Tag Archives: south

Tall Aspens, Autumn

Tall Aspens, Autumn
A grove of tall aspen trees with autumn foliage in the Eastern Sierra Nevada.

Tall Aspens, Autumn. © Copyright 2020 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A grove of tall aspen trees with autumn foliage in the Eastern Sierra Nevada.

Before I posted this photograph I shared another one that focused on a grove of small, slender aspen trees. In the accompanying text I pointed out that such groves tend to be typical of the Sierra, but that groves of tall, thick trees like those seen in other western locations do occur occasionally. This is one of those groves. The trees here grow in the middle of a rather large grove of aspens, in a valley that I suspect must be both sheltered and well-watered. Although many nearby trees are, indeed, of the more modest and sometimes twisted type, in the middle of this grove there are many like these, tall, straight, and with thick trunks.

I photographed these a bit before their peak color. Typically those smaller trees tend to change first, and the larger trees that grow in more sheltered locations may achieve best color a week or more later. This group grows on a gentle slope, and face a lookout where I was able to set up my camera with a long lens, and then spend some time simply looking for compositions within the span of the larger grove.


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” is available from Heyday Books and Amazon.

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The Last Leaves

The Last Leaves
A few sparse leaves in a high elevation grove of slender aspens in the Eastern Sierra Nevada.

The Last Leaves. © Copyright 2020 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A few sparse leaves in a high elevation grove of slender aspens in the Eastern Sierra Nevada.

For some reason this little grove and I have a long-standing relationship. Quite a few years ago I noticed it while exploring a slightly less-visited spot in an Eastern Sierra canyon that can be quite popular. As I crossed a creek I happened to look up and notice a grove of small and very densely-spaced aspens, then as this year already mostly bare of leaves even as the surrounding trees were in full autumn color. The trees are a bit inaccessible, so I usually photograph them with a long lens, most often from almost the same angle, since obstructions interfere with almost any other. But I return every year.

I suspect that most of us who spend a lot of time in a particular place eventually end up developing a personal collection of odd little spots that we connect with, places that others might not even notice. In various locations around the Sierra there are a few flat rocks, a couple of boulders, a high flat spot along a popular trail, a turn-off from a trail, a bit of meadow, a creek crossing , a little clump of aspens and more that feel like old friends every time I come back to them.


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” is available from Heyday Books and Amazon.

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

Autumn Aspens, Hillside Grove

Autumn Aspens, Hillside Grove
A grove of autumn aspens ascends an Eastern Sierra hillside.

Autumn Aspens, Hillside Grove. © Copyright 2020 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A grove of autumn aspens ascends an Eastern Sierra hillside.

If you we thinking that I’d be finished with this year’s fall color photographs by now… well, you’d be mistaken! And this won’t be the last one either. To review, it was a strange color season for me in the Eastern Sierra. On the plus side, I made it up there to photograph, and the colors were more spectacular than in many other recent years. On the not-so-plus side, the pandemic made travel a bit more complex, and wildfire smoke interfered with photography… and breathing!

I made this photograph in a place that I originally thought had mostly revealed what it had to offer. But I stop here every year, look at many familiar things and think there’s nothing new to see, linger a bit, and then start to see elements of the scene that suggest new photographs. This is one of those. I’m sure I’ve looked at this frame in the past, but perhaps the colors weren’t quite right or it was a different time of day. Whatever the reasons, this time it seemed to work.


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” is available from Heyday Books and Amazon.

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Links to Articles, Sales and Licensing, my Sierra Nevada Fall Color book, Contact Information.

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

Hillside Aspen Color

Hillside Aspen Color
A grove of colorful autumn aspen trees on a hillside shared with brush and conifers

Hillside Aspen Color. © Copyright 2018 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A grove of colorful autumn aspen trees on a hillside shared with brush and conifers

This little grove of slender aspens is high on a rocky hillside. It is a grove that I know pretty well, having watched it for many seasons while photographing more accessible aspens nearby. I’ve been attracted to its position, high on the southern slopes of this valley, in a position to catch early sun coming over the higher ridge top. Usually, by the time the other nearby trees that are my primary target are in full color, these trees have dropped many of their leaves. But this season seemed slightly unusual in one way — in such places it has been common to find isolated groups of still-colorful trees that usually drop leaves by this time.

Making this photograph required the use of a type of lens that not every landscape photographer considers using, namely a rather long telephoto — this particular lens is a 100-400mm zoom, which provides quite a narrow angle-of-view on a full frame camera. There are lots of things that often appeal to me about using longer focal lengths for landscape photography, but in this case it was a pretty practical matter: the trees were at a great distance and there was no realistic way to move closer!


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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” is available from Heyday Books and Amazon.
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All media © Copyright G Dan Mitchell and others as indicated. Any use requires advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.