Tag Archives: usa north

Oak Tree, Sun and Fog

“Oak Tree, Sun and Fog” — Sunlight streams through thinning fog on a hillside behind an old oak tree.

This is the third and final photograph from my recent local “foggy morning” photography. To recap, when low fog stuck around here for hours (it usually dissipates very early) I headed out to the local rural landscape to make some photographs. This tree is in an area south of San Jose that was once destined to be a technology park. There’s a lot of history there, but the short story is that after the local government gave in to developer pressure there were no takers for the technology park. Today it remains relatively rural and is increasingly protected. I’d call that a victory!

The tree is on private land, from what I can tell, though clearly visible from a nearby roadway. The hills in the background form a low ridge that roughly parallels the edge of the valley for miles. At the moment I made the photograph the tree was out of the fog, but it was just thinning in the hills, and beautiful slanted columns of light formed between the shadows of trees.


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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Evening Aspens

Evening Aspens
“Evening Aspens” — Groves of autumn aspen trees in the shadow of Sierra Nevada peaks.

I confess to often looking for the most intensely colorful aspen groves and visiting them when the light most enhances that intensity. Often this means positioning the trees between me and the sun, as back-light can make the leaves glow with unbelievable intensity. But that is obviously not the only way to photograph beautiful fall color, and something more subtle gets my attention, too. In fact, I love photographing these trees in the shade, where the colors may be a bit less intense, but where soft light fills the shadows and reveals details.

I began photographing in this area in the late afternoon when the sun was, in fact, back-lighting the trees. But in this particular location the sun drops behind higher peaks well before sunset, and shadows fall across the landscape. So I continued photographing as the light softened and eventually began to fade.


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: Articles, Sales and Licensing, my Sierra Nevada Fall Color book, Contact Info.

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Alpenglow, Meadow

Alpenglow, Meadow
“Alpenglow, Meadow” — Evening alpenglow comes to high peaks beyond a flower-filled meadoow, John Muir Wilderness.

Since I was unable to get to the Sierra much this season — it is a long story — I’m revisiting the archives, where I find a lot of interesting photographs that were “left behind.” This one comes from a trip into a high backcountry region with a group of fellow photographers a few years back. We set up a basecamp in a high basin just over the crest, and spent a week photographing the heck out of the surrounding terrain.

I made this photograph of evening alpenglow on the surrounding peaks from a stunning meadow that we discovered about 10 minutes walk above our camp. The meadow was open to 360 degrees of alpine terrain, and it was filled with wildflowers, even though it was near the end of August. (One of our group members, stunned when he first saw the meadow, named it “******* Julie Andrews Meadow.” I’ll leave you to guess the missing word.)


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: Articles, Sales and Licensing, my Sierra Nevada Fall Color book, Contact Info.

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Coastal Redwood Forest

Coastal Redwood Forest
“Coastal Redwood Forest” — A young coastal redwood forest, Pheiffer Big Sur State Park.

Photographing California’s coastal redwood forests can be a (fun) challenge. There is often an overwhelming amount of “stuff” in the scene — trunks, branches, undergrowth, all growing densely. Part of the challenge is finding a workable composition among all of the details. Light can also be tricky. On sunny days light beams fill the scene and pose nearly unsolvable dynamic range issues — shadows go completely black and highlights threaten to blow out. I made this photograph on a cloudy morning when the overcast was thinning a bit, producing some very soft light.

The location is Pfeiffer Big Sur State Park. Oddly, as a lifelong Californian who has passed by here often, I have barely explored this park. In fact, I can recall only one previous brief visit. Perhaps this is because I’m typically in the area to photograph coastal subjects rather than forests, and perhaps also because there are other redwood parks closer to where I live. This little scene is a obscure one near the main campgrounds and a nature trail.


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 | Instagram | Flickr | Facebook | Threads | PostEmail

Links: Articles, Sales and Licensing, my Sierra Nevada Fall Color book, Contact Info.

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