Tag Archives: leaves

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Sierra Nevada

Dense Stand of Bare Aspens

October 25, 2013 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

A dense stand of nearly bare aspen trees, eastern Sierra Nevada

Those who photograph the eastern Sierra fall aspen color over a period years begin to recognize certain patterns which, in retrospect, are probably somewhat obvious. The color transition begins very close to the same time each year, near the end of September, though there are variations that are probably caused by annual differences in the climate. The first trees to change are found at higher elevations, and sometimes a few transitional leaves can be spotted even in mid-September. Once the change begins it works its way down in elevation, with the peak color occurring between the first week of October and perhaps through the third week in a typical year. If you look for color early, you start high. If you visit later, you look low.

This year the color change seemed to begin a bit early, probably due to a sequence of two drought years in the Sierra. By the time we arrived in the mountains in the second week of the month, most of the high elevation trees had completely lost their leaves, the mid-level color was at its peak, and the low elevation trees were more colorful than in a typical year. Even though we knew that the higher trees were mostly spent, we did head high up into some canyons to see the bare aspen trunks. In a few spots, such as this narrow stand of trees that grows in a valley along a creek, there were still a few golden leaves among the otherwise bare trunks.

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Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Sierra Nevada

Aspen Leaves on Snow

October 17, 2013 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Frost covered autumn aspen leaves lying on new-fallen snow, Sierra Nevada

Early October is the time of the annual aspen color transition in the eastern Sierra Nevada. For me, the combination of the dramatic color change and the seasonal weather changes clearly denote the fact that summer is over and that we are heading toward the cold part of the year. (I like this – I find that the fall through spring seasons are more photographically compelling, and I’m no longer a “hot weather person.”) While October in the Sierra can bring some beautiful and even warm days, there is not question that nights are both longer and colder, and the occasional passing weather front will drop enough snow to make it feel distinctly winter-like.

Although we knew that much of the iconic color at North Lake had already passed, we decided to go there anyway on this morning and look for more subtle things that remain. The road past the lake is on a north slope and we drove through plenty of recent snow as we passed along this shoreline in 22 degree temperatures. As expected, most of the trees had lost their leaves already, though we also found some trees that still held enough colorful leaves to make the visit well worth our time. And, when those leaves fall, they don’t simply disappear! On a snowy morning like this one they collect in piles on top of the snow, providing beautiful little compositions and highlighting the intensity of their colors.

Photographs: Pacific Northwest, Photographs: Structures and Objects, Photographs: Urban/Street

Fallen Leaves

September 15, 2013 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Fallen leaves on a grate along a Seattle downtown sidewalk

August 14 was a day off during the Seattle Opera “Ring” cycle – a series of four Wagner operas performed over a six-day period. For those who may not know, attending a full production of the Ring is almost a full-time occupation for the better part of a week. This may sound unbelievable to those who cannot imagine such a thing, but the four operas range from as short as about 2 1/2 hours up to well beyond five hours for the last one, Götterdämmerung – and once you start to “get it” and buy into the whole story, the music, and everything that goes with a production of this thing, well you’ll understand. In any case, on this first of two free days we had during the performances we decided to keep it simple and just head to downtown Seattle to walk around and see what we could photograph.

We took a fairly free-form approach to the shoot, starting near Pike Place Market where we knew we could get some coffee and then photographing people and stuff in and around the Market. We finished there and headed south through downtown, with no particular goal in mind. Eventually we got as far as the Art Wolfe Gallery, where we looked around a bit before heading north again. These street shoots are a lot of fun. I often shoot quickly, using a small camera and almost always just a prime, and I forego the usual tripod and gobs of heavy equipment. Subjects can range from people to buildings to little bits and pieces of urban detritus, and they frequently appear and are gone quickly. Something about this conjunction of lines and textures caught my attention, along with the faintly mossy green tint and the bit of accidental nature in the form of the leaves that had fallen on the metal grate.

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

Spring, Oaks, El Capitan Meadow

July 25, 2013 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Green grass and new oak leaves, El Capitan Meadow, Yosemite Valley

Probably almost anyone who has photographed in Yosemite Valley much can recognize this sort of scene and perhaps even think of some favorite spots to find black oak trees with new spring growth, set in meadows and backed by forest. Even though this is a very dry year in The Valley – and in almost all of California – around the beginning of May the annual “greening” of the Valley did take place, and this photograph was made during that period.

When lit from behind and above, the light coming through the new oak leaves is luminous and the colors can take on an intensity that sometimes cause me to describe this as the “impossibly green season” in California. Perhaps it is because the state is brown, tan, or gray during so much of the year that the spring green seems so intense.

G Dan Mitchell Photography

Tag Archives: leaves

Dense Stand of Bare Aspens

Aspen Leaves on Snow

Fallen Leaves

Spring, Oaks, El Capitan Meadow

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