“Almost Bare” — A tightly-packed grove of almost-bare aspen trees.
This photograph combines two types of subjects that fascinate and challenge me — post-color aspens and finding compositions in complexity. While the intense colors of peak-autumn aspen leaves are undeniably appealing, I also like the stage right after that when most of the leaves are gone and the skeletal white trunks are fully revealed. I also enjoy the challenge of trying to figure out how to photograph extremely complex and detailed subjects like this dense grove of small trees.
“Aspen Row” — A row of colorful autumn aspen trees in an Eastern Sierra canyon.
Timing is everything when it comes to photographing fall aspen color in the Sierra Nevada. (Well, OK, some location knowledge helps, too…) The most basic element is determining when the color peaks. That can be complicated, as it varies depending on elevation, the type of terrain, and the weather. And, to be honest, there’s almost always a bit of luck involved. When I search for color I rely on a lot of hunches based on past experience and observations of current conditions.
“First Light on Bare Aspens” — Morning light strikes the tops of nearly leafless aspen trees.
I came to this ridge overlooking Mono Basin and the Eastern Sierra well before sunrise. My intention was to photograph some extensive aspen groves along with other landscape subjects as the morning light arrived. It turned out that I was too late in the season for these aspens — I should have remembered that their drop leaves early — so I worked those other subjects as sunrise began to light up the terrain.
“Aspen Thicket” — A dense aspen thicket, with few remaining leaves.
One of the advantages of returning to the same subjects over the years is that this gives your vision for them time to evolve. Here I speak not just of aspens in general, but of this particular grove of trees. Some years ago, while photographing a different nearby subject, a large grove further up the hillside caught my attention. It posed two challenges. First, getting close to the grove would be extremely difficult. Second, it always seemed to have lost its leaves when the other trees I came to see were at their color peak.
Photographer and visual opportunist. Daily photos since 2005, plus articles, reviews, news, and ideas.
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