Tag Archives: leaves

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

Calf, Cottonwoods, and Cranes in Flight

November 29, 2013 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

A calf grazes near a row of autumn cottonwood trees on a foggy morning and as sandhill cranes fly overhead

On this foggy morning I had begun photographing a bit earlier, just at dawn. I gradually worked my way along a gravel country road, stopping frequently – spending more time stopped than driving, actually – to photograph the foggy landscape and migratory birds. At this early hour, the sandhill cranes were my primary targets. At times, when the fog cleared a bit, it was possible to see many of them taking off for distant points as the day began. When the fog thickened, they were heard more than seen, at least until they flew close enough to momentarily appear overhead through the fog.

In a place where the road paralleled a row of cottonwood trees with golden autumn leaves I stopped to wait for the birds to fly overhead. From a distance away I had figured out that many of the cranes were headed this way as they took off, so it seemed that if I stopped and waited here quietly the birds might come to me. And they did – every few minutes another group would fly low over my position. I shared this spot with a herd of cattle, quite a few of whom found me to be the most interesting thing in their early morning world and stared quietly at me. One calf that had passed beneath a fence around the pasture was busy grazing along the lane, so I stopped and photographed it beneath the cottonwood trees as a group of sandhill cranes passed overhead.

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

Cottonwood Trees, Reflection

November 25, 2013 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Cottonwood trees with fall foliage reflected in the Merced River

Believe it or not, this is the mighty Merced River, draining a vast section of the Yosemite High Sierra that extends all the way to the highest peaks of this section of the Sierra crest. On this late October afternoon, on a dry day during a dry month at the end of the second of two drought years in the Sierra, the river felt in many ways more like a creek. The water moved slowly, gently rippling over rocks in the shallow sections and pooling in the deeper areas where the movement of the water was almost invisible. The contrast between this scene and what the river can do is apparent when your realize that these trees could be standing in very deep water during the peak runoff floods of a wet year.

I had wandered out to this relatively accessible location in the afternoon, drawn by the golden cottonwood trees that were approaching their peak autumn color, the brilliant fall backlight from the low afternoon sun down the Valley to the west, the shadowed granite face beyond, and the possibility of using the river as an element in photographs. I was apparently not the only person with this idea, and when I arrived I found perhaps a half-dozen painters occupying strategic spots on gravel bars, the beach, and along the banks. I made some photographs that included these artists, but I also contrived to exclude them from some of the compositions, including this one that brought together all of those elements that I came here to find.

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

Hiker, Black Oaks, and Meadow

November 23, 2013 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

A hiker crosses a Yosemite Valley meadow beyond black oak trees with autumn foliage

Yes, yet another photograph of autumn oak trees and Yosemite Valley meadows! It is (or was) the season in late October and I’m still sorting through the photographs. When I first arrived here my plan was to photograph the black oaks as a “natural” landscape without people. So I found a composition that I thought would work and settled in to wait for the folks who were (as is inevitable in the Valley) wandering around in the meadow to finish and move out of the frame. It seemed that every time the view was about to be clear yet another person would arrive and walk into the frame. I finally decided that I might have to make two or more photographs and blend the “person-less” sections to create one image without hikers, so I made a few exposures as two or three people walked across. (I also timed some of the shots so that the people would be hidden behind the oak trees.)

As luck would have it, after I decided on this approach there was a point at which no human figures appeared in the scene, so I do have my natural landscape version of this scene. However, after thinking about it a bit more, I actually like the version with a person in it better! While most of my landscapes are “people-free,” every so often I do one that includes the figures in the frame. I’ve learned a few things about this. First, having a person in the frame isn’t always a bad thing. (Yes, file that in the “duh!” file.) The presence of a human figure can both crystallize the composition and it causes us to relate to the scene very differently – perhaps imaging ourselves being there or perhaps considering what the person in the photograph might be thinking and experiencing. Second, the figure can often be quite small and still change the effect of the image in ways that are much bigger than the small figure might suggest. As an exercise, try to just barely cover the person with your finger. Notice how the greatly the effect of this scene changes?

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

Black Oak, Meadow, Autumn

November 8, 2013 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

A backlit black oak tree with autumn foliage stands in a meadow below Sentinel Rocks, Yosemite Valley

This black oak, like so many in Yosemite Valley, stands in a large grassy meadow. Although the autumn foliage of these trees may seem less spectacularly colorful than that of the big leaf maples and the cottonwoods, the black oak has a more subtle beauty in the fall. But when lit from behind, early or late in the day when the sun is low, the color of black oak leaves can be surprisingly intense. Off all the fall colors in the Valley, in some ways the combination of that of these oaks and the grasses of the meadows where they are found seems to most strongly speak of fall to me.

This single tree is in a meadow filled with black oaks. I would not be surprised to find that there are 100 of them here. On this afternoon I had gone to the meadow to photograph something different, a group of small cottonwood trees growing near the bank of the Merced River. Finishing that project, I was about to start back toward my car when I noticed that a short-lived beam of direct sun was coming down from an opening in the upper cliff walls and spotlighting this tree. Naturally, I changed my plans, took a little detour, and spent a few minutes with this tree.

G Dan Mitchell Photography

Tag Archives: leaves

Calf, Cottonwoods, and Cranes in Flight

Cottonwood Trees, Reflection

Hiker, Black Oaks, and Meadow

Black Oak, Meadow, Autumn

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