Tag Archives: sierra

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

River Bank Foliage

November 9, 2016 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Thick foliage along the banks of the Merced River, Yosemite Valley

One of the reasons that times like autumn are so interesting is that they bring transitional conditions. Here I found a combination of trees still bearing thick green foliage, others turning autumn golden, and still others already having lost many of their leaves. These trees grow along the band between an open meadow and the Merced River, in and area where it meanders somewhat lazily through the Valley.

This area is full of potential subjects, and even though I’ve stopped and photographed here many times I almost always find something new. This time one subject was this dense little grove of trees, with dark trunks standing out against the complex patterns of many leaves. The light came through high clouds, softening its effect but still producing directional light. A moment later and across the meadow I photographed straight into afternoon light as clouds swirled around the tall cliffs to the west.

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

Forest and Ferns

November 6, 2016 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

A bed of ferns leads to conifer trees, big leaf maples, and the cliffs of Yosemite Valley

The autumn ferns of the Sierra have fascinated me for some time, and I think of them as among the most interesting of the harbingers of fall. I recall years ago driving across the Sierra to get to the east side in October and finding the transformation of the forest floor that they bring to be fascinating, especially in the evening when they seem to almost glow among the dark trunks of trees. Autumn color in the Sierra is most certainly not just about aspens!

I photographed this bed of ferns going dormant in a small meadow in Yosemite Valley. I stopped at a popular place, but then crossed the road to walk away from that spot and spend some time wandering meadows and forest of conifers and oaks. In this slight clearing at the end of the conifers there was a remarkably lush growth of ferns around this fallen tree, with more trees and more autumn color beyond.

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

Maple, Forest, Fog

November 3, 2016 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Big leaf maple tree with autumn foliage in a foggy Yosemite National Park forest

This is a somewhat different photograph of a tree that appeared in another photograph I shared earlier this week. I had left Oakhurst very early in the morning, with the plan of arriving in Yosemite Valley at first light. Some plans don’t work out, and this was such a morning. As I drove along the highway through the park between the southern entrance and the valley, the road dropped into a valley that was fully fogged-in. I passed a spot that I had noted the day before, where several big leaf maple trees with fall foliage were growing in a small gully leading off into the foggy forest.

I quickly found a place to stop and turn around and head back. I grabbed my equipment, dropped into the gully, and went to work photographing before the fog lifted. The fog, along with the residual moisture from the previous day’s rain, intensified the colors and the soft light filled in the shadows, with the misty atmosphere leading back into the conifer forest.

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

Two Trees, River, Fog

November 2, 2016 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Colorful trees on the banks of the Merced River on a foggy autumn morning

I remember the first time I discovered the magic of an autumn rain storm in Yosemite some years ago. I had gone there to photograph fall color — I was mainly thinking of dogwood trees back then — and I was camping. But then it rained. For three days straight. And it rained hard. I was equipped to camp in the rain but perhaps not fully equipped to photograph in such conditions, but I faked it (using a had to shield the camera, for example) and went to work. And I found some special Yosemite magic in the combination of fall colors, rising river levels, resurging waterfalls awakening from end-of-summer slumber, and the beauty of clouds and fog.

I encountered just a bit of that during this year’s brief end-of-October visit to Yosemite. On my way up there from the San Francisco Bay Area the rain poured on me. It mostly stopped when I left Oakhurst, but then there was fog and beautiful light all the way into the park. I made this photograph then next morning in the Valley. I arrived in time to catch the end of the post-rain morning fog, and I quickly went to a spot I know along the Merced, where I found the river had risen dramatically, all the w

G Dan Mitchell Photography

Tag Archives: sierra

River Bank Foliage

Forest and Ferns

Maple, Forest, Fog

Two Trees, River, Fog

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