Tag Archives: foliage

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

The Shadow’s Edge

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The Shadow's Edge
“The Shadow’s Edge” — The shadow from Yosemite Valley cliffs moves across autumn oak trees.

I photograph in this meadow during nearly every visit to Yosemite Valley. The big oak trees are the stars for the most part — though it is hard to ignore the impressive mass of El Capitan rising behind you. The autumn foliage on these trees turns golden-brown before falling, and it can glow luminously when backlit.

The light is key to photographing here. Because this part of the valley is narrow and because tall cliffs rise on either side, the amount of direct sunlight is limited. Shadows traverse this meadow in the morning and the afternoon, and there’s interesting lighting along the margins of the shadows. Here you can see the line of shadow along the right side of the frame. Moments after I made the photograph the shadows fully enveloped these 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.

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

Autumn Trees, Yosemite Valley

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Autumn Trees, Yosemite Valley
“Autumn Trees, Yosemite Valley” — Yosemite Valley trees with colorful autumn foliage.

this spot had some of the best autumn color I encountered on my end-of-October two-day photography visit to Yosemite Valley. In much of the Valley the colors of autumn are subtle — meadows with golden-brown grasses, riverside plants turning yellow, and in some places deciduous trees with fall foliage. But if you look closely you’ll see fall color almost everywhere in this scene, including at the base of the distant cliffs.

This clearing is a bit unusual in Yosemite Valley. Most of the Valley is covered with coniferous forests, and where it is more open it is typically in meadow terrain. Here I think the thinner trees may be due to the very rocky ground, places where the Merced River overflows seasonally.

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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.

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

Boulders and Autumn Forest

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Boulders and Autumn Forest
“Boulders and Autumn Forest” — Fall colors in a conifer forest along the banks of the Merced River, Yosemite Valley.

while there is fall color in Yosemite, it is not widespread, and it comes in bits and pieces rather than hillsides blanketed in color. This scene is a case in point. The great majority of the trees here along the Merced River are conifers. But deciduous trees are scattered though the forest. Here they include three major sources of fall color in the Valley: A big leaf maple, a dogwood, and a black oak.

While working on this photograph I had a not-unusual “Yosemite experience.” When I made the exposure I was shooting across the Merced River into what seemed like an inaccessible forest. But as I post-processed the file and looked closely I discovered that there were old electrical wires hidden among the trees! The Valley has been populated for centuries, and few places there can be said to be true wilderness at this point.

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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.

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

Tall Aspens, Fall Color

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Tall Aspens, Fall Color
“Tall Aspens, Fall Color” — A large grove of big aspen trees with autumn color, on an Eastern Sierra Nevada hillside.

This is a type of autumn aspen photograph that I think of as a “wall of color.” Here there are more of the tall and straight trees than we see in many places in the Sierra, and the entire grove is at or near its fall peak. It helps that I had a somewhat elevated vantage point to make the photograph, part of what lets me fill the frame with color.

To look at this photograph you might imagine a scene almost like New England fall colors. However, while such colors there can go on for miles and cover successive mountains (hills, really) and valleys, in the Sierra the color is more concentrated. Groves, many of which are small, can stand out brilliantly against the predominant background of dark conifer trees or rocks or sagebrush.

Leave a comment or question using the form. (Click the title to see the full article and to comment if you are viewing it on the home page.)

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.