Tag Archives: tree

Fall Color, Birch Tree

Fall Color, Birch Tree
A birch tree provides early autumn color in the Fontainebleau Forest, France

Fall Color, Birch Tree. © Copyright 2018 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A birch tree provides early autumn color in the Fontainebleau Forest, France

My first “fall” color photograph of 2018 comes from… France! We recently returned from a forty-day trip, mostly in Europe, and we were in France for most of the final two weeks. We started with a short return visit to Paris, but then we met other family members in the area near Barbizon and Fontainebleau. We were there for a full week, which gave us plenty of time to explore the area. One of the interesting features is a natural one, the forest of Fontainebleau. This is not like conifer forests of the American West where I spend so much of my time — the terrain is nearly flat (with only small hills) and the trees are mostly conifers. Fontainebleau also features some remarkable boulders, and I should be able to share some photographs of those later on.

In was, in fact, those boulders that brought us to the location where I made this photograph. We made a short hike into the forest and climbed one of those small hills to find it covered with the boulders. As others began to leave I stuck around a bit longer and found this birch tree that was just beginning to get fall color.


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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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Sidewalk, Building, SpreadingTree

Sidewalk, Building, Spreading Tree
And urban landscape scene in Pasadena, California

Sidewalk, Building, Spreading Tree. © Copyright 2018 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

An urban landscape scene in Pasadena, California

We had an afternoon and early evening to “kill,” so we ended up in a downtown section of Pasadena, first for a bite to eat and then for a random walk as the day came to an end. Our walk started in late afternoon light, continued through twilight, and ended after dark as we looped back to where we had started.

As we walked I had my small rangefinder-style camera out, and I photographed quickly with a single lens. There was a lot to see — some typical older Southern California urban architecture and, as the darkness came on, some interesting artificial light. This tree both contrasted with the geometry of the street, sidewalk, and building… and reminded me of similar trees and scenes in San Francisco.


See top of this page for Articles, Sales and Licensing, my Sierra Nevada Fall Color book, Contact Information and more.

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.

Tree With Two Hawks, Fog

Morning tule fog clears beyond a tree with a pair of hawks

Tree With Two Hawks, Fog. © Copyright 2018 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Morning tule fog clears beyond a tree with a pair of hawks

I was in this location to photograph something quite different from what is seen here, but tule fog interfered with that subject to some extent. So I found myself wandering a bit more afield and looking for other subjects. Eventually the fog began to thin and drift away.

This solitary tree appeared against the background of a long grove of (mostly) cottonwood trees, and the thinning fog began to allow light from the morning sky into the scene. Initially I simply saw the tree itself as the subject, but as I composed the photograph I realized that a pair of hawks for perched side-by-side on one of the limbs.


See top of this page for Articles, Sales and Licensing, my Sierra Nevada Fall Color book, Contact Information and more.

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.

Tree, Lake, Reflected Mountains

Tree, Lake, Reflected Mountains
A solitary tree, subalpine meadows, lake, and reflection of Sierra Nevada peaks

Tree, Lake, Reflected Mountains. © Copyright 2018 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A solitary tree, subalpine meadows, lake, and reflection of Sierra Nevada peaks

For this photograph I again travel back almost a full year, to a late summer photographic adventure into the High Sierra with a group of friends. We had much of our bulky and heavy equipment packed into this remote spot, though we carried our photographic equipment in on our backs. We remained here for about a week, with lots of time to explore and photograph the surrounding landscape.

The closest feature of interest was the meadow holding this subalpine lake. (We camped behind my camera position and on a rise that kept us out of the meadow. ) Early and late in the day the light around this lake could be beautiful, and I made this photograph in the morning while the water was still and the light slanted in from the east and left dramatic shadows on the landscape.


See top of this page for Articles, Sales and Licensing, my Sierra Nevada Fall Color book, Contact Information and more.

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 | Twitter | Facebook | LinkedIn | Email


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