Tag Archives: foliage

River And Autumn Trees

River And Autumn Trees
“River And Autumn Trees” — Autumn trees change colors along banks of the Merced River, Yosemite Valley.

While I wrote elsewhere that this end-of-October fall color visit to Yosemite focused on more intimate landscapes, this one might seem like an exception, given that the trees are across the river and there is a rather large cliff beyond. OK, it isn’t exactly “intimate by the usual standards…” but if you knew what I left out of this photograph you might forgive me! This is a spot in the Valley where you might typically photograph some of those larger, monumental subjects.

I had passed this spot without stopping earlier in the day, so when I came by again later on I was prepared to pause and photograph. This is a narrower section of the Valley, and those trees grow on the opposite bank of the Merced River. We see several of the sources of Yosemite autumn color here including the golden-brown black oak trees and the brilliant yellow big leaf maples.


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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. Blog | Bluesky | Mastodon | Substack Notes | Flickr | Email

All media © Copyright G Dan Mitchell and others.

Forest With Autumn Leaves

Forest With Autumn Leaves
“Forest With Autumn Leaves” — Autumn leaves on black oak and big leaf maple trees add color to a Yosemite Valley forest.

I enjoy the challenge of trying to make compositions out of very busy, complex scenes. There are plenty of such scenes in typical forest settings, where the amount of detail can be overwhelming, and it can take me a while to find something that works. Often I wander through such places just looking and using a framing card to check photograph potential. At some point, things fall into place.

I already knew of this spot where reflections from a cliff across Yosemite Valley send soft light into the forest and especially to the tall trees at the right. On the last day of October, autumn leaves were sprinkled throughout the scene, too. This feels like a quintessential autumn photograph of the Valley. It is not generally a place of vast forests of color — more common are conifer forests interrupted by intense color from scattered deciduous trees.


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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. Blog | Bluesky | Mastodon | Substack Notes | Flickr | Email

All media © Copyright G Dan Mitchell and others.

Autumn Flow

Autumn Flow
“Autumn Flow” — The surface of the Merced River, broken by boulders, reflects golden fall colors from nearby trees.

I was in Yosemite Valley on the last day of October to photograph the fall colors of oak, maple, and dogwood trees. It may seem odd to some, but I barely photographed the iconic formations of the park at all, instead wandering around looking for more intimate views that suggest autumn. I made this photograph at a place along the Merced River where I’ve stopped for years, a spot where I know that I can find interesting reflected light at the right times of day.

This is a somewhat long exposure, made that way to allow the surface of the water to blur a bit. The location is in deep shadows during much of the day, but here the water reflects the surrounding trees and the light from high cliffs across the valley.


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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. Blog | Bluesky | Mastodon | Substack Notes | Flickr | Email

All media © Copyright G Dan Mitchell and others.

Backlit Autumn Oak Tree

Backlit Autumn Oak Tree
“Backlit Autumn Oak Tree” — Branches and leaves of an autumn black leaf oak tree in Yosemite Valley.

My Autumn color hunting season in the Sierra Nevada runs from roughly the very end of September through the beginning of November, as color moves from the highest east side regions to the foothills and valleys of the Western Sierra. A trip to Yosemite Valley right around Halloween is traditional, and this year was there on that date.

While California’s western Sierra isn’t known as a fall color hot spot, there is a lot of beautiful color if you know where and when to look. In Yosemite Valley, much of the color comes from bright yellow big leaf maples, golden-brown black oaks, and yellow-to-red dogwoods. The tree in the photograph is a large oak growing in a Valley meadow. I photographed directly backlit by the sun, just before it moved behind a high cliff.


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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. Blog | Bluesky | Mastodon | Substack Notes | Flickr | Email

All media © Copyright G Dan Mitchell and others.