Tag Archives: fall

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

Ribbon Fall

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Ribbon Fall
Yosemite Valley’s Ribbon Fall in full flow during the historic 2023 spring runoff.

Ribbon Fall. © Copyright 2023 G Dan Mitchell.

Yosemite Valley’s Ribbon Fall in full flow during the historic 2023 spring runoff.

Let’s begin with by acknowledging that this is a bit of a “record shot” — a photograph whose purpose is as much to record of a thing as to produce an aesthetic effect. But in a year of weather and climate extremes in the Sierra, a few record shots seem to be in order. Ribbon Fall drops from a point high on the walls of Yosemite Valley to the west of El Capitan. You might not know about it since it is often dry. However, in addition to being a seasonal fall, its main claim to fame is that it has the largest uninterrupted drop of any Yosemite waterfall, even exceeding that of Upper Yosemite Fall.

When I arrived in the Valley on this spring morning the week before Memorial Day, Ribbon Fall (along with many others in the Valley) had unusually high flow. Unless you happen to be there right after an unusual cloudburst in the valley it drains, it is unlikely that any of us will ever see more water in this fall.

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

Spring Flood, Upper Yosemite Fall

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Spring Flood, Upper Yosemite Fall
Upper Yosemite Fall near the peak of the 2023 spring snowmelt runoff.

Spring Flood, Upper Yosemite Fall. © Copyright 2023 G Dan Mitchell.

Upper Yosemite Fall near the peak of the 2023 spring snowmelt runoff.

After many years photographing this Valley and seeing photographs others have made there, I often look for subjects other than the iconic waterfalls, domes and peaks. It isn’t that I’m not interested — it is just that I’m not sure the world needs (yet) another straight-on photograph of “that thing” in the same, familiar light. So, despite the fact that the flow over the waterfalls was near historic levels during my late-May visit, I didn’t make many waterfall photographs. But I did make this one.

It was mid-afternoon and the light was mostly “plain vanilla.” But clouds were forming east of the Valley and moving west, producing some interesting shadows. Upper Yosemite Fall was in full sunlight when I set up my camera, thinking about how I might silhouette those trees against the flood of the waterfall. But soon those cloud shadows began to darken the granite faces, and for a brief moment a narrow shaft of light lit the waterfall, set against the darker cliffs.

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: Central California, Photographs: Fall, Photographs: Fall Color, Photographs: Nature

Autumn Trees, Levee Road

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Autumn Trees, Levee road
Trees with autumn leaves along a road winding along a levee in Central Valley wetlands.

Autumn Trees, Levee Road. © Copyright 2022 G Dan Mitchell.

Trees with autumn leaves along a road winding along a levee in Central Valley wetlands.

It just occurred to me that this sequence of photographs roughly narrates the course of a typical day here at this time of year. The ideal day starts before sunrise in thick fog. Then the fog becomes lighter and takes on the colors of dawn if things work just right. Eventually the fog thins more and the light becomes brighter and more directional. Before too long the fog dissipates and I’m left with the winter atmospheric haze, which softens the landscape even as the colors intensify.

I was hours into photographing this location when I came to these trees. Although it was still cold, the sun was shining confidently through the midday haze. The atmosphere was still a bit soft, but the fall colors were stronger. I initially stopped to photograph a bird perched at the top of one of the trees, but soon the bird left and I went into landscape photography mode.

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.

Blog | About | Twitter | Flickr | Facebook | Email

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: Central California, Photographs: Fall, Photographs: Nature

Levee Road, Fog, and Tree

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Levee Road, Fog, and Tree
Autumn tule fog glows in morning sun, blankets a Central Valley levee road, and obscures an old tree.

Levee Road, Fog, and Tree. © Copyright 2022 G Dan Mitchell.

Autumn tule fog glows in morning sun, blankets a Central Valley levee road, and obscures an old tree.

The subject here is an old Central Valley tree along a levee road on a very foggy autumn morning. You may recall that my previous photograph of a fog-obscured tree from this location was in color — thought just barely, as I wrote about in that post. Color was similarly subtle (as in “nearly absent”) in this scene, too, so I went ahead and interpreted the scene in black and white.

The quiet and moody quality of this scene, of course, comes largely from the tule fog. But that is enhanced by the way it glows in the back light from the sun, seen just above and slightly to the left of the tree. The fog is very thick here, but not very deep, and even though visibility was probably little more than 100 feet, the sunlight was able to penetrate and light up the fog.

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.

Blog | About | Twitter | Flickr | Facebook | Email

Links to Articles, Sales and Licensing, my Sierra Nevada Fall Color book, Contact Information.

Scroll down to leave a comment or question. (Click this post’s title first if you are viewing on the home page.)

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