Tag Archives: leaves

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

Oak and Granite, Autumn

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Oak and Granite, Autumn
A small oak tree in deep shade at the base of a Yosemite Valley granite cliff.

Oak and Granite, Autumn. © Copyright 2012 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A small oak tree in deep shade at the base of a Yosemite Valley granite cliff.

Back in 2012 I took a somewhat later-than-usual trip to photograph fall color in Yosemite Valley. When I think of Sierra Nevada fall color the high country aspens, mostly but not exclusively on the east side of the range, come to mind. Those colors tend to be an early October thing. But colors appear a bit later on the west side of the range, eventually working their way down to the foothills and finally the Central Valley. In Yosemite Valley beautiful colors come from cottonwood, black oak, dogwood and a few other sources, typically arriving in late October and peaking around Halloween.

For reasons that I can no longer recall, this time I ended up in the Valley a couple of weeks later. There was still sufficient color, and it came with the added bonus that light snow had recently fallen. (Unlike summer and winter, which tend to be just what you would expect, the transitional fall and spring seasons often bring surprises.) I took a walk along a section of the north wall of the Valley and photographed this small tree in the shadows at the base of a very tall granite cliff.

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: Nature, Photographs: The Southwest, Photographs: Utah

Canyon Cottonwood Trees

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Canyon Cottonwood Trees
Cottonwood trees with autumn leaves in a Utah canyon.

Canyon Cottonwood Trees. © Copyright 2020 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

© Copyright 2012 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

I came across this pair of cottonwood trees while walking up a lovely, narrow canyon in Southern Utah some years back. It is the same canyon I’ve mentioned in previous posts — the one where I had my very first introduction to the joys of exploring red rock canyons. I was here on this occasion with a couple of photographer friends.

There are, of course, quite a few cottonwood trees in Utah. (To say the least!) Why these two? I was impressed by just how different they were, despite growing in virtually the same spot and in the same conditions. Part of this can be explained, no doubt, by a difference in their ages. But such trees are also profoundly affected by the happenstance of where they sprout — is the soil shallow or deep, does it flood, is it rocky? The tree on the left still retains quite a few green leaves, it no longer has any lower branches on its straight trunk. The tree on the right seems like a veritable teenager, with its yellow leaves and its less solid structure — though if you look close you can make out the shape of its future growth, too.

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: Nature, Photographs: The Southwest, Photographs: Utah

The Last Leaves

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The Last Leaves
The last autumn leaves on trees and bushes above sculpted rocks along a bend in the Escalante River.

The Last Leaves. © Copyright 2012 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

The last autumn leaves on trees and bushes above sculpted rocks along a bend in the Escalante River.

Fall is my favorite season. I’m not really a summer person — too hot! — but the warm early autumn days are just about perfect. I love winter, too, and part of the appeal of fall is the certainty that winter, the time of “interesting” weather is coming soon, too. And as fall moves on toward winter the first of the Pacific cold weather systems begin to arrive, and snow begins to arrive in the Sierra.

Before that happens, though, we go through the autumn color season. In recent years I have discovered that I can stretch it out for months. For me it begins with a few early changes by the beginning of September in the Sierra which culminate a month later with the spectacular aspen color. Then the color works its way west across the range and down into the westside valleys, before it finally begins to peak in November nearer the coast. There’s still a bit left in December… and sometimes even later. I photographed this scene deep in the canyon of the Escalante River along a rocky bend where the final colors of the season were just about spent.

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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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: Nature, Photographs: The Southwest, Photographs: Utah

Autumn Trees, Slot Canyon

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Autumn Trees, Slot Canyon
Autumn colors along a stream in a winding Utah red rock slot canyon.

Autumn Trees, Slot Canyon. © Copyright 2012 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Autumn colors along a stream in a winding Utah red rock slot canyon.

This little canyon winds away from a backroad gravel route though a section of the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument. (I hope it still does — for all I know it is part of the beautiful land removed from the monument in 2016. Sigh.) A group of use spent a good part of a day wandering into the canyon and photographing.

This little scene has most of the features that characterize these canyons, though none of them seem as intense as the most extreme examples. The shallow stream winds quietly through the canyon bottom, though it is also clear that this little steam can sometimes rise up and make the place impassible. There is no direct light anywhere — instead everything is lit by diffused and reflected light that filters down from far above. The view is quite limited, and as you pass through a place like this your would is constricted by the side walls and the bends above and below your position. Looking ahead to the bend in front of us, we can see a bit of light around the corner, inviting us to continue around “just one more bend.”

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 | 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.