Tag Archives: grove

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Sierra Nevada, Photographs: Yosemite

Cliff, Trees, Snow

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Cliff, Trees, Snow
A band of trees at the snowy base of the face of Half Dome

Cliff, Trees, Snow. Yosemite National Park, California. February 25, 2017. © Copyright 2017 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A band of trees at the snowy base of the face of Half Dome

Very early on two late February mornings, I was up and out the door well before sunrise, walking though shallow snow and sub-twenty-degree air to a nearby meadow to photograph that start of the Yosemite Valley day. On both occasions, my main strategy was to look upwards toward the cliffs and use a long lens to pick out small scenes that might otherwise be missed in the immensity of the scene.

Eventually the sun came up and light broke over the upper rim of the Valley, gradually working its way down the steep walls, first on the north side and eventually on the south side where I was focusing my attention. But it would be a long time — probably noon at least — until the direct light made it to this spot at the base of Half Dome. The low contrast and blue tone of the light along with the banks of snow reinforces the frigid feeling of this scene, with a row of straight and tall trees managing to make a living on this ledge at the bottom of the giant face of the mountain.

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 and Amazon.
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Photographs: Fall, Photographs: Fall Color, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: The Southwest, Photographs: Utah

Boulder Mountain Aspens

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Late season aspen groves, Boulder Mountain
Late season aspen groves, Boulder Mountain

Boulder Mountain Aspens. Dixie National Forest, Utah. October 6, 2012.© Copyright 2012 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Late season aspen groves, Boulder Mountain

These beautiful aspen groves stretch great distances up the hillsides in this area of Boulder Mountain in Utah. The road from Boulder to Torrey passes across an open section as it rises from Boulder, and here there are expansive views, uninterrupted by other kinds of trees. I had first seen this area during a spring visit, and this autumn visit was something of a follow-up.

I suppose that we actually arrived too late for the peak color, and it is clear that many of the trees further up the slope have lost virtually all of their color. On the other hand, the juxtaposition of the bare hillside and the bare upper groves with the scattered end-of-season color in the foreground trees only makes their color that much more striking.

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 and Amazon.
Blog | About | Flickr | Twitter | Facebook | Google+ | LinkedIn | Email

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: The Southwest, Photographs: Utah

Late Season Aspen Groves

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Late Season Aspen Groves
Late season aspens with sparse leaves on Boulder Mountain

Late Season Aspen Groves. Dixie National Forest, Utah. October 6, 2012. © Copyright 2017 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Late season aspens with sparse leaves on Boulder Mountain

This wasn’t my first visit to Utah, but it was my first visit during fall. We started in the west, where we knew we might find aspens, and we managed to catch the tail end of the aspen color in the high country around Cedar Breaks National Monument. From there we bypassed the obvious visit to Zion Canyon (that came later, on our homebound trip) and headed east, past Bryce and then Escalante and the small town of Boulder. Past Boulder, in terrain I had not visited before, the road began to climb as we drove on into the approaching sunset.

The first time I had driven past this place it was very early in the spring, and I was stunned by the number of aspen trees gathered in huge groves extending far up the slopes of these mountains. I remember making a mental note to visit them some fall, and this was that return visit. Being accustomed to the schedule of eastern Sierra aspen color, however, we arrived after the prime color — it comes earlier here in Utah. But in some ways, the few scattered trees with their wild late-season colors turned out to be more dramatic. What we thought might be a quick drive over Boulder Mountain to Torrey turned out to take a long time as we kept stopping and photographing these trees until there was no light left.

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 and Amazon.
Blog | About | Flickr | Twitter | Facebook | Google+ | LinkedIn | Email

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: Utah

Utah Aspen Grove, Fall

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Utah Aspen Grove, Fall
“Utah Aspen Grove, Fall” — A thin stand of autumn aspen trees, Dixie National Forest

This is another photograph of those beautiful, tall, nearly straight aspen trees — a growth pattern that I don’t see so often here in the California Sierra Nevada, but which is very common in Utah. These trees are probably near the end of their autumn color phase, even though I made the photograph near the beginning of October. It seems that the fall color comes a bit sooner here! (At higher elevations, almost all of the aspen color was already gone by the end of the first week of October.)

The photograph suggests several thoughts to me. First, that photographing aspens during so-called peak color is not the only option. The trees actually pass through a transition that can be photographed at almost any point, from the first hints of color, through the peak, and right on through to the time when few leaves are left. In fact, it may be possible to work the light a bit more later on. Second, while the early and late light is often best, it is possible to photograph this and other subjects during the main part of the day. I made this photograph in the afternoon as some high clouds passed overhead and softened the light. Finally, Utah’s public wild lands are under threat today, including from some misguided Utah legislators who seem to think that the profits of a small group of extraction industry corporations are more important than ensuring the protection of these features — to the extent that they are calling for reducing the area of existing national lands and the take-back of others. One group that works to protect such places is the Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance. Consider supporting their work.

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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” (Heyday Books) is available directly from him. Blog | Bluesky | Mastodon | Substack Notes | Flickr | Email

All media © Copyright G Dan Mitchell and others.