Tag Archives: grove

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: The Southwest, Photographs: Utah

Fall Aspen Color, Boulder Mountain

April 16, 2013 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Brilliant autumn aspen color on Boulder Mountain, Utah

I produced a lot of photographs in the state of Utah in 2012. Although I had not photographed there before (as astonishing of an omission as that seems!) I think I did a pretty good job of making up for lost time. I made three visits to the state, one in spring and two in the fall, and spent a total of about 35 days on the road to, from, and within Utah. I plan to go back!

On that first spring visit we drove over the shoulder of Boulder Mountain between the Escalante and Torrey areas before the new spring foliage had yet come to the extensive aspen groves found in that area. Being an aspen aficionado I could imagine what these slopes must be like in the fall when the foliage changes, and we made a plan to try to pass by here again in the autumn. Not being completely familiar with the seasonal patterns in this part of the country, we might have been just a bit late for peak Utah color – in general we saw brilliant aspen color in many places, but it had already passed at the higher locations, and we soon learned that the cottonwood color comes a bit later in the month. So when we left the town of Boulder to follow the road up and over the Boulder Mountain area, we had a combination of some brilliantly colorful groves at the lower and perhaps middle elevations and higher groves that had more or less completely dropped their leaves. That is the scene in this photograph, made in early evening light on a day when there were some high clouds – and the shockingly colorful foreground trees are backed by the bare trunks of winter aspens higher up the slopes of the mountain.

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Photographs: Central California, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Northern California, Photographs: Wildlife

White Pelicans in Flight

March 23, 2013 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

A flock of white pelicans crosses the marsh before landing at a San Joaquin Valley wildlife refuge

I believe that I have written in the past about the first time I saw white pelicans in the Central Valley of California. The preface to that story is that I somehow managed to live in this part of California for my whole life without realizing that this valley is filled with an amazing diversity of migratory wildlife every winter, so I’m still “discovering” things that many other take for granted. In any case, I was out in the valley at one of the wildlife refuges on a very foggy morning when it was impossible to see more than a few dozen feet into the murk. I could hear birds, but certainly not see them. I stopped and opened the window of the car to listen, and almost immediately a flock of large birds coasted silently into and out of sight. I was somewhat taken aback and thought for a moment that they “looked like pelicans,” but since I had no idea that such birds would be found here I dismissed the thought. Later that day my friends began to talk about seeing “white pelicans,” and later they showed me where a flock was resting on a small island in a marsh.

This flock arrived late in the day and was again unexpected. We had travelled to the edge a marsh to watch a large flock of Ross’s geese. They were settled in for the afternoon, but we knew that they would begin to fly out as the end of the day approached. This time it was almost completely clear, so it was easy to see this large flock of birds as it silently floated over the edge of the marsh – with almost no flapping of wings, in great contrast to the geese! This time I more quickly figured out what I was seeing and I photographed them as the crossed into the center of the marsh and landed.

Photographs: Coastal Redwoods, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Northern California

Forest Ridge, Fog

February 18, 2013 G Dan Mitchell 2 Comments

Ocean fog overruns forest-covered ridges in Marin County, California

I made this photograph on a very cold, cloudy, gray, and by most people’s standards, fairly miserable day! It was a morning of murky atmosphere, high clouds blocking the light, and thick ocean fog along the coast and into the coastal forests – and it had stymied most of my attempts to find the sorts of photographs I was looking for. I finally decided to just look around – we call this “scouting” – and I eventually ended up in the hills near Mount Tamalpais State Park in Marin County, where I thought I might get above this gray atmosphere. I sort of succeeded, rising above the coastal fog, but the overall haziness and the high clouds were still a factor.

As I drove up the ridge and past an area of open meadows, the view opened back down towards lower hills with fog swirling round them. The hills were mostly submerged in the fog, but in one area the tops of ridges managed to poke through, though at times they, too, were covered. This is one of a small set of photographs I made here before moving on. In order to get the mood that I wanted to evoke from this subject, I made several particular choices in post production. One was to desaturate the colors quite a bit but to not go all the way to a purely black and white rendition, so the dark areas retain the slightly blue-green coloration of the forest. I also did some work with curves to produce the balance of light and dark that I was looking for.

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: The Southwest, Photographs: Utah

Cottonwood Grove and Cliff, Autumn

February 11, 2013 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

A cottonwood grove in golden fall colors, Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument

In late October these bright yellow-gold cottonwood trees seem to be almost everywhere in Utah, albeit at slightly different stages of color development. Some are still mostly green with just a hint of yellow, while others have lost most of their leaves. From what I can tell, the difference in the pattern of change relate to things such as elevation, whether the trees are in sheltered canyons – in Zion Canyon they seem to change much later – or out in the open, and other causes that I don’t yet understand. One thing I do know: Between the aspens, which change color several weeks earlier, and the cottonwoods it seems like the entire month of October produces a lot of fall color. From what I hear it even extends into November, though I haven’t been there during that month to see it for myself.

On this day we began early with very cold hike into a portion of the Escalante River, which runs for quite a good distance through this section of Utah. Before the day was over we were challenged by strong wind, more cold, and eventually even a bit of light rain, but early on when I made this photograph the conditions were still bit less challenging, at least as far as the wind was concerned. Here the water course ran very close to the cliff wall, and clumps of golden cottonwoods grew between the water and the sandstone face. Although some direct light was beginning to strike the upper canyon walls and reflect light down into the canyon, here at the bottom along the creek the light was still soft and diffused.

G Dan Mitchell Photography

Tag Archives: grove

Fall Aspen Color, Boulder Mountain

White Pelicans in Flight

Cottonwood Grove and Cliff, Autumn

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