Tag Archives: golden

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Northern California, Photographs: Sierra Nevada

Aspen Trees, Conway Summit, Fall

October 18, 2011 G Dan Mitchell 7 Comments

Aspen trees in peak color at Conway Summit along highway 395 in the eastern Sierra Nevada.

I isolated this small bit of near-psychedelic color from the extensive aspen groves at Conway Summit, along highway 395 just north of Lee Vining and Mono Lake along the eastern edge of the Sierra Nevada range. When I visited the grove this past weekend the colors seemed to be essentially at their peak with alternating rows of red, orange, gold, and even a few lime green trees marching up the slopes toward the Dunderberg area high above.

If you hit it at the right moment, the aspen color at this location is second to none, and a bonus for many is that it is so accessible, being right alongside the highway. Brilliant colors can occur on both sides of the summit, but those on the north side seem to me to be more varied, and it is a bit easier and safer to find a place to stop alongside the road.

The lighting during my visit was “interesting” – which often means good but with some challenges. From my point of view, the best light at Conway Summit, at least when it comes to photographing aspen color, occurs fairly late in the afternoon when the sun gets low in the sky and can backlight the groves of trees. However, because of the backdrop of Sierra Nevada peaks the interval of good light can be short – and it is distinctly before actual sunset. The “interesting” element during this visit was that clouds were building over the crest. This produces some spectacular sky conditions at times, but it also cast shadows across the trees that dulled the colors and lowered contrast. Now a bit of this can be a good thing, and too much backlight can be a bit difficult to handle. By scoping out perhaps three of four possible compositions from my position, I could wait until the “good light” hit one or another of them, swing the camera around in that direction, and work quickly while the light lasted. For this detail shot of a colorful section of the aspen groves just below my position I had what can perhaps be the very best light for such subjects – a bit of directional light from behind filtered through clouds.

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Photographs: Coastal Redwoods, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Northern California

Trail Junction, Redwood Forest and Ferns

October 10, 2011 G Dan Mitchell 2 Comments

A bed of ferns grows at a trail junction under deep redwood forest cover at Muir Woods National Monument.

This photograph was made in the late winter of 2009, during that time of the year when the redwood forest is still very wet and cool, but when flowers are blooming and spring is clearly on the way. The location is along the very popular (and often quite busy) main trail along the creek through the central part of the park. No doubt I had to wait a bit for the combination of these beams of light and no other visitors on the trail!

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Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Northern California, Photographs: Sierra Nevada, Photographs: Yosemite

Autumn Color, Yosemite Valley

September 19, 2011 G Dan Mitchell 2 Comments

Autumn colors on trees and meadows, Yosemite Valley.

These colors are a feature of late October and perhaps the very beginning of November in Yosemite Valley. In the right conditions, the browns and golds and oranges of these drying meadows and the leaves of these trees can be almost as spectacular as any other fall foliage.

A few years ago I discovered that here in California I can sustain the fall color season for months if I just look in the right places. What it might lack compared to the intensity of east coast hardwood forests, it makes up for in variety and length. I can often find early signs of the approaching fall by the beginning of September or even the end of August in the higher portions of the Sierra, as certain plants complete their growth cycle and start to die back. (Even in the coast ranges, there are a few trees that can get “fall” color during the heat of August.) By late September the pattern is clear at all high elevation locations in the Sierra, and then the tremendous aspen color show begins close to the start of October, extending a good way through the month. After that the lower elevations hills and mountains start to change – and that is what we see in this photograph from Yosemite Valley at 4000′ of elevation. But closer to sea level in the San Francisco Bay Area and elsewhere the show is still to come, and colors can continue all the way through November if you know where to look.

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Photographs: Northern California, Photographs: Ocean & Coast, Photographs: San Francisco

Departing Freighter

September 16, 2011 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Freighter approaching the Golden Gate as it departs from San Francisco Bay.

On this hazy but fog-less August morning I had stopped above the north end of the Golden Gate Bridge on my way north towards Point Reyes, where I planned a day of photography. I cross the bridge frequently, but I almost always schedule my crossings for times when the light might be interesting, at least if I have any control over my schedule. A summer day like this can bring any of a wide range of conditions: the bridge and bay could be totally socked in my fog, a finger of fog might extend inland while everything else is for-free, the sky could be crystal clear. On this morning the morning haze obscured a lot fo the long views… but it also increased the sense of distance and hid some distracting background elements that might have been visible in clearer conditions.

Some minutes earlier, while photographing a very different landscape from this spot, I had seen this ship beginning its outbound voyage all the way back under the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge. Having watched these ships before I knew that it would eventually make its way past Treasure Island, around Alcatraz, make a wide loop, and then turn back to cross in front of me as it approached the passage through the Golden Gate. With this in mind, I kept an eye on it, and once it cleared Alcatraz I kept a close eye on it, making this exposure just as it made its final turn toward the Bridge with only the surface of the bay, the faint and distant hills, and the sky creating a blue background.

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Photographer and visual opportunist. Daily photos since 2005, plus articles, reviews, news, and ideas.