Tag Archives: trunks

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

Cottonwood Grove, Evening

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Cottonwood Grove, Evening
“Cottonwood Grove, Evening” — Late-day light shines into a cottonwood grove along the Merced River, Yosemite Valley.

At the end of October I spent a couple of days photographing fall color in Yosemite Valley. Previously I posted about “three” main sources of fall foliage int he valley, listing big leaf maple, dogwood, and black oaks. But I left out another important tree, the cottonwood. This photograph was made within a grove of cottonwoods growing along a quiet section of the Merced River.

This particular spot is one that I’ve photographed quite a few times in the past. It is a little trickier to get there these days, since the park has limited access points in order to discourage visitors from trampling fragile locations that were once accessible. I had to search a bit to find a way to get here that didn’t violate the protected zones. Once I did, I walked along the river bank in later afternoon to this spot, where the trees grow thickly near the water.

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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: Nature, Photographs: Sierra Nevada, Photographs: Yosemite

Forest and Pond (Vertical)

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Forest and Pond (Vertical)
“Forest and Pond (Vertical)” — Forest trees reflected in the still water of a subalpine pond, Yosemite.

This is another photograph from my early July (the first day of the month!) camping and photography trip to the High Sierra just outside the eastern boundary of Yosemite National Park. Among other things, this positioned me for quick trips into the park to photograph in the high country. The landscape was still almost deserted — the snow and meltwater had recently diminished, campgrounds were not yet open, and new rules restricted the number of drivers entering the park.

Later in the season this little scene would look quite different, as everything in the high country begins to dry out near the end of a typical summer. But at this point the grasses were still green and growing, and there was some new growth on the trees, too. There are actually two versions f this photograph — I shared a horizontal (“landscape”) version of it a few weeks ago.

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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: The Southwest, Photographs: Utah

Cottonwood Trunks, Autumn

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Cottonwood Trunks, Autumn
“Cottonwood Trunks, Autumn” — Twisting and bending cottonwood trees with autumn foliage, Capitol Reef National Park.

About a decade ago I took a long autumn photography trip to Southern Utah. I started in Kanab, then headed up to Capitol Reef before backtracking to Grand Staircase-Escalante, making a quick visit to Boulder and then visiting Zion. Whew! This holograph comes from my visit to Capitol Reef, where I met up with a photographer-friend to spend a few days poking around and making photographs.

If I remember correctly, we had spent the day of fin a fairly remote part of the park, and late in the afternoon we headed back toward the campground at Fruita. It was getting late, but there was still decent light when we spotted autumn foliage on trees at the base of sandstone cliffs along a creek. I was fascinated by the undulating forms of these cottonwood trunks.

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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: Nature, Photographs: Sierra Nevada

Trunks and Needles (Vertical)

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Trunks and Needles (Vertical)
“Trunks and Needles (Vertical)” — Trunks and needles at the base of a small copse of Sierra Nevada backcountry trees.

This photograph is the companion to one of the same subject that I shared a while ago — that one was in landscape (or wide) orientation, while this one is in portrait mode. I photographed the bases of these closely-spaced trees during a short backpacking trip into the Sierra Nevada east of Yosemite National Park back in July.

These pines (lodgepole) are ubiquitous in the higher elevations of the Sierra Nevada, and their form varies greatly depending on things like the elevation, the nature of the ground they grow on, and available moisture. While they can form forests of tall and straight trees, they can also adopt the twisted and bent forms typical of high elevations trees.

Leave a comment or question using the form. (If you are reading this on the home page, click the article title to see the full article and the comment form.

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.