Tag Archives: fall

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

High Country Aspens

September 28, 2015 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

A row of autumn aspens in front of receding conifer forest and rising slopes near Sonora Pass on a Sierra Nevada fall evening

Although I’ve driven across Sonora Pass for years, I feel that I have perhaps neglected its photographic potential, perhaps because it is somewhat out of the way for me on many of my Sierra trips — the major Tahoe area routes are farther north, and my favorite trans-Sierra route further south is Tioga Pass through Yosemite. I have photographs from the base of the pass on the east side, but my collection of photographs from the highest reaches of the pass is very small. With this in mind, I decided to return from this trip to the eastern Sierra by way of this pass, and I timed the traverse for the late afternoon when I thought the light might be idea.

Although this pass is not quite as high as Tioga Pass, it has a much more alpine feeling. The road is very steep in places and frequently quite narrow as it twists and turns up and down and around trees and boulders. I recall once thinking many years ago that driving this pass is about as close to the feeling of hiking the high country as one can get on a road. There are a lot of aspens along this route, but in many places they are mixed in with the conifer forest, making them a bit more difficult of a photographic subject. Finally, perhaps a couple miles east of the pass, the terrain opened up to high forests and meadows and I found a few beautiful aspen groves standing apart.

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

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

Fallen Tree, Lake Shore Autumn Grasses

September 20, 2015 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

An old fallen tree and lakeshore autumn grasses at a Sierra Nevada lake.

During a week at this backcountry lake and the surrounding area I had plenty of time to wander about, work in varied conditions, and see beyond the obvious first impressions. After a few long stays in such places I have come to be familiar with a certain cycle. I arrive with a mixture of “how will I ever manage to find enough here for a week of work?” and “once I slow down I know there will be plenty to see.” After a day of settling in it begins to feel like there will be plenty to photograph, but that there is no real urgency to the work. I tend to wander, looking at whatever happens to catch my attention and not really working much from a plan. At some point near the middle of the stay there comes a time when I do a count of subjects remaining to photograph and number of mornings/evenings remaining… and I realize that I have to formulate a plan! And then, invariably, on the final day or two I realize that even with a week to work there will be subjects that I won’t get to.

I photographed this scene close to the midway point on the trip — when there still seemed to be plenty of time and just before I felt the need to begin planning more carefully. This is a wonderful time on such a trip, when there are opportunities to engage in “aimless” wandering — though there is very much an aim to that aimlessness! This subject is one that I could easily overlook early on during a trip or during the end-of-trip attention to specific remaining subjects. The skeletal gray of the fallen tree contrasts wonderfully with the rich coloration of the early fall meadow around the edges of this sub-alpine lake.

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

Locations, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Sierra Nevada

Autumn Color is Right Around the Corner

August 25, 2015 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

It is still summer here in the San Francisco Bay Area — but something changed this past week, and it is clear that summer is on the decline now. Autumn, my favorite season, arrives in a matter of a few more weeks.

We have had some very hot weather here in the West, but this week things were different. Although the smoke of western wildfires is still adding haze to our air, the edge is off of the heat here. One morning the furnace actually kicked on for a few minutes before I woke up and shut it off. About a week ago sunset was earlier than 8:00 PM for the first time in months and the rate at which daylight hours shortens continues to accelerate. Over the weekend we walked to a nearby store to get ice cream in the evening, and we wished we had brought jackets. (As a long time California resident, I’m not completely fooled though. Even though the signs of change are here, I know we still have more hot spells ahead of us.)

Red and Orange Aspen Leaves — Intensely colorful red and orange autumn aspen leaves in the eastern Sierra Nevada.

Right on schedule, photographers’ thoughts turn to fall colors. In the last week I’ve seen a substantial increase in the number of shared photographs from previous autumns, featuring those beautiful colors that we hope to see again this year. People are starting to post questions — where is the best color? what is the best time to go? what will happen this year? Reports of “the earliest color ever!” have started to appear — as they do ever year at about this time! Continue reading Autumn Color is Right Around the Corner →

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: The Southwest, Photographs: Utah

Base of the Cliff

July 25, 2015 G Dan Mitchell 3 Comments

Autumn plants growing at the base of a sandstone cliff

It seems that we have arrived at that time when each year my thoughts begin to turn again to autumn photography. That is probably my favorite season as it includes those final warm days of Indian summer, the first inkling of the coming winter, the annual color transition as trees lose their leaves, and the first real winter weather — all of which are favorite photographic subjects of mine. (I’ll be paying special attention to Sierra Nevada fall color this coming season, for a number of reasons, but especially since this is the first autumn following the publication of my book on the subject: “California’s Fall Color: A Photographer’s Guide to Autumn in the Sierra” from Heyday Press.)

So, an autumn photograph! This one comes from last October, when I had the opportunity to make a photography trip through some of may favorite areas of southern Utah. Partway through the trip I met up with my friend and fellow photographer, David Hoffman. We spent several days poking around in and photographing Capitol Reef National Park. On this evening we passed through a narrow gorge not far from our camp, quickly stopped, and ended up photographing the red rock canyon walls and the autumn colors until the light faded at the end of the day.

G Dan Mitchell Photography

Tag Archives: fall

High Country Aspens

Fallen Tree, Lake Shore Autumn Grasses

Autumn Color is Right Around the Corner

Base of the Cliff

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