Tag Archives: season

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

Trees, Meadow, Autumn Light

November 13, 2017 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Every autumn the Sierra Nevada experiences days when the air is full of wildfire smoke. It was only recently that I came to recognize that a large component of what I’ve always identified as “autumn light” is the atmospheric haze from wildfires — not just those nearby in the Sierra, but including the diffused smoke from wildfires further away in California and even beyond California’s borders. Yes, the lower angle light is part of the effect, but it is the soft and hazy atmosphere that is perhaps the most major element. I’m amazed that it took me this long to fully make the connection, but also happy to find there are still new things to “discover” and understand!

The atmospheric light in this photograph is the result of this effect. It was a very smoky day in Yosemite Valley — the sort of day when you might consider wearing a breathing mask. A big fire was still smoldering just south of Yosemite Valley, its smoke collecting each evening and then flowing downwards into the Valley. I made the photograph just as the edge of the shadow from nearby cliffs was beginning to cross this meadow, and the sunlight caused the smokey atmosphere to glow behind the trees. It is easy to think of wildfire smoke as an impediment to photography, but if you turn your thinking around just a bit you soon realize that these conditions can provide some very special and even lovely possibilities, ranging from the muted and slightly sienna tones of the light to enhanced effects of atmospheric recession. The potentials for producing moody and evocative photographs may actually increase on days like this!

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, Photographs: Yosemite

Autumn Leaves, Yosemite

November 10, 2017 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Fallen big leaf maple leaves along a Yosemite Valley trail

I suppose it would not truly be autumn without at least one photograph of fallen leaves littering the forest floor! I made this photograph on a walk along the south side of a quiet section of trail in Yosemite Valley where big leaf maple trees grow. Along with black oaks and dogwoods, these trees produce some of the most interesting fall colors in The Valley. The big leaf maples often grow among conifers and in autumn their brilliant yellow leaves contrast with the darker and more somber tones of the other forest trees.

Just before I made this photograph I had been looking for the actual trees, and trying to find some that were separated enough from their surroundings to stand out in a photograph. In this particular location that turned out to be difficult. There were some lovely big leaf maples, but the lighting was a challenge and they often were too interspersed with dense forest. At about that point I thought to look down, and I saw thick piles of the large leaves alongside the trail.

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: Nevada

Ring Of Aspens

November 6, 2017 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Two autumn aspens in a small clearing, surrounded by a circular grove of larger trees

Thinking that I would like to explore some new areas, in late September I headed out to Great Basin National Park along the eastern border of Nevada, just a few miles from Utah. I picked this time to go since I knew that Utah aspen color can peak than that in California — late September rather than early October — and I figured that the same calendar might work in Nevada. I made the long (12 hour!) drive from the San Francisco Bay Area to Baker, Nevada in a day, and the next morning I set out to enjoy a rare thing — the first experience in a new (to me) national park. To describe it briefly, much of the park encompasses and mountain range among the many found in Nevada’s basin and range country. The highest peak is over 13,000′ tall and even supports a small glacier. This high area is, at least to most people, on of the two main features of the park. The other is Lehman Caves, which I did not visit on this trip.

While much of Nevada is “basin,” and therefore dry and without a ton of vegetation, these mountain ranges can support a lot of life. They are often covered with forests, and there are lots of aspens if you look in the right places. The aspens were high on my list of photographic targets. But it seemed that I may have slightly miscalculated on the dates of peak color, and when I arrived many of the trees were still quite green. (Others had apparently just dropped leaves, and late in the visit I finally did “discover” a less-traveled canyon with lots of colorful trees.) I found one lookout high in the mountains from which I could look across a large valley, and in this valley there are quite a few aspens — solid groves of them and other trees interspersed with the conifers. This small grove caught my attention with its unusual arrangement — a ring of trees surrounding a couple of isolated trees.

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Sierra Nevada, Photographs: Yosemite

Big Leaf Maple, Forest Trail

November 5, 2017 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

A forest trail winds past big leaf maple trees with fall colors in Yosemite Valley

This was a busy day! I described it in an earlier post, but here is a brief recap. I started in Oakhurst before dawn, heading out to photograph sunrise at Glacier Point — but I didn’t make it after I became distracted by a lovely forest scene along the way. Then I photographed wildfire smoke east of Glacier Point, returned to The Valley to shoot fall color, lost patience with the crowds and smoke, headed to Tioga Pass, and ended the day photographing sunset light on snow-dusted granite slabs. Whew!

In the middle of the day I spent a brief time in The Valley before heading back to the high country. The crowds were shocking, especially for this late October date. I left my car and headed out on foot, going into an area with lots of big leaf maple trees. This is also a location where I know I can find not only a bit of solitude but also some very special light. Here the forest sometimes opens toward a very large expanse of vertical granite, and this rock acts as a gigantic reflector, casting soft light back into shaded areas along the opposite canyon wall. It was here that I stopped to photograph this quiet little autumn scene, with a deserted trail passing through the open forest.

G Dan Mitchell Photography

Tag Archives: season

Trees, Meadow, Autumn Light

Autumn Leaves, Yosemite

Ring Of Aspens

Big Leaf Maple, Forest Trail

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