Tag Archives: oak

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

Meadow and Autumn Trees

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Meadow and Autumn Trees
“Meadow and Autumn Trees” — Autumn trees and haze glowing in sunlight, Yosemite Valley.

Smoky conditions, a bit to my surprise, produced some really lovely light o this autumn day. I arrived in The Valley on a fall morning to find that managed fires were filling the air with smoke. After driving four hours to get there, starting way before sunrise, I cannot say that I was happy to arrive to this! However, after a moment I remembered that smoke has the potential to produce some lovely effects. I headed toward this meadow, attracted by its large black oak trees and the potential for backlight.

The smoke thinned a bit, but there was just enough left in the air to glow when the sun hit it, including the beam of light in this photograph that came through a gap in the upper canyon walls of Yosemite Valley. With that haze and the backlight the trees really glowed.

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, Photographs: Yosemite

Tall Black Oaks, Autumn

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Tall Black Oaks, Autumn
“Tall Black Oaks, Autumn” — Tall black oak trees in autumn colors in Yosemite Valley.

I think I photographed these oak trees at just about the peak of their fall color, and I also managed to show up when the light was just right. Autumn oak leaves tend more toward brown than golden, but in the right kind of backlight they can glow and even produce a rich golden color. The light here was quite soft, which is also beneficial, but with cloud-softened light on the trees in the middle of the frame.

The meadows of Yosemite Valley are marvelous places, even if these days our access to them is more restricted than it once was. In winter they are quiet and often filled with morning ground fog. In the spring new growth bursts forth and they are very green places. In summer the grasses turn that “California gold” color as everything dries out. And for a short time in autumn the golden colors extend up into the tree tops.

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: Articles, Sales and Licensing, my Sierra Nevada Fall Color book, Contact Info.

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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, Photographs: Yosemite

Valley Light, Autumn

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Valley Light, Autumn
“Valley Light, Autumn” — Autumn light on trees in El Capitan Meadow, Yosemite Valley.

By now this meadow and its trees and beautiful light seem like old friends. Over the years I have photographed these subjects many times — in winter snow, autumn color, spring greenery, and even in the hot, crowded summer months. Many things have changed during that time. A few trees have fallen and their trunks and branches decay, and a few young, new trees have appeared. Access has become more difficult as the Park Service tries to protect the vegetation, a change about which those of us who remember the “before times” have mixed feelings.

Ironically, the beautiful light streaming down through a gap in the upper cliffs and lighting the trees and meadows is emphasized here by smoke. It being autumn when I made the photograph, it was the season for managed fires, set in order to clear out excess undergrowth and promote a more healthy forest. But still, it was a bit disappointing to arrive in the Valley and find it full of smoke — until I noticed the beautiful effect it had on 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, Amazon, and directly from G Dan Mitchell.

Blog | About | Instagram | Flickr | Facebook | Threads | Post | Email

Links: Articles, Sales and Licensing, my Sierra Nevada Fall Color book, Contact Info.

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

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Sierra Nevada, Photographs: Yosemite

Oaks, Meadow, Drifting Smoke

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Oaks, Meadow, Drifting Smoke
“Oaks, Meadow, Drifting Smoke” — Smoke from a management fire drifts among autumn black oak trees in Yosemite Valley.

This photograph and the circumstances that led to it are a reminder about how things sometimes turn out differently than you might expect. I had left for Yosemite Valley hours before sunrise, planning to arrive in time to photograph in early morning light. Everything was going fine until I got into the lower Valley and discovered that smoke from a managed fire was blanketing the subject! I was quite disappointed as I drove along the south side of the Valley. But there I was, and there the smoke was, and I was there to make photographs — so I decided to see what possibilities might remain.

I crossed over to the north side of the valley, and looked back into the sunlight and these trees silhouetted in the drifting smoke, which was now glowing in the backlight from sunlight coming over the Valley rim. The backlight made the brown autumn oak leaves glow, and the slowly drifting smoke constantly altered the landscape, sometimes revealing and sometimes hiding features.

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 | Instagram | Flickr | Facebook | Threads | Post | Email

Links: Articles, Sales and Licensing, my Sierra Nevada Fall Color book, Contact Info.

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