Tag Archives: leaves

Photographs: Fall, Photographs: Fall Color, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: New England

Autumn Morning, White Mountains

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Autumn Morning, White Mountains
Colorful autumn forest in morning light, White Mountains, New Hampshire.

Autumn Morning, White Mountains. © Copyright 2022 G Dan Mitchell.

Colorful autumn forest in morning light, White Mountains, New Hampshire.

I made this photograph on what I came to regard as the actual day of peak color in this part of the White Mountains. Here and nearby, the colors were noticeably more intense and widespread than the previous day, and one day later when some weather came through trees were dropping leaves and more bare branches were appearing. This photograph exemplifies an approach that I often like — using a longer focal length lens to isolate a small section of the overall landscape. Here I wanted to focus on the juxtaposition of the foreground trees and hill with the more distant pattern of the ascending gully.

Another aspect of this photograph is, I came to learn, typical of a lot of White Mountains autumn photography. It is often a challenge to get unobstructed access to longer and wider views of the landscape, partially because the forest are so dense and close-in, and partially because roads here tend to be designed without shoulders and with few places to pull over. Consequently, any place that does have a wider view seems precious. Here there was a small turn-out along the road, and if I put my camera in just the right spot I could manage to photograph between and over the nearer brush and trees… and obtain one of those long views.

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, Amazon, and directly from G Dan Mitchell.

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

Pine and Aspen, Eastern Sierra

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Pine and Aspen, Eastern Sierra
A pine tree backed by aspens, forest, and Eastern Sierra Nevada mountains.

Pine and Aspen, Eastern Sierra. © Copyright 2022 G Dan Mitchell.

A pine tree backed by aspens, forest, and Eastern Sierra Nevada mountains.

This scene seems both typical and atypical of the Sierra Nevada. The familiar aspects are perhaps obvious, particularly if you spend time on the east side of the range. There is a solitary pine at the edge of dry, sagebrush meadow, with more such trees in the background. Aspens are mixed in with the pines, and in the distance they climb the hillside. Overall there aren’t really a lot of trees, and the views are quite open. Slopes climb steeply along the sides of the valley and toward the Sierra crest beyond.

What is atypical? For one thing, I made the photograph in virtually the middle of the day. I had started back home to the Bay Area that morning, thinking I’d drive through once the early morning light was gone. But the high, thin clouds softened the light enough in some locations to make midday photography attractive. Although my initial reason for going to this spot was to scout (and then to stop to eat my lunch), I ended up photographing. Another slightly unusual factor is the rather excellent aspen color, even high up in the mountains, at the end of the third week of October. I think the color sustained more this year due to climate and weather factors — it has been relatively warm and dry here during aspen season.

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, Amazon, and directly from G Dan Mitchell.

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

Tall Aspen Grove, Autumn

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Tall Aspen Grove, Autumn
A small group of tall aspens with long, white trunks and colorful autumn foliage, Eastern Sierra Nevada.

Tall Aspen Grove, Autumn. © Copyright 2022 G Dan Mitchell.

A small group of tall aspens with long, white trunks and colorful autumn foliage, Eastern Sierra Nevada.

This photograph is yet another example of the variety of colors during the Sierra Nevada autumn aspen transition. There’s still a bit of green, a lot of brilliant yellow, and highlights of red and orange here and there. Earlier in the season the predominant colors tend to be the yellows set against the greens. But by the second half of the month much (though not quite all) of the green is gone, and the more characteristic autumn colors clearly dominate.

This photograph is also another example of the value of long lenses for landscape photography. I use everything from 16mm to 400mm and sometimes longer for landscape. The long lenses let me photograph subject that are simply not accessible. They allow me to work at a distance from an elevated perspective that isn’t available closer to the subject. They are useful for narrowing down the scope of a composition and eliminating distractions. All of those were in play when I made this photograph.

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, Amazon, and directly from G Dan Mitchell.

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Links to Articles, Sales and Licensing, my Sierra Nevada Fall Color book, Contact Information.

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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

Aspens, Meadow, and Pond

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Aspens, Meadow, and Pond
Aspen trees at the peak of autumn color at the edge of an Eastern Sierra Nevada meadow pond.

Aspens, Meadow, and Pond. © Copyright 2022 G Dan Mitchell.

Aspen trees at the peak of autumn color at the edge of an Eastern Sierra Nevada meadow pond.

One of the things that Sierra Nevada aspen photographer are always looking for is leaf color other than the ubiquitous yellow-gold seen on the vast majority of aspens. That color can be quite beautiful, but colors that contrast with it are special. This could be the green of yet-to-change trees, but ideally it is the beautiful red and orange leaves that appear less frequently. In most cases these rarer colors appear among larger numbers of yellow trees, and they can stand out wonderfully against that background.

I photographed these trees near a spot where I often pause to look at early yellow color, but where I usually do not photograph. However, on the visit during the third week of October (later than usual for me) essentially all of the leaves had turned, and I notices some beautiful orange and red trees that I hadn’t seen before. I took a short walk to a slightly elevated camera position and photographed them with a bit of meadow and pond in the foreground.

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, Amazon, and directly from G Dan Mitchell.

Blog | About | Twitter | Flickr | Facebook | Email

Links to Articles, Sales and Licensing, my Sierra Nevada Fall Color book, Contact Information.

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All media © Copyright G Dan Mitchell and others as indicated. Any use requires advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.