Tag Archives: tree

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Sierra Nevada

Snag and Needles

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Snag and Needles
Detail of an old snag littered with a few needles

Snag and Needles. © Copyright 2018 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Detail of an old snag littered with a few needles

High in the Sierra Nevada, as you get close to the tree line, there are more and more of these old “snags” — the skeletal remnants of trees that died some time ago. In order to survive in such an environment, these trees must be very tough, and their forms given evidence of that. They often seem stunted and are twisted into remarkable shapes as they grow on and around rocks and boulders and slabs. They may survive for a long time, even as they sacrifice branches in to the elements. When they do die their wood lasts for decades. Living or dead, they sometimes seem to me to inhabit a space midway between geology and fauna, being as close to the rock as to more familiar green things.

As I have mentioned already, our location high in the eastern Sierra Nevada backcountry was in an area where the sun was blocked for hours after sunrise and for hours before sunset. In was mid-morning before any direct sunlight reached our camp and late afternoon when it left, and I could wander in the cold, soft light for hours making photographs… and freezing! I photographed this bit of an old snag in this softly shadowed blue-toned light.

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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Photographs: Europe, Photographs: France, Photographs: Nature

Fall Color, Birch Tree

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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.

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.

Photographs: Southern California, Photographs: Urban/Street

Sidewalk, Building, SpreadingTree

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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.

Photographs: Central California, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Wildlife

Tree With Two Hawks, Fog

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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.
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.