Tag Archives: range

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Sierra Nevada

Sabrina Basin, Autumn Color and Rain

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Sabrina Basin, Autumn Color and Rain
Sabrina Basin, Autumn Color and Rain

Sabrina Basin, Autumn Color and Rain. Sierra Nevada, California. October 2, 2010. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Brilliant fall aspen color on a morning of light rain in Sabrina Basin.

On the first weekend of October I had visited North Lake for some early morning photography, and on my way back to the main road I stopped just before a steep descent in a location where I knew of a ridge extending out toward the middle of the valley a bit. I had shot from this ridge before and imagined that with excellent aspen color scattered up and down the valley that it might provide a good perspective on the trees and the peaks of the Sierra crest beyond Sabrina Lake itself. So, in light rain I found my way out onto this ridge and bushwhacked around a bit to check out various possible shooting locations.

While my instinct to shoot from this general area was right, by initial instinct to go as far as possible out on the ridge turned out to be less right. It was a fun adventure, and it provided a very airy overlook… but things in the field of view just didn’t seem to line up quite right. (I did make some photographs at the first location, and I’m not writing them off yet though…) I decided that a better vantage poit my be a bit closer to where I had started since this would place the very large and very colorful aspen grove at the base of the hill a bit more centrally in the frame.

This photograph is not in the public domain and may not be used on websites, blogs, or in other media without advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

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Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Sierra Nevada

Aspens and Boulder

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Aspens and Boulder
Aspens and Boulder

Aspens and Boulder. Sierra Nevada, California. October 2, 2010. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Fall aspen trees drop yellow leaves on a boulder in the Bishop Creek drainage, Sierra Nevada, California.

I made this photograph in very low evening light – as those who have looked at the technical information and noticed the four second exposure time have already figured out. I was shooting in canyon on a cloudy evening with light rain late in the day – so it should be no surprise that there was little light. What the light lacks in intensity at this time of day, it makes up for by being so diffused and soft that the shadows light up in ways that aren’t seen during the regular daylight hours.

On a day of gentle rain and overcast, the wind had died down in the evening, allowing the long exposure necessary for this photograph. The colorful aspens almost seem to glow in this light, and the golden leaves had first caught my attention. But as I looked at this little scene the leaves that had fallen across the boulder and the nearly white colors of the tree trunks also intrigued me.

G Dan Mitchell Photography
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Text, photographs, and other media are © Copyright G Dan Mitchell (or others when indicated) and are not in the public domain and may not be used on websites, blogs, or in other media without advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

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Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Sierra Nevada

Aspen Grove, South Fork, Bishop Creek

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Aspen Grove, South Fork, Bishop Creek
Aspen Grove, South Fork, Bishop Creek

Aspen Grove, South Fork, Bishop Creek. Sierra Nevada, California. October 2. 2010. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Brilliantly colorful fall aspens along the south fork of Bishop Creek.

I have been in this area many times in the past to search for aspens – and to backpack – but when I came into this part of the canyon this year I think I exclaimed, “Oh my God!” out loud, the colors were so intense and so widespread. While the trees in the lower portions of this watershed were still largely green, the colors in the upper canyon had gone fluorescent when I arrived – mostly brilliant yellow-gold with some orange and red, and stretching from the stream-side to the highest reaches of vegetation on the slopes above. I know that people from New England cannot imagine that aspen color displays can compete with their colors – and they are usually probably right – but this year I think they might have exclaimed as I did if they had seen this canyon.

This photograph is not in the public domain and may not be used on websites, blogs, or in other media without advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

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Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Sierra Nevada

Red and Orange Aspen Leaves

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Red and Orange Aspen Leaves
Red and Orange Aspen Leaves

Red and Orange Aspen Leaves. Bishop Creek, California. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Intensely colorful red and orange autumn aspen leaves in the eastern Sierra Nevada.

Late in the day on this rainy eastern Sierra fall day I headed for a small dirt side road that I know of in the Bishop Creek drainage. Along this road are a few special aspen groves that I have photographed in the past, including one with very slender trees and sometimes fiery colors. This time I was there a bit earlier than in the past and, ironically, the leaves on these trees were so thick that they didn’t lend themselves to the photograph I had in mind. I did make a few photograph of these trees – one of which will likely appear here before long – but then I decided to try something other than what originally brought me to this spot.

I put the 135mm f/2 lens on the camera – perhaps not a typical landscape lens, but quite nice for shooting close images of leaves and creating soft background blur – and went hunting for small groups of leaves with appropriate backgrounds. Because it was late in the day and in an area where the sun drops behind ridges fairly early and overcast and raining intermittently, the light was really interesting. While this light can mute some colors, it also fills in the shadows a bit and can intensify the colors of bright subjects like the aspen leaves.

This photograph is not in the public domain and may not be used on websites, blogs, or in other media without advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

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