Tag Archives: orange

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

Autumn Aspens, Lake, Wildfire Smoke

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Autumn Aspens, Lake, Wildfire Smoke
Wildfire smoke drifts over the Sierra Nevada crest above a lake surrounded by autumn aspens

Autumn Aspens, Lake, Wildfire Smoke. © Copyright 2020 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Wildfire smoke drifts over the Sierra Nevada crest above a lake surrounded by autumn aspens

This is one of several photographs I made of this Eastern Sierra lake near the peak of autumn color this fall. I photographed it from two perspectives, both of which I had decided on ahead of time. The first was from a slightly elevated position at a somewhat different location, a spot that provided an interesting view of some iconic aspen trees. This was the second position, along a shoreline of the lake where aspens grow and there is a view toward higher peaks along the Sierra crest. Because this was a somewhat special color year, I particularly wanted to include the foreground trees with red and orange leaves.

This particular composition reveals more clearly that the others I have shared that there was wildfire smoke in the air. The distance peaks of the Sierra crest are far enough away to be somewhat muted by it and their coloration is affected by the brown smoke, too. On the previous evening, after a day of fairly good conditions, thick smoke from a fire on the west side of the range had drifted over the crest and then descended into the valleys. I was quite awful, and it wasn’t entirely gone the next morning, though the brighter light of the rising sun cut through it a bit.

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

Tall Aspens, Autumn

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Tall Aspens, Autumn
A grove of tall aspen trees with autumn foliage in the Eastern Sierra Nevada.

Tall Aspens, Autumn. © Copyright 2020 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A grove of tall aspen trees with autumn foliage in the Eastern Sierra Nevada.

Before I posted this photograph I shared another one that focused on a grove of small, slender aspen trees. In the accompanying text I pointed out that such groves tend to be typical of the Sierra, but that groves of tall, thick trees like those seen in other western locations do occur occasionally. This is one of those groves. The trees here grow in the middle of a rather large grove of aspens, in a valley that I suspect must be both sheltered and well-watered. Although many nearby trees are, indeed, of the more modest and sometimes twisted type, in the middle of this grove there are many like these, tall, straight, and with thick trunks.

I photographed these a bit before their peak color. Typically those smaller trees tend to change first, and the larger trees that grow in more sheltered locations may achieve best color a week or more later. This group grows on a gentle slope, and face a lookout where I was able to set up my camera with a long lens, and then spend some time simply looking for compositions within the span of the larger grove.

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

Golden Aspen Forest, Autumn

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Golden Aspen Forest, Autumn
A dense forest of golden Sierra Nevada autumn aspen trees.

Golden Aspen Forest, Autumn. © Copyright 2020 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A dense forest of golden Sierra Nevada autumn aspen trees.

After sharing a bunch of very colorful red and orange aspen leaf photographs recently, someone asked me about those colors, wondering if they were a stage in the color development that led to the yellow/gold leaves with which this person was familiar. In response I pointed out a couple of things. First, those other colors — the reds and oranges — are actually the terminal colors of those leaves before they fall, and they do not go through a yellow stage. Secondly, those colors are, at least in the Sierra, the exception to the more familiar rule, which is the yellow colored leaves — those are by far the most common type.

The grove in this photograph is perhaps of the more typical sort. For the most part, the tall, thick-trunk trees of Colorado and similar places are quite rare in the Sierra. They do exist here and there, especially in some sheltered and well-watered locations. But more often we see smaller trees and trees that do not grow straight and tall. Many lovely Sierra aspen groves include trees that are only one or two times the height of a person. This is one of those groves. Note the typical yellow color, the small and slender trunks, and the surrounding vegetation representing fairly dry conditions.

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.

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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

The Last Leaves

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The Last Leaves
A few sparse leaves in a high elevation grove of slender aspens in the Eastern Sierra Nevada.

The Last Leaves. © Copyright 2020 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A few sparse leaves in a high elevation grove of slender aspens in the Eastern Sierra Nevada.

For some reason this little grove and I have a long-standing relationship. Quite a few years ago I noticed it while exploring a slightly less-visited spot in an Eastern Sierra canyon that can be quite popular. As I crossed a creek I happened to look up and notice a grove of small and very densely-spaced aspens, then as this year already mostly bare of leaves even as the surrounding trees were in full autumn color. The trees are a bit inaccessible, so I usually photograph them with a long lens, most often from almost the same angle, since obstructions interfere with almost any other. But I return every year.

I suspect that most of us who spend a lot of time in a particular place eventually end up developing a personal collection of odd little spots that we connect with, places that others might not even notice. In various locations around the Sierra there are a few flat rocks, a couple of boulders, a high flat spot along a popular trail, a turn-off from a trail, a bit of meadow, a creek crossing , a little clump of aspens and more that feel like old friends every time I come back to them.

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.

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