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

Fallen Aspens, Canyon Light

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Fallen Aspens, Canyon Light
An autumn aspen grove in late afternoon light, with some trees that have fallen over.

Fallen Aspens, Canyon Light. © Copyright 2021 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

An autumn aspen grove in late afternoon light, with some trees that have fallen over.

As I posted this photograph it occurred to me that “leaning aspens” or “falling aspens” might better describe what is going on here — but I’m sticking with the original title. This is a somewhat different view of a subject that I shared previously, photographed on an autumn day when the sun was just about to drop behind high ridges to the west and the hazy air glowed in the backlight. The primarily photograph I came away with included a larger portion of the scene, but I also grew to like this one that narrows its focus to a group of small-trunk trees. The trees at right on on the edge of a pond, and I suspect that they are leaning as a result of growing in wet, unstable soil.

This will almost certainly be my final aspen photograph of 2021, so I’ll add a few general comments about photographing this subject in the Eastern Sierra Nevada. One feature of the Sierra aspens is that they grow in wildly different niches. Some trees find large, flat areas with good soil, ample water, and protection from the elements, and they may grow into tall, straight, massive trees. Many others seem to struggle in rocky soil, drier locations, high elevations, limited light, exposure to wind, and these trees — the majority of Sierra aspens, in my experience — often show the effects. They can be twisted, stunted, knocked over by avalanches, and more. Superficially you might think that this reflects poorly on “our aspens.” But the reality is that we can find a great variety of aspen forms — more, I think, than in some areas known for these trees.

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

Autumn Color Layers

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Autumn Color Layers
Layers of autumn color from aspen groves ascending an eastern Sierra Nevada slope.

Autumn Color Layers. © Copyright 2021 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Layers of autumn color from aspen groves ascending an eastern Sierra Nevada slope.

This is one of those “rediscovered” photographs that I had originally left behind a couple of years ago. I found it again during the last few months while doing a review of some older raw files. I originally made several exposures of this group of trees with autumn foliage in the eastern Sierra Nevada, and I initially went with something framed a bit differently and using the landscape (horizontal) format. But coming back to the set of images, I noticed that layered effect of these trees and thought it might be a worthy photograph, too.

This grove is somewhat characteristic of the sorts of aspen trees we find in the Sierra Nevada. As friends often remind me (usually after retiring from visits to these other places), in places like Colorado and Utah and similar locations you can find seemingly endless groves of tall, thick, and straight trees. That’s quite rare here in my state. It isn’t impossible to find large groves, nor is it impossible to find thick and tall trees — but that’s not the most common situation. Often the trees are smaller and with distinct “personalities” — which is another way of saying that they many be twisted in interesting ways rather than straight and tall. But in this grove, we get a bit of (almost) everything. Behind that first line of small trees, which are likely encroaching on the foreground meadow, there is a grove of tall aspens. Beyond that, as the slope becomes steeper and more rocky, the trees once again begin to have that… “personality.”

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: Fall, Photographs: Fall Color, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: The Southwest, Photographs: Utah

Old Cottonwood and Red Rock Cliffs

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Old Cottonwood and Red Rock Cliffs
An old cottonwood tree, changing to fall colors, stands in front ot a red rock cliff face, Zion National Park.

Old Cottonwood and Red Rock Cliffs. © Copyright 2021 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

An old cottonwood tree, changing to fall colors, stands in front ot a red rock cliff face, Zion National Park.

There’s a very good chance that I’ve already said this too many times, but the color palette of the Utah red rock country is simply remarkable. The rocks themselves are astonishingly diverse, ranging from the reddish tones to whites, grays and blacks, and occasionally more exotic colors. The trees and plants, especially as the autumn color change begins, cover a range from grays through greens to yellow, orange, red, and brown. And all of this varies from the bluish tones of early morning and evening through the golden hour saturation and the midday intensity of light. I’ve said it before and I’ll likely repeat myself in the future, but to a Sierra Nevada photographer this can be almost overwhelming.

Early on our second morning in Zion National Park we took a drive that entered the park near Springdale just before dawn. We stopped several times as we began the ascent on the Mt. Carmel highway, first to photograph the intense dawn light and then, a bit later, to photograph this gnarly tree against the backdrop of a shaded canyon wall.

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

Early Autumn Aspen Grove

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Early Autumn Aspen Grove
A small grove of Eastern Sierra Nevada aspen trees begins to take on autumn color.

Early Autumn Aspen Grove. © Copyright 2021 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A small grove of Eastern Sierra Nevada aspen trees begins to take on autumn color.

Over the past decade or so the fall color change in the Eastern Sierra Nevada has come to attract a lot of attention. It is not unwarranted, as the aspen color throughout the range can be quite spectacular. It is also pretty accessible, and as the state’s population has continued to increase and as social media has spread the word faster and more widely… some areas have become quite crowded and even overrun for a few weeks each year. A few well-known locations have become some famous that they literally attract mobs of photographers and others. I won’t name them here — they get enough attention already. (I sometimes wonder how much blame I share as the author of a book on this event — though my publisher went along with my vow to drastically limit naming places that can’t handle the traffic.)

Despite the crowds, I hinted at the good new in the first paragraph of this post when I wrote, “throughout the range.” Often folks head straight toward the Big Name locations (as is natural) and drive right past a whole bunch of other wonderful instances of fall color. Over the years, some of my favorite aspen trees have been in places that are distinctly non-iconic. There are many things to like about this development. It means that I have subjects everywhere! I frequently find myself alone while photographing these locations. And over time I’ve developed my own little collection of place with personal meaning. This photograph comes from such a place, a grove that I had literally driven past for years before I finally stopped one day to make photographs.

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 | 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.