Tag Archives: gold

Photographs: Fall, Photographs: Fall Color, Photographs: Nature

Aspens, Living and Dead

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Aspens, Living and Dead
A dense grove of aspens including living and dead trees, east of the Sierra Nevada.

Aspens, Living and Dead. © Copyright 2023 G Dan Mitchell.

A dense grove of aspens including living and dead trees, east of the Sierra Nevada.

If you are familiar with Sierra Nevada aspens, some things about this grove will feel familiar, yet you might get the feeling that something is a bit different. Regarding the latter, you are correct — this grove is technically not in the Sierra Nevada. It is in a range of mountains not too far to the east of the range, where the drier climate contributes to both the “sagebrush country” appearance and the twisted and often stunted trees.

We visited this general area early one October morning, planning to photograph from a point providing an unobstructed view of a fascinating section of the Sierra crest. After photographing that scene around sunrise, we turned our attention to this nearby subject, working quickly to make pictures before the intense direct sunlight arrived. Note the mixture of very colorful small trees and older snags.

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

High Desert Aspens in Transition

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High Desert Aspens in Transition
A grove of high desert aspens in transition to autumn color.

High Desert Aspens in Transition. © Copyright 2023 G Dan Mitchell.

A grove of high desert aspens in transition to autumn color.

Although my first inclination has always been to think of aspens as being trees of the high, subalpine zone, in fact they grow right down into the high desert, including along the eastern side of the Sierra Nevada. As such the trees are often found juxtaposed with what seem more like desert landscapes than the mountain scenes we might expect. I’m fascinated by these places, and I’ve long looked around for more examples.

This little winding grove sits near the bottom of a shallow valley that likely holds a stream during the spring melt. Here most of the trees are the typical small and sometimes stunted type, but the skeletons of a few taller trees are mixed into these little groves.

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

Aspen-Lined Creek

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Aspen-Lined Creek
A creek lined with autumn aspen trees flows over rocks in the Eastern Sierra Nevada.

Aspen-Lined Creek. © Copyright 2023 G Dan Mitchell.

A creek lined with autumn aspen trees flows over rocks in the Eastern Sierra Nevada.

This photograph deserves another (semi-)apology. (Well, sort of…) This is another of those spots that I’ve passed for decades but never (at least that I recall) stopped to photograph. It isn’t that I never noticed it — rather, it is one of those places that almost everyone stops to photograph. Sometimes, almost out of sheer stubbornness, I refuse to join the throngs at such places.

But then, every so often, I do stop and perhaps find something interesting in such a place. In this case it was the colorful reflection on the water that picked up the colors of a sunny hillside and aspens beyond the border of the photograph… combined with the lovely color in the trees that line the creek.

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

Autumn Meadow, Drifting Smoke

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Autumn Meadow, Drifting Smoke
Light beams pass through drifting smoke to illuminate autumn trees, Yosemite Valley.

Autumn Meadow, Drifting Smoke. © Copyright 2023 G Dan Mitchell.

Light beams pass through drifting smoke to illuminate autumn trees, Yosemite Valley.

This was just about my first photograph on a November 1 fall color visit to Yosemite Valley. I drove up very early in the morning, departing hours before sunrise so I could be there for early light. At first I was disappointed to find a managed fire in the valley — it filled the west end with thick smoke and produced some haze almost everywhere. For a moment I contemplated driving back out of the Valley and photographing in lower, clearer country. But as I drove a short Valley loop I found that the smoke was producing dramatic effects in some places.

In the end, most photographs I made on this visit involved that haze, which varied from barely visible up to smoke that choked the lungs and burned the eyes. Here the smoke was fairly thick, though it did not spread too far, and even thought there was a lot of smoke among the trees the air was relatively clear where I set up. As I made this photograph the rising sun was still low in the sky, and the interplay of light and shadow formed angled light beams.

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.