Tag Archives: grove

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

Leaning Aspen Trees, Reflections, Autumn

October 12, 2017 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Leaning aspen trees with autumn colors, reflected in an Eastern Sierra Nevada pond

On the first day of this short trip to the Sierra Nevada, with photographs of fall color our objective, we followed a long driving route to the east side so that we could take a look at a wide range of locations. We began by crossing the range quite far to the north at Carson Pass, then headed south over Monitor Pass to US 395, and from there we continued toward our eventual destination in Bishop. Along the way we made quite a few stops and a few side-trips to look at and photograph fall color. By the middle of the day it became clear that we were going to be dealing with wind. (In fact, by the time we arrived in Bishop after dark it was so windy that driving was starting to be an “interesting” experience.) Wind is not generally regarded as being helpful when photographing aspen trees — though there are some ways to deal with it — so eventually we sought out locations where it was moderated a bit.

One way to get out of the worst of the worst winds is to leave the wide-open country east of the range and head up into the narrower canyons. While this typically doesn’t eliminate wind completely, it often does block the worst of it. That’s just what we finally did, turning up into a familiar canyon and driving almost to the end of the road. Here we arrived at a location with quiet ponds surrounded by all kinds of trees, including some with fall foliage. Along the edge of one pond and its boggy surroundings we found large aspen trees leaning away from the water. My assumption is that the soggy ground was no longer solid enough to hold the trees and something, probably even stronger wind than we were dealing with, pushed them toward the nearby grove. Many of the trees were still alive, though you have to wonder whether their current lean angle is the end of the story!

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

Tall Aspen Trees, Autumn

October 11, 2017 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

A grove of tall aspen trees at peak autumn color, Eastern Sierra Nevada

“The color isn’t very good this year,” someone said. “The color is changing late,” said someone else. “It changed to early,” said another. “The trees are still all green,” according to one observer. “Too many trees are bare already,” lamented one photographer. “The early snow turned lots of leaves black,” someone wrote. “It isn’t as good as it used to be,” reported another. After watching quite a few fall color seasons in the Sierra, I have observed that seasons do seem to have a bit of a personality. I’ve also heard (and spoken!) some generalizations about the development of color every year. It finally occurred to me this season that I often hear some variation on the same comments almost every season! Someone reports early color — or that it isn’t starting on schedule. Someone reports that the colors are better — or worse — that usual. But, aside from some differences likely attributable to weather variations, both long-term and short-term, over time things do seem to play out it fairly similar ways each year.

This year I spent — so far — about six days in the Sierra during fall color season. I feel like I pretty much hit the peak color over the past few days, with good color remaining at higher elevations and starting at the lower levels. If you haven’t gone yet and can get away in the next few days, I’m confident that you’ll be able to find some great eastern Sierra color, too. You will find a few groves have lost their leaves, but you’ll also find some in peak condition and probably even a few trees that are still green. I made this photograph on a very cold autumn morning — made a bit colder due to a miscalculation on an ice-coated rock while trying to cross a stream! — in a location where the morning sun had not yet cleared the top of a nearby tall ridge. The trees were picking up some soft reflected light that opened up the shadows and revealed details and colors that would not be a visible later on when the trees were in full sun.

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

Autumn Color Transition

October 8, 2017 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Brush and aspens undergoing the autumn color transition in the eastern Sierra Nevada

When we think of fall color in the Sierra Nevada, for many the first (and perhaps only?) thoughts are of the aspens. The aspens are beautiful — more about them in a moment — but they aren’t the whole show. For example, where the high desert environment meets the mountain environment there can be a lot of spectacularly colorful brush, and the dried grasses contribute their own golden brown tones. Willows can become quite yellow, and even some ferns can glow in the right light. I suppose that this photograph is largely about aspens, but it chose to include some of those other color sources, too.

The aspen color transition is not a sudden thing. In fact, if you start with the earliest oddball individual yellow leaves, often seen by mid September and sometimes earlier, and look all the way out until late October when the last leaves finally fall, you can be looking at a period of as long as six weeks. (To be clear, the core of the season is still the first half of October plus a little.) Even in individual locations the color rarely changes all at once, and brilliantly colorful trees may stand next to trees that are still green. This location along the eastern base of the range is a fine example. Obviously some of the trees are approaching peak color. But if you look closely you may spot a few trees that are already bare. And the great or almost-entirely green trees area still several days to a week before their best color.

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

Aspens, Early Evening

October 6, 2017 G Dan Mitchell 2 Comments

Early evening light slants across eastern Sierra Nevada foothills and aspen groves beneath snow-covered peaks

I made my first Sierra Nevada autumn aspen trip earlier this week. (This wasn’t my first aspen hunt of the season, though — a week ago I went into Eastern Nevada to look for them, too.) I just had a couple of days this time, though I’ll be back there again before too long. I did a rather high-mileage trip for such a short visit. On Tuesday I traveled east from the Bay Area to cross the crest at Carson Pass. I headed south over Monitor Pass to get to US 395, and then I headed south to find a campsite in Bishop Canyon. It was an “interesting” weather day — I drove through light snow flurries on the upper portion of US 395, though it cleared once I got south of Mammoth Lakes. Aspen conditions? In short, color is changing in many places, though had only peaked in a very few, so there is plenty of color left to come.

People often ask, “Where is the best place to find aspen color?” (You may have heard — I wrote a book on the subject!) I think that the best answer is perhaps not to name one or another place but to consider how aspen color evolves each fall and the many potential places to look for it. A short answer is that you can head over just about any trans-Sierra pass from highway 80 south and keep your eyes peeled! In general, things tend to move from north to south and from high to low, so keep that in mind as you look. But right now, if you cross any of these passes and take a cruise up and down US 395, all you really need to do is keep your eyes open and be prepared to do a bit of investigating… and you are almost certain to be rewarded.

G Dan Mitchell Photography

Tag Archives: grove

Leaning Aspen Trees, Reflections, Autumn

Tall Aspen Trees, Autumn

Autumn Color Transition

Aspens, Early Evening

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