Tag Archives: eastern

Quick Eastern Sierra Fall Color Update

October 9, 2010 G Dan Mitchell 5 Comments

I visited a few locations in the Mammoth-to-Bishop area today, and can add a bit of information to the general knowledge floating around on the net. I can’t speak about the whole Sierra, obviously, but some of what I saw today might give an indication of how things are evolving.

As a point of comparison, when I was in the area last week (the first weekend of October) the colors were tremendous at some of the popular, higher elevation areas around and a bit north of Bishop. In fact, the colors then were as good as I’ve ever seen. This was enhanced by the light rain and the overcast, both of which intensify the colors and reveal more subtle details.

Between then and now the Sierra had some serious early season snow and, at the lower elevations, rain. Partly due to this weather and partly to the normal progression of color, this week those higher areas have many leafless or nearly leafless trees – the colors there have pretty much run their course. The colors have moved down a bit in elevation, but have not yet caught up to what they were before. You can find good colors now, but you have to look a bit harder.

The good news is that there are a lot of very green trees in many of the middle and low elevation areas. This bodes well for the color prospects in the next couple of weeks.

I really prefer to photograph aspens in overcast conditions with subdued light. In fact, when it is clear I’ll often photograph the trees before the light is on them or wait until the evening and photograph them after the shadows from higher peaks move across the groves. This weekend, however, it is bright and sunny. On all counts except for aspen photography, it is beautiful weather! Today there were two somewhat special conditions. First, there is significant snow on the higher peak, and especially on the White Mountains across Owens Valley to the east. And this morning there was a fair amount of fog in the valley areas. In fact, this seemed so interesting that I chose to shoot these conditions out in Owens Valley this morning rather than chasing aspens!

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” (Heyday Books) is available directly from him.

All media © Copyright G Dan Mitchell and others as indicated. Any use requires advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Sierra Nevada

Fall Aspen Leaves, Sierra Nevada

October 8, 2010 G Dan Mitchell 2 Comments

Aspen leaves at their peak of red, orange, and gold color in the North Lake area of the Sierra Nevada, California.

More wild aspen colors… On this morning I went to the infamous North Lake – infamous for the ridiculous crowds of photographers who flock to the lower end of the lake to make the same photograph of the surface of the lake, the colorful trees at the far end, a band of aspens ascending a hillside, and the taller peaks beyond. A year or two I had my first encounter with the throng when I arrived at this lake, not knowing about this business, and found perhaps 20 photographers in a row near the outlet stream. This year I knew what was coming when I arrived at the lake, but I was still somewhat shocked to see that the horde was now up to perhaps 60 or more photographers packed tripod to tripod along the banks of the lake at the outlet, and now also extending along the far side of the lake as well.

Fortunately, I had no intention of shooting that scene. Instead, my plan was to park my car, pack up my gear, and walk slowly along the road past the lake looking for intimate photographs of small details of the autumn scene, especially where some smaller aspen trees grow right up agains a short, rocky cliff. So I spent perhaps an hour wandering along here, mostly by myself but with an occasional friendly encounter with other horde-avoiding photographers, until I reached a small parking area further up the lake by the other iconic subject at North Lake, the “tree tunnel.” I also did not plan to photograph this, but I did figure that I could find some very colorful leaves near here in the forest along the side of the road, and that is where I photographed this very colorful grouping of aspen leaves.

This photograph is not in the public domain and may not be used on websites, blogs, or in other media without advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Northern California, Photographs: Sierra Nevada

Conway Summit Aspens in Rain

October 4, 2010 G Dan Mitchell 7 Comments

Fall rain and mist mute the colors of the extensive aspen groves above Conway Summit on Highway 395 in the eastern Sierra Nevada.

Just back from the eastern Sierra an hour or so earlier, and I want to get something posted before going to bed – so here is more or less the last photograph I made today. It rained lightly (and sometimes more heavily) all day, starting when I woke up in Bishop Canyon, continuing as I photographed in that general area until the early afternoon, and then following me north as I headed up to the Lee Vining area. Although I saw a few spots of sun as I drove towards this huge aspen grove near Conway Summit, by the time I arrived it was raining steadily. My plan was to decide here whether to continue my aspen hunt into the evening as I drove further north… or to recognize that the weather was going to be an issue and instead head up Tioga Pass and over the pass to return home.

Since it was raining at Conway Summit, after stopping to make a few exposures (including this one) I headed back to Lee Vining and then up to Tioga Pass. This Conway Summit photograph probably illustrates some important variables of landscape photograph in general and aspen photography specifically. Based on visits to this area in previous years, I was expecting less color than I found – while a lot of trees were still green, the higher trees had turned their most intense colors, and sections of the lower groves also were quite colorful. Despite the planning that gets me to places like this at the right time of day and at about the right time of the year, some things cannot be controlled – in this case, it was the weather. Also, even though I came here with a fairly specific shooting plan, once I arrived the conditions were tough enough that I had to work quickly. Fortunately I know this place pretty well, so I was able to find the scene I wanted to shoot without a lot of searching and I was then able to capture a few frames quickly… and get back into the car and out of the rain!

This photograph is not in the public domain and may not be used on websites, blogs, or in other media without advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

Locations, Sierra Nevada Fall Color

Photographing Eastern Sierra Aspens – A Few More Thoughts

September 28, 2010 G Dan Mitchell 10 Comments

Aspen color season is now underway in the eastern Sierra Nevada mountain range of California – or at least that’s what I hear. I haven’t been over the crest quite yet to see for myself, but others are writing about it and posting photographs, and my previous experience tells me that now is the time. I wrote extensively about this last year (see the article here) so I’ll try to keep this somewhat short, and mainly focus on some ideas about how to approach the whole process if you are planning to photograph the aspens this year.

Photographers who haven’t photographed the Sierra Nevada fall aspen color often have a series of questions – some of which I’ll answer directly and some of which I’ll be cagy about.

When do the trees change colors?

In my experience the first hints of change can may be seen in late September, though I’ve seen a few odd trees here and there get some color as early as the middle of the month. The core of the real “show” tends to be roughly around the first week of October, extending from a bit earlier than that until perhaps mid-October. You can perhaps find a few trees after that at lower elevations and in sheltered areas, but not many. (In a reply found below, Michael Frye says that he finds his best aspens a bit later than this. He knows what he is talking about!)

As I write this near the end of September, 2010… the change is underway. I’ll be going very soon. But before I do… Continue reading Photographing Eastern Sierra Aspens – A Few More Thoughts →

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