Tag Archives: landscape

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

Tall Aspens, Fall Color

Image November 21, 2025 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

This is a type of autumn aspen photograph that I think of as a “wall of color.” Here there are more of the tall and straight trees than we see in many places in the Sierra, and the entire grove is at or near its fall peak. It helps that I had a somewhat elevated vantage point to make the photograph, part of what lets me fill the frame with color.

To look at this photograph you might imagine a scene almost like New England fall colors. However, while such colors there can go on for miles and cover successive mountains (hills, really) and valleys, in the Sierra the color is more concentrated. Groves, many of which are small, can stand out brilliantly against the predominant background of dark conifer trees or rocks or sagebrush.

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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

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Photographs: The Southwest, Photographs: Utah

Sandstone Formations, First Light

Image November 17, 2025 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

I made this photograph from an “official” viewpoint…. that is named for an entirely different view that lies behind my camera position. There is something interesting in that other direction, but this tableau of sandstone towers and walls, near and far, seems more compelling to me, especially very early in the morning when the rising sun illuminates them. I made this photograph just before actual sunrise, when the earth’s shadow is visible in the distant sky.

My feelings about Arches National Park are complicated. When we drove into the park in the morning on my very first visit, I really had little idea of what I would see. I was dumbfounded by the wild formations — huge sandstone walls, tall towers, rocks perched in improbable places, long views. It is definitely worth a visit or two, but be aware that it is a heavily impacted place. Its beauty is part of the reason, but it also lies just outside the town of Moab, Utah, making it (perhaps too) accessible.

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All media © Copyright G Dan Mitchell and others.

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

Morning, Forest at Meadow’s Edge

Image November 15, 2025 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

From the time I first visited Tuolumne Meadows (decades ago, as a child) I remember hearing that the meadows were being gradually overtaken by the forests. (I later learned that the story is not quite that simple.) This stuck with me, and I’ve always been intrigued by the boundaries between meadow and forest. This photograph shows three age groupings of pines next to this meadow — the three big and old trees left of center, a dense stand of younger tall trees at the right, and a thick line of “baby trees” extending from the left edge beyond the three big trees.

This was a special morning at Tuolumne. It was the first day of July, in a year when the campground would not open for another month. Park entrance restrictions further limited the number of visitors. I camped just outside the park and was able to enter before dawn. I had the landscape almost entirely to myself as the sun rose and light fog cleared from the meadow.

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

Autumn Forest, Yosemite Valley

Image November 13, 2025 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Auturm Forest, Yosemite Valley — “Autumn Forest, Yosemite Valley” — Autumn color from black oak and big leaf maple trees among the conifers, Yosemite Valley.

This is another of those dense vegetation photographs that I like. I enjoy the challenge of looking at these complex scenes long enough to find order in their complexity and near-chaos. Here that meant setting up a good distance back from the scene and photographing with a very long lens, moving around to find just the right relationships among the elements.

There are two special things about this specific spot in Yosemite Valley. The first has to do with light. Since areas along the base of the southern cliffs tend to remain in the shadows for many hours, I go here to find soft shadow light. But even better, El Capitan is across the Valley from this spot, and it reflects the daytime sun into these trees, giving a directional quality to the light. There’s one more interesting thing about this spot: a road runs fight in front of it, so one must compose carefully to leave it out and then wait for any cars to pass!