Tag Archives: green

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Sierra Nevada

Aspen Grove, North Lake Road

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Aspen Grove, North Lake Road

Aspen Grove, North Lake Road. Sierra Nevada, California. October 3, 2009. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Brilliant fall colors come to an aspen grove along the road to North Lake with Sierra Nevada crest peaks in the distance.

I have long been attracted to this grove that grows in a bend on the road to North Lake just before a section of road that switchbacks and climbs steeply. I often photograph in and around this grove, and several other times I’ve stopped along the road above it to try to photograph it with the high peaks above Sabrina Basin in the background.

On this visit in early October 2009 I found that the grove had turned to gold and yellow, so I decided to stop on my way up to North Lake (where I photographed only briefly on this day). The challenge was that the grove is in a low area that doesn’t get the sun until later in the morning, while the peaks beyond were in almost full sunlight and even had a bit of snow on them – quite an exposure challenge! Fortunately some clouds – and a bit of careful post-processing – came the rescue. The cloud shadow fell across the rocky slopes behind the trees, providing a background that set off their color. At about the same time the most direct sun on the peaks was also interrupted by some clouds, so the only tricky spot was the left face of the peak near the side of the frame.

This photograph is not in the public domain. It may not be used on websites, blogs, or in any other media without explicit advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

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Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Sierra Nevada

Red and Green Aspen Leaves

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Red and Green Aspen Leaves

Red and Green Aspen Leaves. Sierra Nevada, California. October 3, 2009. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Red and green aspen leaves in the Sierra Nevada near South Lake.

I spotted a grove of small aspen trees with very colorful leaves as I was driving down from South Lake and just as the light was just about too dark to continue shooting – especially since the wind was rising and by this time blowing like crazy! It can be tricky to shoot aspen leaves close up even in a slight breeze, but shooting them in fading light when the wind is rising to near gale force is darn close to impossible!

While many of the trees in this grove were headed more in the yellow direction, I found a few that seemed to be going almost straight from green to red.

This photograph is not in the public domain. It may not be used on websites, blogs, or in any other media without explicit advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

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keywords: red, green, yellow, aspen, leaf, leaves, tree, branch, bokeh, season, fall, autumn, sierra, nevada, mountain, range, california, usa, south, lake, bishop, creek, eastern, close, up, macro, nature, scenic, travel, vein, stock

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Sierra Nevada

Three Autumn Aspens, Cliff Face

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Three Autumn Aspens, Cliff Face

Three Autumn Aspens, Cliff Face. Sierra Nevada, California. October 3, 2009. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Three autumn aspens with colorful leaves in front of a granite cliff face near South Lake, Sierra Nevada, California.

These trees grow along a rocky area on the road to South Lake just before Parcher’s Resort, where the road ascends past a steep rocky section with some low cliffs. I’ve long been intrigued by the rocks here and when I drove past earlier this day – in somewhat harsh light – I thought it would interesting to come back later in the day when this area was in shade and the light was softer and more diffused. When the aspens change color this spot turns out to be a veritable shooting gallery of rocks and trees, with many interesting juxtapostions of these two elements.

The only real technical challenge – aside from staying out the way of passing cars! – was dealing with the combination of low light in the shaded area and very windy conditions on this day. A significant early-season storm was making its way into the Sierra and the winds were really ramping up in the afternoon and evening. Normally I might try to deal with this by using a faster shutter speed, but shooting in the low-light shade made this less of an option, and I ended up standing around a lot waiting for brief and infrequent lulls in the wind. I also decided to accept a bit of motion blur from the leaves – in the end I don’t think that is necessarily a problem.

This photograph is not in the public domain. It may not be used on websites, blogs, or in any other media without explicit advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

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Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Sierra Nevada

Dense Aspen Grove, Autumn

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Dense Aspen Grove, Autumn

Dense Aspen Grove, Autumn. Sierra Nevada, California. October 3, 2009. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Small trees grow closely together in a dens aspen grove near South Lake, Sierra Nevada, Callifornia.

I have photographed this dense stand of Sierra Nevada aspens below South Lake in the past. I first found it a year ago while exploring a short gravel road off to the side of the main road to South Lake, and I’ve come to like photographing it in late afternoon, evening, or cloudy light – all of which diffuse and soften the light, allowing more visibility into the center of the very dense trees.

This year the leaf color was not nearly as intense in this grove as it was when I visited last year, though here I think the complexity of the branch patterns shows up better. (Though that will be almost impossible to see in this small jpg version – I’ve tested for a print at 10″ x 30″ size where the detail is more clearly seen.)

This photograph is not in the public domain. It may not be used on websites, blogs, or in any other media without explicit advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

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