Tag Archives: nevada

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

Autumn, Eastern Sierra Valley

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Autumn, Eastern Sierra Valley
The autumn color of aspens, willows, and more comes to the valleys of the Eastern Sierra Nevada

Autumn, Eastern Sierra Valley. © Copyright 2019 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

The autumn color of aspens, willows, and more comes to the valleys of the Eastern Sierra Nevada.

During the past week I made my first trip to the Eastern Sierra Nevada to look for the annual fall aspen color transition. Broadly speaking — even though there can be some earlier and later aspen color — I regard the first three weeks of October as being the most likely time to find good color, with the second week perhaps being the most reliable period. Over the past few years the transition has seemed to start a bit earlier, but this year it seems to be on what we used to regard as a “normal” schedule. There wasn’t much color at all during the first few days of the month this year, but it was starting to come on more strongly towards the end of the first week. It should be quite good as of this October 8 posting… but that’s a guess, since I’m back home now. (I’ll be heading back up in a few days.)

Since folks often ask me about the aspen color season (perhaps because I wrote “California’s Fall Color: A Photographer’s Guide To Autumn In The Sierra.” Being ready to answer those questions was one reason for visiting early in the season. (OK, the main reason was to make my own photographs! And to make a presentation about autumn color in Mammoth Lakes.) I visited areas between highway 88 (Carson Pass) in the north and Bishop Creek Canyon to the south, stopping in quite a few other places in between. This photograph comes from one of those intermediate stops, a rugged east-side canyon that holds a lot of wonderful fall color from aspens, willows, cottonwoods, and more. (Looking for more information about the aspen color transition? Pease visit my Sierra Nevada Fall Color page.)

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: Sierra Nevada

Peaks And Sunset Clouds

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Peaks And Sunset Clouds
Colorful sunset clouds above the crest of the Sierra Nevada

Peaks And Sunset Clouds. © Copyright 2019 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Colorful sunset clouds above the crest of the Sierra Nevada.

The High Sierra can be a place of remarkable and striking light… but more often the conditions revolve around successive days of perfectly blue, cloud-free skies. That is probably among the reason the place is called the “range of light,” but it also can be challenging for photographers hoping for special, unusual, and striking conditions. Yes, we complain about “perfect, blue-sky conditions!

But eventually, even in this gentle range, the conditions do change. Most often in the summertime Sierra the change comes from periodic intrusions of monsoonal moisture that bring a few days of thunderstorms. On our recent trip we got a bit of that on our hike in… and then, a week later, on our hike out. For the rest of our stay was almost under those “perfect” conditions… except for our last evening, when the Sierra presented us with these beautiful sunset clouds, producing a beautiful luminous benediction to our visit.

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.

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

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Sierra Nevada

Tree, Lake, Granite Bench

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Tree, Lake, Granite Bench
A solitary tree grows along the shoreline of an alpine lake below Sierra Nevada granite benches

Tree, Lake, Granite Bench. © Copyright 2019 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A solitary tree grows along the shoreline of an alpine lake below Sierra Nevada granite benches.

This is another “quiet light” photograph, made during the “edge of the day” times when the light is muted and soft, when the glow of light on nearby rocks gently enters the scene. During these hours, especially in the morning, the air is still and cool, the reflective surface of water is unbroken, and the world is a quiet place.

I made this photograph very near to our weeklong backcountry base camp, in a high, rocky spot nestled in the curving shore of an 11,000′ lake in a valley full of meadows, boulders, and running water. The high valley was surrounded by even higher peaks, and every morning before the sun rose above those ridges we have and hour of more of this light.

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.

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

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Sierra Nevada

First Light, Sierra High Country

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First Light, Sierra High Country
First light touches Sierra Nevada peaks and reflects in the surface of an alpine lake.

First Light, Sierra High Country. © Copyright 2019 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

First light touches Sierra Nevada peaks and reflects in the surface of an alpine lake.

The photography, of course, is the main excuse for our trips to places like these. We go to some lengths to put ourselves in locations like this for days or longer — lots of advanced planning, solid backcountry travel to get there, and then a week or more of living in tents. But the advantages are many. Obviously the “scenery” is often right outside our tent doors, and when great light happens we are essentially right there. Because we are there for a significant period for time we can more carefully and completely explore our surroundings, finding hidden gems, figuring out best times for various subjects, and returning to them as necessary. We also have the time to slow into the natural backcountry rhythms, where it seems that we have much more time to do all of the important things — photography, of course, but also sitting a looking or having a look discussion with colleagues/friends.

This view was literally steps from my tend, set on what seemed almost like a large peninsula nestled within the curve of the lake. After our first sunrise here it became apparent that the intensely colorful first light would be a fleeting subject. Due to the surrounding geography, this first color would initially spread across the summit of this ridge… but then quickly lose its color. This was a quiet morning, with little wind, so I decided it was time to stake out a camera location and photograph the first light reflected in the lake.

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.

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