Tag Archives: season

Dogwood Tree, Autumn – Yosemite Valley

Dogwood Tree, Autumn - Yosemite Valley

Dogwood Tree, Autumn – Yosemite Valley. Yosemite National Park, California. November 2, 2008. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A Yosemite Valley dogwood tree takes on pastel autumn colors.

I’m almost embarrassed to admit that I shot this dogwood from Northside Drive in the Valley – that’s right, just pulled the car off the road, set up the tripod, and made a photograph. I had been looking for autumn dogwood trees that were set against a darker forest background and while I had found thick groves of dogwoods elsewhere, this was the best one I saw that stood apart.

keywords: dogwood, tree, leaves, leaf, autumn, fall, season, forest, pastel, color, green, pink, yellow, yosemite, valley, national park, california, usa, landscape, nature, foliage, travel, scenic, stock, sierra, nevada, mountains

Autumn Oak Leaves, Rain – Yosemite Valley

Autumn Oak Leaves, Rain - Yosemite Valley

Autumn Oak Leaves, Rain – Yosemite Valley. Yosemite National Park, California. November 2, 2008. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Yellow oak leaves during autumn rain in Yosemite Valley, California.

Late in the afternoon – before finding my spot to shoot evening light – I was wandering about in a section of The Valley where there were colorful oaks and dogwood trees when I stopped to shoot this group of yellow and green leaves on a very young oak in a dark section of the forest in the light rain.

keywords: oak, leaf, leaves, tree, grove, forest, fall, autumn, color, yellow, green, season, foliage, yosemite, valley, national park, california, usa, sierra, nevada, mountains, scenic, stock

Autumn Oak and Rain, Yosemite Valley

Autumn Oak and Rain, Yosemite Valley

Autumn Oak and Rain, Yosemite Valley. Yosemite National Park, California. November 1, 2008. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Oak tree with orange foliage in a Yosemite Valley meadow as light rain falls.

This was shot in the rain in a meadow not too far from Sentinel Bridge, if I recall correctly. I liked the mist almost obscuring the cliffs in the distance, and like the fall color on the large tree – but I also like something that is perhaps not too easy to see on this small version, the more distant trees on the right sort of fading into the misty rain.

kewords: oak, tree, grove, meadow, grass, autumn, fall, color, yellow, gold, ridge, cliff, mist, fog, rain, yosemite, valley, national park, california, usa, scenic, landscape, travel, season, weather, wet, stock, nature

Yosemite Falls, Autumn Rain

Yosemite Falls, Autumn Rain

Yosemite Falls, Autumn Rain. Yosemite Valley, California. November 1, 2008. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Yosemite Falls and Valley meadow and forest in an autumn rain storm.

Another photograph from my rainy early-November weekend in Yosemite Valley. On Saturday the storm was coming in and as the day wore on the rain increased. As I photographed the nearly leafless trees in the meadows in sight of Yosemite Falls, the rain increased to the point that the Falls were almost completely obscured, although the rain also created a wonderful misty atmosphere and muted the fall colors.

A note about shooting in the rain… I foolishly removed my umbrella from my bag before I left on this trip. What was I thinking?! A good umbrella may be almost your most important piece of photographic equipment when shooting in conditions like these. Instead I ended up using an alternative set of strategies. (I did try to find an umbrella at the Yosemite Village store… but I couldn’t bring myself to buy a souvenir umbrella with big bear footprints all over it. :-) I have a nice Goretex rain hat that almost exactly covers my 5D and my lenses, so the main plan was to get everything set up and ready to shoot and then put the hat on top. While the tripod got wet the camera stayed reasonably dry – well, OK, not too wet. A little moisture on the outside of the camera body doesn’t concern me too much, though these conditions were such that I had to be pretty careful and use a towel on the camera and lens every time I returned to the car.


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” (Heyday Books) is available directly from him.

G Dan Mitchell: Blog | Bluesky | Mastodon | Substack Notes | Flickr | Email


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