I have stopped to look at and sometimes photograph this little stream for a couple of decades. It lies along a road in the Eastern Sierra Nevada where I often photograph fall color and occasionally go to access backcountry trailheads. At the right moment of the day and season, it is surrounded by very colorful aspen trees.
Continue reading Boulder, Stream, Autumn Trees
I have photographed fall color in the canyons of this Eastern Sierra drainage for several decades. It is safe to say that I know the area pretty well at this point. Yet I still find new views that I had missed before — some, like this one, are in such obvious places that it is almost embarrassing that I did not see them! I have literally pulled over here and parked scores of times, but always to look for something other than this view.
Continue reading Sierra Creek, Autumn Colors
Is this a so-called “super bloom” year in Death Valley? The term seems subjective, and there does not seem to be a clear demarcation between a really great bloom (which this season is certainly providing) and a super bloom. From what we saw in late February, I think there’s a case for calling 2026 one of the exceptional super bloom years.
There were lots of wildflowers where I photographed this scene at the southern end of the valley. Extensive fields of desert gold stretched across gravel fans and up hillsides. Pinkish sand verbena covered lower, sandy areas. (It is subtle, but if you look closely you can see the pink-purple color between the foreground yellow flowers and the shadowed hill.) Colorful clumps of purple phacelia were everywhere.
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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
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This is a type of autumn aspen photograph that I think of as a “wall of color.” Here there are more of the tall and straight trees than we see in many places in the Sierra, and the entire grove is at or near its fall peak. It helps that I had a somewhat elevated vantage point to make the photograph, part of what lets me fill the frame with color.
To look at this photograph you might imagine a scene almost like New England fall colors. However, while such colors there can go on for miles and cover successive mountains (hills, really) and valleys, in the Sierra the color is more concentrated. Groves, many of which are small, can stand out brilliantly against the predominant background of dark conifer trees or rocks or sagebrush.
Leave a comment or question using the form. (Click the title to see the full article and to comment if you are viewing it on the home page.)
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.