Tag Archives: slope

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

Lakeside Trees and Rocky Slope

November 15, 2017 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Lakeside autumn aspen trees reflected in shoreline water

This was a long and productive day. We started before dawn, waking up in darkness and heading up into the mountains to arrive at a likely spot to photograph fall color before sunrise. We began by photographing a familiar lake from a somewhat different perspective, working from an elevated position above the lake. A bit later we moved to other locations in the big east side mountain valley, generally working our way around so that we could photograph aspen color before the direct sun arrived. We stopped for breakfast at a mountain lodge before heading back down into Owens Valley and then turning north. We ended up north of Lee Vining in the late afternoon, and eventually we finished photography and began the long drive across the Sierra and back to the San Francisco Bay Area.

This is one of the early morning photographs. I had finished with a somewhat iconic Eastern Sierra subject, though photographing only parts of it that might or might not be recognizable. Soon the direct sunlight began to hit this subject, washing out the colors and ending my photography of that subject. No matter, I just pivoted a bit to my right and found lakeside trees where the direct sun had not yet arrived, and I photographed these trees in the softer shadow light.

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

Early Fall Color

October 22, 2016 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Early fall color from aspens on rocky slopes in the Eastern Sierra Nevada

This is another photograph from my mid-September 2016 fall color reconnaissance trip to Yosemite’s high country and to the eastern Sierra. Initially when I planned this trip is was intended to be primarily a camping, hiking, and photography trip into the late summer Sierra landscape, with the fall color being a distinctly secondary part of my plan. I would typically not begin to actually photography fall color until a couple of weeks later, and the fall color orientation of this trip was to try to get an early idea of how things might shape up by early October. Much to my surprise, a quick visit to the east side of the range turned up enough early color to make aspen photography worthwhile.

I took an overnight trip down the east side, where I camped up in one of the big valleys cutting in toward the Sierra crest, just the kind of place where the aspens grow. One of the spots I visited was this familiar slope, a place where I often photograph in October and where a spectacular range of colors appears and stretches right up this rocky slope toward the summit ridge. Much to my surprise, the central part of this group of trees had already turned golden, though it was still ringed with green trees that I knew would provide excellent color for the next few weeks.

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

Slender Aspens, Autumn

October 15, 2015 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Slender aspen trees with fall foliage grow high on a Sierra Nevada slope

Sierra Nevada aspens come in a tremendous variety of shapes and sizes. On rocky, dry slopes, where the trees seem to eke out an existence in truly marginal conditions, they are frequently small, with skinny branches and sometimes a bit of a haggard look. In other areas, perhaps influenced by the quality of the soil, they have stout trunks but never get very tall, instead growing in bent and twisted shapes. In a few places, often in the bottom of valleys, they may take on the classic aspen shape — tall trees with straight trunks — though this is less common in the Sierra than in some other places. Sometimes they grow very high on rugged slopes, like the trees in this photograph, and while they are relatively straight and shapely trees, they are also very small.

This group grows high on a slope above an area of dense, tall, and thick aspens, and those other trees usually attract more attention with their dense leaves and intense fall colors. But sometimes I almost like these smaller trees more, especially when some of their leaves have fallen and their bare, white trunks are more visible. Even more, I like to photograph them early and late in the day, when the light reflected into shaded areas warms and intensifies the colors and fills in the shadow.s

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Sequoia-Kings Canyon, Photographs: Sierra Nevada

Sunset Light and Talus Slope

December 10, 2014 G Dan Mitchell 2 Comments

Sunset light on a tree-covered peninsula as a steep talus slope falls into evening shadows

This photograph from the first evening of a week-long 2010 southern Sierra backpacking trip reminds me of many things, but at the moment I’m recalling a particular feeling that often comes on the first night on the trail, and which is one of these moments that marks the transition away from the other world to the magical world of the backcountry. Arriving at the start of a long backcountry trip requires a fair amount of planning that begins well before the trip. Often months before (those sometimes on the previous weekend!) a plan is hatched and a group of people assembled. Soon dates are set and an itinerary comes together. As the date approaches, we collect gear together and begin to pack and make the plans for our absence. The process accelerates as the day approaches and soon we are on our way to the mountains, often arriving at a trailhead came the night before, where the familiar sensations and rhythms begin to return.

The next morning we are up early, packing away the things we brought for that first campground night and paring down our possessions to only those things we’ll carry on the trail. We tear down camp, check and double-check gear, fill up water bottles, lock cars, head to the trailhead for the inevitable photo by the sign… and we are off. The first point of breaking away (once again!) is at this moment when we start up the trail, but in some ways this is often the beginning of a mental transition that will last all day as we again become accustomed to life on the trail. We climb, we stop to filter water, we eat our first of many trail lunches, the climb becomes harder as we watch for the pass up above. Eventually we reach that pass, where we stop and sit for a while, looking into the world where we’ll spend the next few days or week(s), then we head down the other side of the pass, an act that always seals the feeling of commitment to the trip. We arrive and set up our first trail camp, once again putting specialized equipment to use, remembering just how we set up that tent and operate that stove. Then, once all these tasks are complete, we find what we came for — there is nothing left to do. So we do nothing. We walk slowly around the lake, make some photographs, sit on a rock, and quietly watch the last light on a tree-filled peninsula beneath shadowed talus slopes.

Text, photographs, and other media are © Copyright G Dan Mitchell (or others when indicated) and are not in the public domain and may not be used on websites, blogs, or in other media without advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

G Dan Mitchell Photography

Tag Archives: slope

Lakeside Trees and Rocky Slope

Early Fall Color

Slender Aspens, Autumn

Sunset Light and Talus Slope

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