Tag Archives: nature

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

Big Leaf Maple, Autumn

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Big Leaf Maple, Autumn
“Big Leaf Maple, Autumn” — A big, colorful autumn leaf from a big leaf maple tree, Yosemite Valley.

Leaves from the big leaf maple trees are among the most colorful sights in Yosemite Valley during the fall. Their yellow color is especially striking because they often grow in shaded, darker areas and sometimes among the conifers. They may not be that well known since their color season is short and not during the most popular tourist times. The five-lobed leaves are gigantic — sometimes as large as two hands spread out.

Finding this big, brightly-colored leaf was part of the pay-off for a half hour or more of slow wandering through a quiet forested area. Photographing in these places is both challenging and rewarding. There often will not be obvious iconic subjects there, but the rewarding challenge comes from discovering small things and finding ways to make compositions out of complex scenes.

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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

All media © Copyright G Dan Mitchell and others.

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

Backlit Autumn Oak Tree

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Backlit Autumn Oak Tree
“Backlit Autumn Oak Tree” — Branches and leaves of an autumn black leaf oak tree in Yosemite Valley.

My Autumn color hunting season in the Sierra Nevada runs from roughly the very end of September through the beginning of November, as color moves from the highest east side regions to the foothills and valleys of the Western Sierra. A trip to Yosemite Valley right around Halloween is traditional, and this year was there on that date.

While California’s western Sierra isn’t known as a fall color hot spot, there is a lot of beautiful color if you know where and when to look. In Yosemite Valley, much of the color comes from bright yellow big leaf maples, golden-brown black oaks, and yellow-to-red dogwoods. The tree in the photograph is a large oak growing in a Valley meadow. I photographed directly backlit by the sun, just before it moved behind a high cliff.

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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

All media © Copyright G Dan Mitchell and others.

Photographs: Fall, Photographs: Fall Color, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: The Southwest, Photographs: Utah

Cottonwood and Sandstone

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Cottonwood and Sandstone
“Cottonwood and Sandstone” — A cottonwood tree with autumn foliage grows against Utah sandstone.

Right up front, a few things about this photograph. First, it is not recent — I photographed this scene back in 2014. I have been busy reviewing old raw files recently, and this one came up during that process. Second, unlike some of the others resulting from this review, this is a photograph that I have shared before, albeit in a different form. What you see here is a very different crop from the original, and by eliminating some elements from the original image I think I have significantly changed the effect.

The location is a place far out in theUtah backcountry — not exactly inaccessible, but not easy to get to. I was part of a group of a half dozen photographers who four-wheeled it out there and set up camp for days so that we cold photograph the heck out of the area. Sadly, from what I hear, this tree is no longer living, perhaps having succumbed to a drought and heat.

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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

All media © Copyright G Dan Mitchell and others.

Photographs: The Southwest, Photographs: Utah

Sandstone Formations, Earlry Morning Light

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Sandstone Formations, Earlry Morning Light
“Sandstone Formations, Early Morning Light” — Early morning light on sandstone formations at Arches National Park.

Recently I have been revisiting photographs from a decade ago, including a couple of lengthy trips to Utah in the spring and fall seasons. On one we visited Arches National Park — believe it or not, my first visit. I felt like I sort of knew the place, having read Edward Abbey’s “Desert Solitaire” a few times, but the reality of this landscape astounded me. My wife, Patricia Emerson Mitchell, likes to tell a story about me more or less losing it when I first saw those sandstone formations!

On this morning we entered the park very early, well before sunrise. I had been photographing for some time when I made this photograph. The sun had recently risen, but the light still was warm, and the effect on the red rock formations was striking. This is an example of my long-lens landscape photographs. Some people imagine that landscape photography must be done with wide and normal focal length lenses, but I often like to use long focal lengths to limit my view to small sections of the larger landscape

Leave a comment or question using the form. (If you are reading this on the home page, click the article title to see the full article and the comment form.

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

All media © Copyright G Dan Mitchell and others.