Tag Archives: trees

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

Merced River Bend

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Merced River Bend
“Merced River Bend” — Autumn cottonwood trees grow along a bend in the Merced River, Yosemite Valley.

I made this photograph late in the afternoon as long shadows began to stretch across the floor of Yosemite Valley, gradually leaving these trees in shade. Here the Merced River flows slowly through a flat section next to meadows and lined with big cottonwood trees. Although a few of these trees had lost their leaves, many were at peak color.

This is one of several spots in the Valley where I like to wander slowly and look for photographs. This particular spot used to be easily accessible, though increasing Valley crowds have forced the park service to downgrade access. It took me a while, but I found a trail that wasn’t off-limits.

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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” (Heyday Books) is available directly from him. Blog | Bluesky | Mastodon | Substack Notes | Flickr | Email

All media © Copyright G Dan Mitchell and others.

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

Autumn Forest, Yosemite Valley

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Auturm Forest, Yosemite Valley
“Autumn Forest, Yosemite Valley” — Autumn color from black oak and big leaf maple trees among the conifers, Yosemite Valley.

This is another of those dense vegetation photographs that I like. I enjoy the challenge of looking at these complex scenes long enough to find order in their complexity and near-chaos. Here that meant setting up a good distance back from the scene and photographing with a very long lens, moving around to find just the right relationships among the elements.

There are two special things about this specific spot in Yosemite Valley. The first has to do with light. Since areas along the base of the southern cliffs tend to remain in the shadows for many hours, I go here to find soft shadow light. But even better, El Capitan is across the Valley from this spot, and it reflects the daytime sun into these trees, giving a directional quality to the light. There’s one more interesting thing about this spot: a road runs fight in front of it, so one must compose carefully to leave it out and then wait for any cars to pass!

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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” (Heyday Books) is available directly from him. Blog | Bluesky | Mastodon | Substack Notes | Flickr | Email

All media © Copyright G Dan Mitchell and others.

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

River And Autumn Trees

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River And Autumn Trees
“River And Autumn Trees” — Autumn trees change colors along banks of the Merced River, Yosemite Valley.

While I wrote elsewhere that this end-of-October fall color visit to Yosemite focused on more intimate landscapes, this one might seem like an exception, given that the trees are across the river and there is a rather large cliff beyond. OK, it isn’t exactly “intimate by the usual standards…” but if you knew what I left out of this photograph you might forgive me! This is a spot in the Valley where you might typically photograph some of those larger, monumental subjects.

I had passed this spot without stopping earlier in the day, so when I came by again later on I was prepared to pause and photograph. This is a narrower section of the Valley, and those trees grow on the opposite bank of the Merced River. We see several of the sources of Yosemite autumn color here including the golden-brown black oak trees and the brilliant yellow big leaf maples.

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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” (Heyday Books) is available directly from him. Blog | Bluesky | Mastodon | Substack Notes | Flickr | Email

All media © Copyright G Dan Mitchell and others.

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

Forest With Autumn Leaves

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Forest With Autumn Leaves
“Forest With Autumn Leaves” — Autumn leaves on black oak and big leaf maple trees add color to a Yosemite Valley forest.

I enjoy the challenge of trying to make compositions out of very busy, complex scenes. There are plenty of such scenes in typical forest settings, where the amount of detail can be overwhelming, and it can take me a while to find something that works. Often I wander through such places just looking and using a framing card to check photograph potential. At some point, things fall into place.

I already knew of this spot where reflections from a cliff across Yosemite Valley send soft light into the forest and especially to the tall trees at the right. On the last day of October, autumn leaves were sprinkled throughout the scene, too. This feels like a quintessential autumn photograph of the Valley. It is not generally a place of vast forests of color — more common are conifer forests interrupted by intense color from scattered deciduous trees.

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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” (Heyday Books) is available directly from him. Blog | Bluesky | Mastodon | Substack Notes | Flickr | Email

All media © Copyright G Dan Mitchell and others.