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Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Northern California, Photographs: Sierra Nevada

Aspen Grove, Autumn Snow

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Aspen Grove, Autumn Snow
Aspen Grove, Autumn Snow

Aspen Grove, Autumn Snow. Eastern Sierra Nevada, California. October 9, 2013. © Copyright 2013 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Autumn snow blankets a grove of nearly bare aspen trees

We began this year’s main eastern Sierra “aspen chasing” trip on a day when an early season snow storm closed all of the passes that are not designated at being “all-season,” so Tioga, Sonora, and Ebbetts were all closed. Our best alternative was to cross on highway 88 over Carson Pass. Not that this is a bad thing! Carson features large stands of aspens on the west side of the pass and then the descent through aspen-filled Hope Valley on the east side. From there we headed down through Markleeville and up over Monitor Pass, which also has large aspen stands near its summit. After descending, we headed south on highway 395 toward Bishop, with light rain or snow falling all day – in my view, perfect conditions for autumn photography!

Along the way we made plenty of stops and a few side excursions to explore various side canyons, many of which I know fairly well from past visits. This photograph was made on one of those side roads, and this particular stand of aspen trees is one that I know very well. I’ve stopped here every year for some time now, in conditions ranging from almost fully green trees (too early!) to bare trees (too late!), and in sun and clouds and wind and snow. This time we found that the little grove was close to the highest elevation of the remaining colorful trees, so we stopped and I spent a little time photographing inside the grove… in lightly falling snow and a very cold wind.

G Dan Mitchell is a California photographer and visual opportunist whose subjects include the Pacific coast, redwood forests, central California oak/grasslands, the Sierra Nevada, California deserts, urban landscapes, night photography, and more.
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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.

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Sierra Nevada

Early Autumn Snow, Eastern Sierra

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Early Autumn Snow, Eastern Sierra
Early Autumn Snow, Eastern Sierra

Early Autumn Snow, Eastern Sierra. Along Highway 395, California. October 9, 2013. © Copyright 2013 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

An early autumn snow storm obscures the view of pines, aspens and other fall foliage in the eastern Sierra Nevada

This photograph, like a few others I have posted this fall, was made on an early October day when we drove across the Sierra from west to east during the first “real” snow of the season. Our goal was Bishop, California, since we planned to photograph autumn aspen color on the “east side” for a few days. Since the usual more direct route over Tioga Pass was closed due to snow, we ended up crossing all the way up close to Tahoe over Carson and then Monitor Passes to get to highway 395, which we then followed southwards along the east side of the Sierra.

The snow began before we reached Carson pass, and though it never fell very heavily, it more or less continued for the rest of the drive, only stopping shortly before we got to Bishop. This was quite a contrast to the weather we had been having, which had been up into the low 90s in our part of California only a few days earlier! Since we had the whole day to get to Bishop we made frequent stops and detours along the way, giving us lots of opportunities to photograph scenes that had a distinctly winter-like appearance. One place we paused was along a high point on highway 395 just north of Lee Vining, where huge groves of colorful aspen trees were just visible through the blowing snow. Turning slightly away from the aspen color, I chose to make a few isolated evergreen trees the focus of this photograph.

G Dan Mitchell is a California photographer and visual opportunist whose subjects include the Pacific coast, redwood forests, central California oak/grasslands, the Sierra Nevada, California deserts, urban landscapes, night photography, and more.
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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.

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Sierra Nevada

Aspens and Autumn Snow

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Aspens and Autumn Snow
Aspens and Autumn Snow

Aspens and Autumn Snow. Eastern Sierra Nevada, California. October 13, 2013. © Copyright 2013 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A large grove of golden autumn aspen trees ascends the slopes above Conway Summit toward Sierra Nevada peaks blanketed with early fall snow

On the final day of our September trip to photograph eastern Sierra fall color, we made a very long and round-about loop that finally brought us to Lee Vining for a late breakfast. The day had begun with snow flurries in the Mammoth Lakes area, then cleared as we drove a good distance to the east into high desert basin and range country and then north toward Mono Lake. Shortly after passing along the south side of Mono Lake we headed west toward highway 395, with the Sierra crest of the eastern boundary of Yosemite National Park rising front of us, enveloped in snow showers. We stopped to photograph a bit and then headed on to Lee Vining for a late breakfast.

By midday the weather was clearly in transition, with clouds and showers lingering along the crest, but clear skies (with a few clouds) to the east. After climbing to Conway Summit we found the area in this weather boundary zone, with broken sunlight and shadows moving across the lower slopes with their colorful aspens, while snow showers were still falling higher up in the peaks of the Sierra crest. This photograph looks more or less in the direction of the sun, and the strong backlit emphasizes the brilliant colors of the aspens.

G Dan Mitchell is a California photographer and visual opportunist whose subjects include the Pacific coast, redwood forests, central California oak/grasslands, the Sierra Nevada, California deserts, urban landscapes, night photography, and more.
Blog | About | Flickr | Twitter | Facebook | Google+ | 500px.com | LinkedIn | Email

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.

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Northern California, Photographs: Sierra Nevada

Aspens and Pines

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Aspens and Pines
Aspens and Pines

Aspens and Pines. Eastern Sierra Nevada, California. October, 11, 2013. © Copyright 2013 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A few pine trees stand among the autumn aspens near Conway Summit in the eastern Sierra Nevada

I made this photograph in the vicinity of a well-known and easily accessible aspen color “hot spot” in the eastern Sierra, at Conway Summit along highway 395 north of Lee Vining. Here is one of the largest and most easily accessible areas of aspen color in the eastern Sierra, since it is in a large open area with grand vistas up aspen covered slopes and because these slopes rise from an open section of the highway. At the right point in time (almost) every season, trees in every stage of color may be seen, ranging from green through yellow, orange, and red to bare trees that have lost all of their leaves.

This season I was in the eastern Sierra for five days, ranging between Carson Pass in the north and as far south as the Bishop Creek drainage. Several times during this period I managed to end up at or near Conway Summit. The first visit was on the trip over to Bishop, when we drove 395 down from Carson and Monitor Passes in the middle of an early season snow storm. Arriving at the summit that day, I photographed this area in falling snow that almost obscured the trees. Only two days later I was there again in the afternoon, when the backlight coming across the Sierra crest can cause the autumn aspen leaves to glow with great intensity. For this photograph I found a spot where the nearer trees were largely bare except for a few trees still holding a few golden leaves.

G Dan Mitchell is a California photographer and visual opportunist whose subjects include the Pacific coast, redwood forests, central California oak/grasslands, the Sierra Nevada, California deserts, urban landscapes, night photography, and more.
Blog | About | Flickr | Twitter | Facebook | Google+ | 500px.com | LinkedIn | Email

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.