Tag Archives: green

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: New England

New England Woods #6

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New England Woods #6
Lush undergrowth and ferns, with a tinge of late-season color, along a Vermont roadway.

New England Woods #6. © Copyright 2022 G Dan Mitchell.

Lush undergrowth and ferns, with a tinge of late-season color, along a Vermont roadway.

Most likely no one noticed, but I have jumped from #4 straight to #6. What happened to #5? It is coming, but I felt like sharing this one first! Like most of the “New England Woods” photographs from our August visit to (mostly) Vermont and (a little bit) Massachusetts, I made this one while walking along the edge of the woods. I recently remarked to an East Coast photographer (while recording for a B&H Explora podcast about photographing fall color) that I was challenged by the density of these woods. Somewhat to my relief, he sympathized and mentioned something that I was starting to discover — it isn’t always easy to find a camera position, and that walking into the forest or along its edge can be a good idea. I made this photograph while walking along a rural Vermont road.

In California it can be hard to find subjects with this much green by the time August arrives. Out here we usually don’t see much rain in the summer months, and our green season is winter. (I often tell people who visit from other places and are surprised by our dry summer landscape, “Come back in winter!”) About the only place here to find such a natural scene full of ferns is in the redwoods, though sometimes I can find small examples near sources of water elsewhere.

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: Nature, Photographs: New England

New England Woods #4

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New England Woods #4
Thick green woods along a road in Southern Vermont.

New England Woods #4. © Copyright 2022 G Dan Mitchell.

Thick green woods along a road in Southern Vermont.

I am not quite done with the New England photographs yet, not by a long shot. Stay tuned. This is another one from our August visit to the East Coast, when we joined members of our extended family for a week at a place near Wilmington in Southern Vermont. The main goal of this event was family-oriented — lots of eating, talking, sitting around — but nearby rural roads provided lots of opportunities for learning about and photographing these woods.

This is, it almost goes without saying, not at all like my familiar haunts on the West Coast. At the time of year when California is largely golden-brown, the Vermont countryside was lush and green. Remarkable, and almost unbelievably, Vermonters were talking about this year’s drought! It sure didn’t look like any drought I’ve seen before in the West! The trees and undergrowth are so dense and green that it can be hard to photograph them — so I often found myself photographing into the edge of the forest from roads and trails.

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: Nature, Photographs: New England

New England Woods #3

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New England Woods #3
Tall trees and lush undergrowth in Southwestern Vermont.

New England Woods #3. © Copyright 2022 G Dan Mitchell.

Tall trees and lush undergrowth in Southwestern Vermont.

This photograph continues the recent series (which isn’t finished just yet) of photographs documenting my “discovery” of New England woods. As I wrote earlier, I somehow managed to go this many years without visiting this lovely area. On our recent visit I mostly photographed in southwest Vermont, though I was briefly in Massachusetts with a camera, too. (We passed though portions of upstate New York… but we were too focused on getting from point A to point B to stop and make photographs.)

For a person brought up on California woods (which range from the widely-spaced oak trees at low elevation areas to the even more open forests of large trees in the mountains) the New England forests are a revelation. In some ways their moist greenness reminds me of parts of the Pacific Northwest, though the prevalence of deciduous trees sets them apart. Inside the woods, at least from what I saw, things are dense and quiet and overgrown with lush vegetation. I’m not yet quite sure how to photograph within these forests — though I think I can figure it out — and most of the recent photographs I’ll share are looking into the forest from its edge.

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: Nature, Photographs: Sierra Nevada

Trees, Morning Shadows

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Trees, Morning Shadows
A line of trees ascends a rocky slope in monring shadows, Ansel Adams Wilderness.

Trees, Morning Shadows. © Copyright 2022 G Dan Mitchell.

A line of trees ascends a rocky slope in monring shadows, Ansel Adams Wilderness.

While taking a morning walk along the creek below our camp I followed the water as it curved around a large flat area, tracing a route along the base of a rocky hill rising toward a much higher ridge. The ridge kept the area in shadow well into the morning, so I decided to photograph in the soft, shaded light just before the first direct sunlight arrived.

So much of what grows in these places is determined by the shape of the landscape. Here the slope was full of old moraine rocks and with boulders that appear to have fallen down from the higher ridge. But where there was a gap in the rocks the trees managed to establish themselves, creating ribbons of green ascending the hillside.

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.