Tag Archives: stream

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

Aspen Reflections

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Aspen Reflections
Autumn aspen trees reflected in an eastrern Sierra Nevada pond.

Aspen Reflections. © Copyright 2020 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Autumn aspen trees reflected in an eastrern Sierra Nevada pond.

Each year at about this time I ask, “Is it ever too early to start thinking about fall color?” The answer, of course, is no. Autumn is my favorite season for all kinds of reasons — the colors, of course, but also the return of cooler temperatures and “interesting” weather and shorter daylight hours. The period between Labor Day and the arrival of late-autumn snow is my favorite time in the Sierra. There’s nothing as beautiful as a late-September or early-October day in the high country.

As a person who has photographed Eastern Sierra aspens a lot — and who has written a book on the subject — the way I see this subject has evolved over the years. While I’m still impressed by a hillside completely full of colorful trees, I am constantly looking for other ways to photograph this subject. Here I aimed the camera down toward the surface of an Eastern Sierra pond, framing to exclude anything but the brilliant colors of a grove on the other side of the water.

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.

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Sierra Nevada

Waterfall And Late-Season Lupine

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Waterfall And Late-Season Lupine
Late-season lupines bloom in rocky terrain below a high country Sierra Nevada waterfall.

Waterfall And Late-Season Lupine. © Copyright 2019 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Late-season lupines bloom in rocky terrain below a high country Sierra Nevada waterfall.

Our visit to this location, at 11,000′ in the Eastern Sierra Nevada, took place during the last few days of August and the first two days of September. Yes, we were there on Labor Day — and we watched lots more people show up on that last weekend! Most people regard this as the end of the backcountry season. The daylight hours decrease noticeably, and while the weather remains generally beautiful there may be a chill in the air a bit more frequently.

In a typical year the Sierra Nevada high country often becomes rather dry by this time. During August the meadows usually turn golden brown, stream flows diminish, and most wildflowers are just a memory. But in wet years – and this was one of those — there can be a colorful surprise for late-season visitors. We arrived to find lots of flowing water, meadows that still were green in many places, and even copious wildflowers. Here we found huge beds of blooming lupines, an unusual site for the start of September!

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.

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

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Sierra Nevada

Stream And Meadow

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Stream And Meadow
An alpine stream descends through a boulder-strewn, meadow-filled Sierra Nevada valley

Stream And Meadow. © Copyright 2019 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

An alpine stream descends through a boulder-strewn, meadow-filled Sierra Nevada valley.

One reason I made this photograph is that the scene is so ordinary, believe it or not. In fact, these little landscapes of flowing water, meadow, rocks, and small trees are perhaps my favorite in the Sierra Nevada, found in the region just below timberline where the terrain begins to open up. I’d love to be able to add the sound of this scene to the post, with its characteristic and almost ever-present lullaby of flowing water.

This location was only a few hundred feet from our camp. We stayed in a small valley between two ridges, and just below the truly alpine region of moraines and ridges and peaks. Here several streams converged, draining various higher canyons and lakes, and we were never far from water.

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.

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

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Sierra Nevada

Mountain Stream

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Mountain Stream
A Sierra Nevada stream cascades over and around rocks

Mountain Stream. © Copyright 2019 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A Sierra Nevada stream cascades over and around rocks.

To be honest, photographing moving water like this can easily become addictive, and there are endless variations on how you might do it. Shutter speed variations allow a range of interpretations between stopped motion and motion-suggesting blur. Zoom in close and the water can be the entire subject, or work from a bit more distance and incorporate the surrounding terrain. Choose your time of day and get warm or cool coloration. Photograph at a time when the water reflects light on nearby objects and introduce a wider range of colors into the composition.

During our one-week stay high in the Eastern Sierra we were fortunate to have many opportunities to photograph water, ranging from many nearby alpine lakes to the abundant creeks and cascades that were still flowing despite the rather late date in the season. One evening I wandered a few hundred feet down below our base camp to this area where I had walked this creek a day or two earlier, and I spent a good deal of time photographing it.

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.

Blog | About | Flickr | Facebook | Email

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

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