Tag Archives: red

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Sierra Nevada

Three Autumn Aspens, Cliff Face

October 23, 2009 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Three autumn aspens with colorful leaves in front of a granite cliff face near South Lake, Sierra Nevada, California.

These trees grow along a rocky area on the road to South Lake just before Parcher’s Resort, where the road ascends past a steep rocky section with some low cliffs. I’ve long been intrigued by the rocks here and when I drove past earlier this day – in somewhat harsh light – I thought it would interesting to come back later in the day when this area was in shade and the light was softer and more diffused. When the aspens change color this spot turns out to be a veritable shooting gallery of rocks and trees, with many interesting juxtapostions of these two elements.

The only real technical challenge – aside from staying out the way of passing cars! – was dealing with the combination of low light in the shaded area and very windy conditions on this day. A significant early-season storm was making its way into the Sierra and the winds were really ramping up in the afternoon and evening. Normally I might try to deal with this by using a faster shutter speed, but shooting in the low-light shade made this less of an option, and I ended up standing around a lot waiting for brief and infrequent lulls in the wind. I also decided to accept a bit of motion blur from the leaves – in the end I don’t think that is necessarily a problem.

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

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Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Sierra Nevada

Dense Aspen Grove, Autumn

October 22, 2009 G Dan Mitchell 2 Comments

Small trees grow closely together in a dens aspen grove near South Lake, Sierra Nevada, Callifornia.

I have photographed this dense stand of Sierra Nevada aspens below South Lake in the past. I first found it a year ago while exploring a short gravel road off to the side of the main road to South Lake, and I’ve come to like photographing it in late afternoon, evening, or cloudy light – all of which diffuse and soften the light, allowing more visibility into the center of the very dense trees.

This year the leaf color was not nearly as intense in this grove as it was when I visited last year, though here I think the complexity of the branch patterns shows up better. (Though that will be almost impossible to see in this small jpg version – I’ve tested for a print at 10″ x 30″ size where the detail is more clearly seen.)

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

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Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Northern California, Photographs: Sierra Nevada

Aspen Trunks, Autumn

October 17, 2009 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

A row of bare, white aspen tree trunks in front of a grove of trees in full autumn color, Sierra Nevada, California.

Since I like both the wild colors of autumn aspens and the stark bare white trunks of the trees after the leaves fall, it is should be no surprise that this scene attracted me – in the front is a row of trees that had lost their leaves and behind is a small grove with wild yellow, gold, and red leaves.

I photographed this group of trees in soft afternoon light in the upper reaches of the drainage below South Lake where the sun drops behind higher ridges early at this time of year. The aspen conditions were a bit unusual here when I visited: some trees that had changed colors earlier had lost all or most of their leaves due to a cold snap and some very strong winds, but other trees seemed to be late in changing colors and were still green.

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

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Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Northern California, Photographs: Sierra Nevada, Photographs: Yosemite

Sunset Virga, Mount Conness

October 15, 2009 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Viewed from Fletcher Lake, virga illuminated by sunset light falls over the Sierra Nevada crest near Mount Conness – Yosemite National Park, California.

I’ve had this one sitting on my (computer) desktop for the past couple of weeks, so I think it is time to post it. On this late summer evening that in many ways felt more like early fall, a surprise thunderhead rose up above Mount Conness in the late afternoon, dropping rain for a while and continuing to drop virga as dusk came on. (“Virga” is the precipitation that falls from high clouds but evaporates before reaching the ground.)

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

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