Tag Archives: orange

Photographs: Fall, Photographs: Fall Color, Photographs: Nature

Autumn Berry Plants

Image November 9, 2024 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

This is a sort of accidental photograph. I had stopped along an Eastern Sierra road to photograph a grove of autumn aspen trees that were in soft light, shaded by a nearby hill. The subject initially looked promising — colorful trees, nice light, a creek flowing nearby. However, despite wandering slowly for some time I could not find an aspen subject that interested me. (Oddly, this happens sometimes with aspen trees — they can look great from a distance, but once I’m up close it can be very challenging to find interesting compositions.)

In any case, giving up on aspens I started looking around for other subjects. As I walked out of the grove and was ready to depart, I saw these berry vines growing close to the ground and winding around the trunks of trees. Taking care to avoid the thorns — yes, I’ve been “bitten” before — I moved in close and worked with the interesting colors and textures of the leaves in the soft 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.

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

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Photographs: Mono Lake Basin, Photographs: Nature

Mono Lake, Before Dawn

Image November 2, 2024 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

This photograph may look very similar to a previously shared Mono Lake photo — both feature the reflecting surface of the lake and a colorful sky. But they are quite different images, photographed from very different places and at different times of the day. The other one was from an evening when afternoon thunderstorm clouds were dissipating. This one is from just before dawn on a hazy morning with high clouds illuminated by the colorful pre-dawn sky.

While that previous photograph was made right on the shoreline of the lake, this one used a more distant camera position. I had headed up into the Eastern Sierra foothills to search for aspen color, and I was exploring some less-used gravel backroads. This higher perspective allowed me to include more of the lake. (It is hard to see, but it extends far beyond the nearer portion that reflects the colorful sky.).

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

Peaks and Autumn Aspens

Image November 1, 2024 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

For years I have felt that the best light at this Eastern Sierra Nevada location comes in the late afternoon, just before the sun drops behind the crest of the mountains. Here the high desert and mountain terrains intermingle, and aspen groves alternate with dry “sage brush country.” In the late-day light, the aspens are illuminated from behind and from the side, and this accentuates the autumn colors and makes them glow.

As usual, I arrived here an hour or so before the shadows of the peaks would “turn out the lights” on the fall color show. I photographed from various locations here during that hour, and as the light started to fade I picked out a few remaining well-lit groves against the darker shadows. Eventually the shadows, along with some developing clouds, eliminated the intense backlight and left the soft, gentle evening light on these trees.

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Photographs: Mono Lake Basin, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Sky

Mono Lake, Dissipating Storm

Image October 24, 2024 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

It is well understood that some of the most interesting landscape photography light comes at the edges of the day, around sunrise or sunset. When things work out just right, Sierra Nevada weather conditions amplify this light. During the summer months afternoon thunderstorms are not uncommon, and they often break up around sunset, allowing light from the west to dramatically illuminate and color the clouds.

I had been photographing in mixed light during the afternoon — sometimes it was clear, but at other times is was overcast. As the day moved toward sunset, I was passing along the west shore of Mono Lake as clouds dissipated and that western light turned the thinning storm clouds into a fiery cloudscape above the lake.

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G Dan Mitchell Photography

Tag Archives: orange

Autumn Berry Plants

Mono Lake, Before Dawn

Peaks and Autumn Aspens

Mono Lake, Dissipating Storm

Photographer and visual opportunist. Daily photos since 2005, plus articles, reviews, news, and ideas.