Tag Archives: red

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

Wilderness Lake, Late Season Light

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Wilderness Lake, Late Season Light
Hazy, late-season light at a Yosemite backcountry lake showing signs of autumn color.

Wilderness Lake, Late Season Light. © Copyright 2021 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Hazy, late-season light at a Yosemite backcountry lake showing signs of autumn color.

On this first day of autumn I am queuing up this photograph to appear on my website a day later. (Some of you may see it on social media on the equinox.) The photograph provokes the question: When does fall actually start, anyway? It might seem like the objective answer would be obvious, but perhaps not as much as we would think. One definition — the most common one — says that fall, or autumn, beings on the date of the autumnal equinox when the sun is again directly overhead at the equator. However, I’m aware of at least two other ways of looking at this. One refers to so-called “meteorological fall,” which I understand to be the months of September, October, and November. (I’ve always felt that these were the months of autumn.) Another method, which also makes a lot of sense, starts and ends the seasons on so-called “cross quarter days,” the days midway between equinox and solstice.

This photograph falls into this gap and illustrates the conundrum. I made the photograph a few years ago when a group of use spent a few days photographing this backcountry Yosemite Lake and its surroundings… near the start of September. The astronomers will tell you it was still summer, but the meteorologists and backcountry travels will note that the scene had a distinctly autumnal quality, especially from the lovely red bilberry plants in the foreground. Whatever system you follow, there was no question that this was a day more full of the sensations of autumn than of summer.

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

East Slope Aspen Grove

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East Slope Aspen Grove
Fall colors in an aspen grove along the east slope of the Sierra Nevada.

East Slope Aspen Grove. © Copyright 2021 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Fall colors in an aspen grove along the east slope of the Sierra Nevada.

I hope you’ll pardon me for reverting to the Eastern Sierra fall color theme over the next few weeks. It is that time of year again. (For those of you seeing this photograph and wondering if you just missed this year’s color — this photograph comes from a pervious year.) While I have not been up there recently (soon, I hope!) to see how things are coming along, I’ve heard rumors of folks seeing early color more or less on schedule. We’re still roughly two weeks from what I think of as the start of the core aspen color season, starting in early October and generally lasting through the third week or so.

This scene holds a lot of what I look for in the Eastern Sierra in the fall. There are several sub-groves of aspens running across the scene — you can see them by their different phases in the color transition. Here we also see something that you don’t see everywhere in the Sierra, namely rather tall and straight trees. There is a bit of color from some non-aspen brush in the foreground, in the case of this location because it is at the edge of high sage brush country.

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: Nature, Photographs: Northern California, Photographs: Ocean & Coast

Dusk Clouds, Pacific Ocean

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Dusk Clouds, Pacific Ocean
Colorful dusk sky and clouds along the Nothern California coast at Crescent City.

Dusk Clouds, Pacific Ocean. © Copyright 2021 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Colorful dusk sky and clouds along the Nothern California coast at Crescent City.

This was an evening of beautiful light, a surprise or two, and at least one missed opportunity that will be hard to find again. We were along the far northern coast of California, primarily to photograph late-spring redwood forest subjects… but it is hard to ignore the Pacific Ocean when it is right next door! In the evening we headed to a nearby coastal area with rocky islands and seas stacks and an open view of the western horizon. — and there were clouds to catch the last colorful light. I photographed right through sunset, until the light was becoming quite dim.

That last point — “photographed right though sunset” — is important. The light show doesn’t necessarily end with the sun drops below the horizon. In fact, some of the most astonishing light often comes quite a bit later as the colors deepen and begin to change from warm sunset tones to the bluer tones of night. The sun was gone in my location, but somewhere far to the west it was reflecting upwards to illuminate the clouds from below, coloring thin clouds and wispy bits of virga.

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 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

Aspen Leaves and Stone

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Aspen Leaves and Stone
Branches of an aspen tree with autumn leaves against the stone of an Eastern Sierra cliff.

Aspen Leaves and Stone. © Copyright 2021 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Branches of an aspen tree with autumn leaves against the stone of an Eastern Sierra cliff.

Since summer is about to start… it seems like time to start thinking about autumn. I have written before that my mind is usually as much on the season that it isn’t as on the season that it is, perhaps because I’m always conscious of the cyclical and transitional nature of things. A few weeks ago I had a brief discussion with a friend about fall photography plans, and since then I’ve been considering where I may want to go this September and October. And as those subjects come to mind I cannot hep but be aware of the likely effects that the West’s current extreme drought and heat are likely to have on conditions.

But enough of that musing for the moment. This photographic vignette of a few aspen branches extending across cracked and lichen-covered granite focuses on one of the many little personal spots in the Sierra that I return to every year. There’s a good chance that you would pass this spot and not even see it, but that may be part of what draws me to it. While all of us own the iconic parts of the Sierra, each of us can have his or her own personal Sierra consisting an accumulated set of personal subjects and experiences.

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 | 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.