Tag Archives: flow

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

Autumn Forest and Creek

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Autumn Forest and Creek
An Eastern Sierra creek flows past a forest in full autumn color.

Autumn Forest and Creek. © Copyright 2023 G Dan Mitchell.

An Eastern Sierra creek flows past a forest in full autumn color.

Perhaps because I wrote a book on the subject, people ask where the “best” autumn color is in the Sierra Nevada. I’m not really a subscriber to the “Best Thing” notions — that designation is often highly subjective, and there are other similar things that are as good or even better. This is certainly true when it comes to Sierra Nevada fall color. Is it the east side aspens? Should the cottonwoods be in the running? What about dogwoods, oaks, and maples on the west side? Do you like your trees as individual characters or as mass crowds. Do you like them tall and straight or short and bent? In other words, I cannot name a specific best place. But..

… there is good news — there is great fall color all over the range, and in many cases you don’t have to go to special, iconic places to find it. To me, this little scene is “about as autumn as you can get” in the Eastern Sierra: a gently flowing creek, some willows and other undergrowth in red and yellow, aspens turning, and white trunks set off against the color. Where is it? It really doesn’t matter. You can wander off in a thousand places in the range and find something just as good!

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

Yosemite Fall, Spring 2023

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Yosemite Fall, Spring 2023
Upper Yosemite Fall in full flow, Spring 2023.

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

Upper Yosemite Fall in full flow, Spring 2023.Yosemite Fall, Spring 2023

Yes, it is one of “those” photographs — a full daylight, straight-on photograph of one of the most iconic sights in Yosemite Valley. (One of the top three perhaps? With Half Dome and El Capitan being the other two?) I think it is a decent photograph, in not exactly a unique one, and it does capture Upper Yosemite Fall in its peak flow. It was really roaring on this late-May afternoon as the snow melt intensified.

It is easy to become so used to this valley that we forget how astonishing its features actually are. I often tell a story that reminded me some years ago. I was standing at one of the very popular overlooks, a place I’ve visited many times, thinking, ” Well, no pictures today. It is pretty ordinary looking in this light!” At about that moment a car arrived, a small group got our and walked over, looked at this “ordinary” view, apparently for the first time… and began to weep.

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: 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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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: 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.

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.