Tag Archives: season

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

Backlit Autumn Oak Tree

Image November 7, 2025 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

My Autumn color hunting season in the Sierra Nevada runs from roughly the very end of September through the beginning of November, as color moves from the highest east side regions to the foothills and valleys of the Western Sierra. A trip to Yosemite Valley right around Halloween is traditional, and this year was there on that date.

While California’s western Sierra isn’t known as a fall color hot spot, there is a lot of beautiful color if you know where and when to look. In Yosemite Valley, much of the color comes from bright yellow big leaf maples, golden-brown black oaks, and yellow-to-red dogwoods. The tree in the photograph is a large oak growing in a Valley meadow. I photographed directly backlit by the sun, just before it moved behind a high cliff.

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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. Blog | Bluesky | Mastodon | Substack Notes | Flickr | Email

All media © Copyright G Dan Mitchell and others.

Photographs: Fall, Photographs: Fall Color, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: The Southwest, Photographs: Utah

Cottonwood and Sandstone

Image November 4, 2025 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Right up front, a few things about this photograph. First, it is not recent — I photographed this scene back in 2014. I have been busy reviewing old raw files recently, and this one came up during that process. Second, unlike some of the others resulting from this review, this is a photograph that I have shared before, albeit in a different form. What you see here is a very different crop from the original, and by eliminating some elements from the original image I think I have significantly changed the effect.

The location is a place far out in theUtah backcountry — not exactly inaccessible, but not easy to get to. I was part of a group of a half dozen photographers who four-wheeled it out there and set up camp for days so that we cold photograph the heck out of the area. Sadly, from what I hear, this tree is no longer living, perhaps having succumbed to a drought and heat.

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All media © Copyright G Dan Mitchell and others.

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

Autumn Aspens Leaves and Trunks

Image October 24, 2025 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

I have noted before that many Sierra Nevada aspen trees do not quite correspond to our classic expectations — rather than tall, straight trees we often see shorter, broken and bent aspens. I think this may be a consequence of things like very rocky terrain, lower precipitation, and steep slopes. But the classic trees with straight trunks and tall canopies do exist.

My decision to photograph in this spot was, to some extent, a practical one. Late in the day very strong winds developed. (And they would continue on into the next two days, as well.) Unless you like motion blur — and it has its place — wind and aspen leaf photography don’t mix well. Not only are the leaves (and branches and trunks!) in constant motion, but the wind strips leaves from the trees So I headed to this relatively sheltered spot with bigger trees, found some compositions, and waited for breaks in the gale to make a few photographs.

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

Autumn Leaves and Frost

Image October 23, 2025 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

These fallen, frost-covered leaves were so interesting that I took a significant break from photographing trees to focus on them. They lay in a shaded strip along the edge of a gravel back-country road high in the Eastern Sierra. (I wonder what the other aspen hunters who drove past must have thought when they saw me ignoring the big trees and pointing my lens down at the ground!)

The photograph is a reminder to me — one that I frequently experience — that sometimes the thing you came to photograph is not the only subject worthy of attention. It is important to look away from that and see what else is around. Look away from the “big” and toward the small, turn around and see what is behind you.