Tag Archives: grove

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Sierra Nevada

Aspens and Granite

October 30, 2013 G Dan Mitchell 2 Comments

A stand of aspen with fall color in front of a granite filled slope, eastern Sierra Nevada

This beautiful stand of aspen trees is easily visible from the main highway running up and down the eastern Sierra, and I notice the trees every time that I drive past. It is across a small meadow where sheep graze at certain times of the year, and the trees are set against the backdrop of a small rocky hillside. I have stopped here before, but most often either the light hasn’t been quite right (I have been looking for a certain combination of back- and side-light) or the leaf color hasn’t been exactly idea.

On this October eastern Sierra trip we passed this spot quite a few times as we looked for photographic subjects in nearby areas. Conditions ranged from snow to fog to night to midday. Each time I again looked over at the trees and thought about the conditions in which I could photograph them, and because the trip was an extended one I passed by a few times when I could have stopped and photographed. Finally, on the second-to-last day of the visit, I figured out that I might or might not pass them again on this trip, the trees were showing a lot of color, and the light seemed about right.

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Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Sierra Nevada

Dense Stand of Bare Aspens

October 25, 2013 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

A dense stand of nearly bare aspen trees, eastern Sierra Nevada

Those who photograph the eastern Sierra fall aspen color over a period years begin to recognize certain patterns which, in retrospect, are probably somewhat obvious. The color transition begins very close to the same time each year, near the end of September, though there are variations that are probably caused by annual differences in the climate. The first trees to change are found at higher elevations, and sometimes a few transitional leaves can be spotted even in mid-September. Once the change begins it works its way down in elevation, with the peak color occurring between the first week of October and perhaps through the third week in a typical year. If you look for color early, you start high. If you visit later, you look low.

This year the color change seemed to begin a bit early, probably due to a sequence of two drought years in the Sierra. By the time we arrived in the mountains in the second week of the month, most of the high elevation trees had completely lost their leaves, the mid-level color was at its peak, and the low elevation trees were more colorful than in a typical year. Even though we knew that the higher trees were mostly spent, we did head high up into some canyons to see the bare aspen trunks. In a few spots, such as this narrow stand of trees that grows in a valley along a creek, there were still a few golden leaves among the otherwise bare trunks.

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Sierra Nevada

Aspens and Autumn Snow

October 23, 2013 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

A large grove of golden autumn aspen trees ascends the slopes above Conway Summit toward Sierra Nevada peaks blanketed with early fall snow

On the final day of our September trip to photograph eastern Sierra fall color, we made a very long and round-about loop that finally brought us to Lee Vining for a late breakfast. The day had begun with snow flurries in the Mammoth Lakes area, then cleared as we drove a good distance to the east into high desert basin and range country and then north toward Mono Lake. Shortly after passing along the south side of Mono Lake we headed west toward highway 395, with the Sierra crest of the eastern boundary of Yosemite National Park rising front of us, enveloped in snow showers. We stopped to photograph a bit and then headed on to Lee Vining for a late breakfast.

By midday the weather was clearly in transition, with clouds and showers lingering along the crest, but clear skies (with a few clouds) to the east. After climbing to Conway Summit we found the area in this weather boundary zone, with broken sunlight and shadows moving across the lower slopes with their colorful aspens, while snow showers were still falling higher up in the peaks of the Sierra crest. This photograph looks more or less in the direction of the sun, and the strong backlit emphasizes the brilliant colors of the aspens.

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

Aspens and Pines

October 15, 2013 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

A few pine trees stand among the autumn aspens near Conway Summit in the eastern Sierra Nevada

I made this photograph in the vicinity of a well-known and easily accessible aspen color “hot spot” in the eastern Sierra, at Conway Summit along highway 395 north of Lee Vining. Here is one of the largest and most easily accessible areas of aspen color in the eastern Sierra, since it is in a large open area with grand vistas up aspen covered slopes and because these slopes rise from an open section of the highway. At the right point in time (almost) every season, trees in every stage of color may be seen, ranging from green through yellow, orange, and red to bare trees that have lost all of their leaves.

This season I was in the eastern Sierra for five days, ranging between Carson Pass in the north and as far south as the Bishop Creek drainage. Several times during this period I managed to end up at or near Conway Summit. The first visit was on the trip over to Bishop, when we drove 395 down from Carson and Monitor Passes in the middle of an early season snow storm. Arriving at the summit that day, I photographed this area in falling snow that almost obscured the trees. Only two days later I was there again in the afternoon, when the backlight coming across the Sierra crest can cause the autumn aspen leaves to glow with great intensity. For this photograph I found a spot where the nearer trees were largely bare except for a few trees still holding a few golden leaves.

G Dan Mitchell Photography

Tag Archives: grove

Aspens and Granite

Dense Stand of Bare Aspens

Aspens and Autumn Snow

Aspens and Pines

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