Tag Archives: season

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

Early Aspens, Sierra Dawn

September 20, 2016 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Sierra Nevada dawn and early season aspen color

If you want expansive views of the eastern escarpment of the Sierra Nevada, head east of the range and up into the mountains. The White Mountains are renowned for providing such views, but there are many other ranges, too, and you can get some idea where to look for them by driving along US 395 and asking the question: “I wonder what is over there?” I ask that question from time to time, and it led me to this spot back in July, at which time I decided to return when the aspen color began. To be honest, I wasn’t expecting quite so much color, this still being mid-September — but I was pleasantly surprised.

This section of the crest features the prominent summits of Mounts Ritter and Banner — though technically these peaks are west of the crest and the lower and closer ridge is the actual crest. Further to the left of these peaks a bit of the Minarets is visible. The aspens in the foreground are the sort that seem to change colors early — relatively small trees in very high places and growing in drier areas. But even these small trees can produce intense color, especially when many of them carpet the mountainside. As a side note, I was exceptionally lucky to visit this place on this particular day. By the next morning smoke from a wildfire along the Owens River had socked in the whole eastern Sierra, and the view from this spot would have been, well, no view at all!

All media © Copyright G Dan Mitchell and others as indicated. Any use requires advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

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

Wildflowers, Rocks, and Grass

July 4, 2016 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Flowers and new grass at the beginning of the “green season” in the Sierra Nevada foothills

Today I went for a hike — not in the Sierra Nevada foothills but in a place where some of the same seasonal cycles are found. The hike took me up to a ridge, where I followed a trail along its crest. It was hot and dry, and the hills were covered by brittle, brown grasses. That’s how summer works in much of California. People who come here from the east or the north are often taken aback by what looks like a dead and dry landscape, and they may not be able to see the beauty in it.

But it isn’t that way all year. In fact, during winter, when many of those green-in-summer places are freezing or buried under snow, much of California erupts into what I call the “impossibly green season.” Believe it or not, this photograph was made in February in the Sierra Nevada foothills. Snow was still falling in the higher mountains, and it would continue to do so for several more months. But here in the low hills along the western edge of the range, winter rains had resurrected the grasslands and caused the wildflowers to bloom

All media © Copyright G Dan Mitchell and others as indicated. Any use requires advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

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

Shoreline and Meadow

December 11, 2015 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

The shoreline of a Yosemite backcountry lake in the late season

This lake was our home for a good week this past September. I was among a small group of photographers who spend a week or more doing this every year. This year we camped by the shore of an accessible backcountry Yosemite lake. We woke up every morning to views of this lake and we went to bed in the evening with such images still in our minds.

At times on this visit the light was very subdued. Early on this was because of intense wildfire smoke — some of the worst I’ve encountered in the range. Near the end of the trip a Pacific weather pattern swept through, and in its wake there was a period of several days of raining, cold conditions.

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

September Rain

December 6, 2015 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

September rain falls on a Yosemite backcountry lake

Autumn in the Sierra is time of wonderful transitions — it is my favorite time of year to be there. For the most part the weather is still beautiful, with warm days and pleasantly chilly evenings and early mornings. The light is special — it is hard to put my finger on the precise quality, but somehow it feels warmer and softer than in the summer. Meadows turn golden brown and many plants take on their autumn colors. It feels like everything is slowing.

There can also be storms. These are not the brief afternoon thunderstorms of summer. They are the first harbingers of winter — the large Pacific weather fronts that begin to push in and which will eventually bring winter snow. We had such a storm — though it was a gentle one — on our visit, and it rained off and on for the final two days of our stay. I made this photograph along the shoreline of “our” lake, with fall colors in the foreground and a passing shower in front of the distant peak.

G Dan Mitchell Photography

Tag Archives: season

Early Aspens, Sierra Dawn

Wildflowers, Rocks, and Grass

Shoreline and Meadow

September Rain

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