to discover about them, and I enjoy the sense of spending time with old landscape friends!

This is one of those places. In this case, I have to drive to get to it, but it is still typically a nicely lonely place, and I often have it entirely to myself at dawn. A person or two might pass by, but that’s about it. (Though, funny story, this time as I took in the view a small vehicle carrying four deer hunters passed by. We waved and they kept going. Later, as I descended from this spot, heading in the direction from which they had come, I passed through a herd of a dozen deer right on the road.) I usually go before dawn and watch the first light strike the highest peaks and work its way down into the valleys. I made this photograph before the direct sunlight had arrived.

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

Autumn Aspens and Meadows

November 23, 2017 G Dan Mitchell 2 Comments

Autumn aspen groves broken up by meadows along the eastern side of the Sierra Nevada

Yes, still more fall color photographs! I’m getting close to the end of this year’s batch, and you are likely to see other subjects a bit more in the near future. Some of you will be happy about that and others will be disappointed. :-) Overall, this turned out to be a pretty good season for Sierra Nevada color, at least in my view. I heard a few people say that it wasn’t that great, but I think that the elements of luck and timing and location make a big difference — and all of those played out well for me this year.

This photograph comes from a place where there are lots of large groves spread across eastern Sierra hillsides. There are many places like this, so the precise location probably isn’t all that important. I happened to be there at just about the peak of the color, and I found an elevated position from which to photograph down into the backlit trees.

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

Cliff Face and Bare Aspen Trees

November 22, 2017 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Bare aspen tree trunks and branches against a backdrop of a Sierra Nevada rock face

There are all kinds of ways to photograph aspens, and they can be photographed during virtually any season: winter trees with snow, spring trees with new leaves, summer trees surrounded by wildflowers and grasses, autumn colors, and this wonderful time when the bare trees stand out against the rest of the surrounding terrain. At this latter stage they can be photogenic on their own or they can be set off against backdrops of other trees, rocks, or the fallen leaves littering the ground.

These specific trees have gotten my attention in the past. They grow against a fractured granite backdrop, and they are in a location where I might go to photograph other fall subjects. So when I go to photograph those subjects, I often end up walking past this spot and pausing. While nearby trees still had a lot of colorful leaves, these smaller trees had already dropped almost all of theirs.

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

Fall Color, Eastern Sierra Foothills

November 19, 2017 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Colorful aspen groves ascend the foothills in the Eastern Sierra Nevada

Indeed, I’m still going through this year’s photographs of fall color and other autumn subjects. It actually turned out to be a very beautiful fall in and around the Sierra Nevada. I suspect that the return to normal (actually above normal) precipitation had a big influence, and the contrast with the previous five drought years was quite large. I managed several trips into the range during the month of October, the prime time for most fall color, visiting the east side and also Yosemite Valley.

The best aspen color came, as it typically would in my experience, about a week and a half into October. The color begins earlier than that at high elevations and among some of the smaller trees, and then it generally works its way downward over a period of perhaps three weeks or so. I made this photograph right in the heart of that period, on a three-day foray that took me to a variety of locations. (I’ve been photographing this subject long enough that if I encounter less than stellar conditions I can usually pick up and quickly move to something better.) This spot is pretty well known and easily visible from US 395. I have photographed it many times, and now I’m either looking for astonishing and rare conditions or else a perspective that is a bit different. This photograph looks down into a group of large trees that are backed by a carpet of smaller trees, at peak color and ascending the hills toward the Sierra crest, all illuminated by very late afternoon light.

G Dan Mitchell Photography

Tag Archives: eastern

Aspens, Before Sunrise

Autumn Aspens and Meadows

Cliff Face and Bare Aspen Trees

Fall Color, Eastern Sierra Foothills

Photographer and visual opportunist. Daily photos since 2005, plus articles, reviews, news, and ideas.