Tag Archives: trees

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

East Slope Aspen Grove

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East Slope Aspen Grove
Fall colors in an aspen grove along the east slope of the Sierra Nevada.

East Slope Aspen Grove. © Copyright 2021 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Fall colors in an aspen grove along the east slope of the Sierra Nevada.

I hope you’ll pardon me for reverting to the Eastern Sierra fall color theme over the next few weeks. It is that time of year again. (For those of you seeing this photograph and wondering if you just missed this year’s color — this photograph comes from a pervious year.) While I have not been up there recently (soon, I hope!) to see how things are coming along, I’ve heard rumors of folks seeing early color more or less on schedule. We’re still roughly two weeks from what I think of as the start of the core aspen color season, starting in early October and generally lasting through the third week or so.

This scene holds a lot of what I look for in the Eastern Sierra in the fall. There are several sub-groves of aspens running across the scene — you can see them by their different phases in the color transition. Here we also see something that you don’t see everywhere in the Sierra, namely rather tall and straight trees. There is a bit of color from some non-aspen brush in the foreground, in the case of this location because it is at the edge of high sage brush country.

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, Amazon, and directly from G Dan Mitchell.

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Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Sierra Nevada, Photographs: Yosemite

Sierra Shoreline, Morning

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Sierra Shoreline, Morning
Reflections and soft morning light on on trees and boulders along the shoreline of a Yosemite wilderness lake.

Sierra Shoreline, Morning. © Copyright 2021 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Reflections and soft morning light on on trees and boulders along the shoreline of a Yosemite wilderness lake.

This photograph brings back a bunch of wonderful and somewhat wistful memories. I made it on a weeklong wilderness trip with a group of photographers with whom I’ve been heading into the Sierra backcountry almost every summer for more than a decade. (The “wistful” part of the memories is largely because the pandemic has prevented us from getting together again this summer.) We typically spend that time exploring some beautiful Sierra location, base-camped long enough to really get to know the place. Every morning we emerge from tents in darkness and head out to photograph for hours. We return to camp in the middle of the morning with stories to tell and chores to take care of. Late in the afternoon we head out into the field again, photographing until the light fades and we return to camp in darkness. The we do the same thing the next day.

This trip took us to a beautiful little forested lake in the Yosemite backcountry, a place I had not visited previously even though I had been in the general area quite a few times. The lake is up high, with expansive views from nearby ridges, and surrounded by forest. On most mornings I did a slow circuit around the lake as the light arrived. This lovely section of shoreline was more or less on the opposite side from our camp, and after photographing it more than once I figured out the light well enough that I was able to photograph it in the soft morning light just before the sun arrived, when the water was still smooth.

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, Amazon, and directly from G Dan Mitchell.

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

Aspens and Boulders, Autumn

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Aspens and Boulders, Autumn
An intimate scene of small autumn-colored aspen trees and boulders, Eastern Sierra Nevada.

Aspens and Boulders, Autumn. © Copyright 2021 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

An intimate scene of small autumn-colored aspen trees and boulders, Eastern Sierra Nevada.

When it comes to Sierra Nevada photographic subjects, I’m probably as susceptible as anyone to the lure of the big landscape — after all, the scale of these mountains is part of what we find so impressive. But I make fewer photographs of those large subjects and far more of odd little bits and pieces that suggest the feelings of the place to me. Many memorable moments in these mountains involve these anonymous places that others might not even stop to photograph. I’m always on the lookout for them, and they form the framework of my history with the range.

As we approach the Eastern Sierra fall color season, scenes from that part of the range are on my mind again. While there are aspens west of the crest, the largest and (to my mind) most impressive examples are on the east side. The color should already have begun, and by the beginning of October the transition will accelerate and spread across the range. For a few weeks the color spreads across the groves, gradually working its way south and to lower elevations before it ends late in the month, setting the stage for the arrival of winter.

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, Amazon, and directly from G Dan Mitchell.

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

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

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

Conifers and Autumn Aspens, Snow-Dusted Peaks

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Conifers and Autumn Aspens, Snow-Dusted Peaks
An early season dusting of snow above colorful aspen groves surrounding conifers.

Conifers and Autumn Aspens, Snow-Dusted Peaks. © Copyright 2021 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

An early season dusting of snow above colorful aspen groves surrounding conifers.

Some of you may be starting to feel a sense of loss as summer comes to an end, a nostalgia for those slow days of the warm season. I, on the other hand, am happy to see summer go. My two favorite seasons are coming! I love autumn with its sense of continuous change and the remarkable shows of fall color. And while winter may not be the most comfortable season, in many ways it is the most interesting, a time when we are reminded that sometimes the climate is a challenge.

This photograph comes from a few years back on a day that features one of my favorite sorts of early autumn days in the Eastern Sierra. This would be a day when the aspens are changing color and when an early winter-like weather front passes through and drops a dusting of snow on the highest peaks. (My other favorite type of Sierra autumn day is entirely different — the kind of sunny day when the sun retains some warmth, the light is soft, the colors are golden, and the backcountry is nearly deserted.) This photograph looks across a large grove of (mostly) aspen trees that leads up the eastern slopes toward high peaks with some of the newly fallen snow.

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, Amazon, and directly from G Dan Mitchell.

Blog | About | Flickr | Facebook | Email

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

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