Tag Archives: nevada

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

Fall Color, Bare Aspens

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Fall Color, Bare Aspens
Nearly bare aspen trees in the center of a scene of Eastern Sierra autumn color.

Fall Color, Bare Aspens. © Copyright 2022 G Dan Mitchell.

Nearly bare aspen trees in the center of a scene of Eastern Sierra autumn color.

This photograph, made when this grove had passed its prime, gets us closer to the end of this year’s autumn transition in the Sierra, when some trees here are almost bare. While writing about this photograph I pondered my favorite time of aspen season. Is it the first explosion of color early each fall? Is it the peak time when the greatest number of leaves are fully transitioned? Or is it this time, when some colorful leaves remain but it is more and more obvious that winter is almost here? Honestly, it is hard to pick one over the other, but I do love how the trunks and branches are gradually revealed as the leaves fall..

While this photograph focuses on trees near the end of the color transition, nearby and just out of the frame were many trees still in peak, golden color. This year it seemed that brilliant colors hung on just a bit longer, and I have some theories about why this happened. The ongoing warm-up of the California (and global) climate is one factor. Another specific to this year (thought not unique to it) is that the absence of significant early season storms or wind allowed leaves that might otherwise have been blown down to remain on the trees a bit longer.

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, Amazon, and directly from G Dan Mitchell.

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

Pine and Aspen, Eastern Sierra

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Pine and Aspen, Eastern Sierra
A pine tree backed by aspens, forest, and Eastern Sierra Nevada mountains.

Pine and Aspen, Eastern Sierra. © Copyright 2022 G Dan Mitchell.

A pine tree backed by aspens, forest, and Eastern Sierra Nevada mountains.

This scene seems both typical and atypical of the Sierra Nevada. The familiar aspects are perhaps obvious, particularly if you spend time on the east side of the range. There is a solitary pine at the edge of dry, sagebrush meadow, with more such trees in the background. Aspens are mixed in with the pines, and in the distance they climb the hillside. Overall there aren’t really a lot of trees, and the views are quite open. Slopes climb steeply along the sides of the valley and toward the Sierra crest beyond.

What is atypical? For one thing, I made the photograph in virtually the middle of the day. I had started back home to the Bay Area that morning, thinking I’d drive through once the early morning light was gone. But the high, thin clouds softened the light enough in some locations to make midday photography attractive. Although my initial reason for going to this spot was to scout (and then to stop to eat my lunch), I ended up photographing. Another slightly unusual factor is the rather excellent aspen color, even high up in the mountains, at the end of the third week of October. I think the color sustained more this year due to climate and weather factors — it has been relatively warm and dry here during aspen season.

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, Amazon, and directly from G Dan Mitchell.

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

Tall Aspen Grove, Autumn

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Tall Aspen Grove, Autumn
A small group of tall aspens with long, white trunks and colorful autumn foliage, Eastern Sierra Nevada.

Tall Aspen Grove, Autumn. © Copyright 2022 G Dan Mitchell.

A small group of tall aspens with long, white trunks and colorful autumn foliage, Eastern Sierra Nevada.

This photograph is yet another example of the variety of colors during the Sierra Nevada autumn aspen transition. There’s still a bit of green, a lot of brilliant yellow, and highlights of red and orange here and there. Earlier in the season the predominant colors tend to be the yellows set against the greens. But by the second half of the month much (though not quite all) of the green is gone, and the more characteristic autumn colors clearly dominate.

This photograph is also another example of the value of long lenses for landscape photography. I use everything from 16mm to 400mm and sometimes longer for landscape. The long lenses let me photograph subject that are simply not accessible. They allow me to work at a distance from an elevated perspective that isn’t available closer to the subject. They are useful for narrowing down the scope of a composition and eliminating distractions. All of those were in play when I made this photograph.

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, Amazon, and directly from G Dan Mitchell.

Blog | About | Twitter | 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.

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

Aspens, Meadow, and Pond

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Aspens, Meadow, and Pond
Aspen trees at the peak of autumn color at the edge of an Eastern Sierra Nevada meadow pond.

Aspens, Meadow, and Pond. © Copyright 2022 G Dan Mitchell.

Aspen trees at the peak of autumn color at the edge of an Eastern Sierra Nevada meadow pond.

One of the things that Sierra Nevada aspen photographer are always looking for is leaf color other than the ubiquitous yellow-gold seen on the vast majority of aspens. That color can be quite beautiful, but colors that contrast with it are special. This could be the green of yet-to-change trees, but ideally it is the beautiful red and orange leaves that appear less frequently. In most cases these rarer colors appear among larger numbers of yellow trees, and they can stand out wonderfully against that background.

I photographed these trees near a spot where I often pause to look at early yellow color, but where I usually do not photograph. However, on the visit during the third week of October (later than usual for me) essentially all of the leaves had turned, and I notices some beautiful orange and red trees that I hadn’t seen before. I took a short walk to a slightly elevated camera position and photographed them with a bit of meadow and pond in the foreground.

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, Amazon, and directly from G Dan Mitchell.

Blog | About | Twitter | Flickr | Facebook | Email

Links to Articles, Sales and Licensing, my Sierra Nevada Fall Color book, Contact Information.

Scroll down to leave a comment or question. (Click this post’s title first if you are viewing on the home page.)

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