Tag Archives: trunks

Photographs: Fall, Photographs: Fall Color, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: New York City, Photographs: Urban/Street

Three Autumn Trees, Brick Wall

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Three Autumn Trees, Brick Wall
Three white-trunk autumn trees in front of a brick wall at High Line Park, Manhattan.

Three Autumn Trees, Brick Wall. © Copyright 2023 G Dan Mitchell.

Three white-trunk autumn trees in front of a brick wall at High Line Park, Manhattan.

On one of the days of our recent New York City trip we took a very long walk. We started at our hotel west of Central Park, roughly around the Natural History Museum, and headed south. Our first goal was the Hudson Yards complex, which we had not visited since it was under construction. Full of energy after a lunch stop there, we decided to keep going. We picked up the High Line Park walkway here and eventually ended up all the way down at the Whitney Museum.

The High Line Park is always fascinating. It is built on the right-of-way of the elevated railway that once ran along this side of Manhattan. I’m not aware of any park quite like it. In places it might be as narrow as a dozen feet wide, but its length makes up for what it lacks in width. Its elevated path takes you between buildings, across busy streets, underneath one hotel, and more. Along the walk there is plentiful vegetation – grasses, flowers, trees. The contrast between the regular form of the dark brick wall and the bright, fluid forms of these autumn tree trunks caught my eye.

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: Events, Photographs: Fall, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Sierra Nevada

Twisting Trunks

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Twisting Trunks
A group of autumn aspen trees with twisting trunks

Twisting Trunks. © Copyright 2023 G Dan Mitchell.

A group of autumn aspen trees with twisting trunks

Dense, twisting little aspen trees are common in the Eastern Sierra Nevada. In our imagination, aspen groves are full of tall, strong trees that stretch on for great distances. Such things exist in the Sierra, generally on a small scale, but they are not the norm. More typical are these stunted, twisting trees — which in many ways are more interesting than those perfect tall trees.

I wandered straight into one of these dense aspen groves as it fell into shadows late in the day. Compositions inside groves are often both plentiful and very difficult. There are interesting shapes and colors everywhere, but there are also complex distractions — oddly colored trees, branches extending into the scene, and more. These trees were more cooperative, twisting around one another in marvelous ways.

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

Black Oaks, Autumn

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Black Oaks, Autumn
A row of tall black oak trees in autumn colors, Yosemite Valley.

Black Oaks, Autumn. © Copyright 2023 G Dan Mitchell.

A row of tall black oak trees in autumn colors, Yosemite Valley.

These trees, located in an iconic Yosemite Valley Meadow, call to almost photographer. They are interesting at almost any time of year — whether skeletal silhouettes in winter snow, brilliantly green in the spring, or brightly colorful in autumn light. This specific line of trees has always challenged me — one of those “this should be easy” scenes in which it can be difficult to find effective compositions.

On this autumn day the conditions were a combination of the normal for fall — colorful leaves, golden-brown meadows — and something less common, namely smoke from a nearby management fire. At times the smoke was thick, as you’ll see in some other photographs I made during this visit. But midday breezes thinned the smoke, leaving the colors and shapes of the tall trees more clearly visible.

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

Autumn Forest and Creek

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Autumn Forest and Creek
An Eastern Sierra creek flows past a forest in full autumn color.

Autumn Forest and Creek. © Copyright 2023 G Dan Mitchell.

An Eastern Sierra creek flows past a forest in full autumn color.

Perhaps because I wrote a book on the subject, people ask where the “best” autumn color is in the Sierra Nevada. I’m not really a subscriber to the “Best Thing” notions — that designation is often highly subjective, and there are other similar things that are as good or even better. This is certainly true when it comes to Sierra Nevada fall color. Is it the east side aspens? Should the cottonwoods be in the running? What about dogwoods, oaks, and maples on the west side? Do you like your trees as individual characters or as mass crowds. Do you like them tall and straight or short and bent? In other words, I cannot name a specific best place. But..

… there is good news — there is great fall color all over the range, and in many cases you don’t have to go to special, iconic places to find it. To me, this little scene is “about as autumn as you can get” in the Eastern Sierra: a gently flowing creek, some willows and other undergrowth in red and yellow, aspens turning, and white trunks set off against the color. Where is it? It really doesn’t matter. You can wander off in a thousand places in the range and find something just as good!

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 | Twitter | 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.