Tag Archives: valley

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

Early Fall Color, Rocky Basin

November 19, 2016 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Early fall season color comes to a rocky basin on the eastern slopes of the Sierra Nevada

This photograph has sat on my computer’s “desktop” for weeks — perhaps even months now — since I completed most of my autumn Eastern Sierra photographs for the year and moved on to other things.

It wasn’t first to be posted because it isn’t either an impressively colorful photograph nor one that is of an unusual subject. In fact, the spot is one that I know well — I photographed from a high place that I visit every year. This time I was there early, more mid-September than my usual early October. I was surprised to find this much color in this area so soon.

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

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

Tree Trunks, Autumn Leaves

November 12, 2016 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Against a background of Yosemite Valley granite cliffs, tall tree trunks tower above autumn color

It isn’t unusual for me to try both a portrait (vertical) and landscape (horizontal) version of a photograph when both are possible. If for no other reason, sometimes a client may wish to license an image in a specific orientation, and I hate to say, “Uh, no” when asked if the other one is available! But in other cases, the subject really works both ways, and I feel like this is one such subject. A few days ago I shared a landscape orientation photograph of this subject. In some ways that wider-than-tall approach to trees can do a better job of suggesting the height of something by perhaps creating a subliminal impression that the subject is so tall that it doesn’t fit the frame — and the viewer gets to imagine what is “up there.” On the other hand, the portrait orientation can actually present the strong verticals with fewer distractions.

This photograph, and others in the series, were made near a popular and iconic Yosemite Valley location where I had stopped for a moment. Nearby, and in the opposition direction from that icon, there is a lovely bit of dry grass meadow dotted with small oak trees, and my object was to go photograph there. One thing led to the next and I soon found myself in a small clearing next to these tall trucks that had recently been burned a bit in a management fire.

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

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

River Bank, Fall Foliage

November 11, 2016 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Fall foliage along the banks of the Merced River, Yosemite Valley

This is a favorite area along the Merced River in Yosemite Valley. Here the river rushes just a bit faster as it descends through an area where I believe the remnants of old glaciers may be seen in the presence of large rocks. Because the area is close to the south cliff walls, it is often in shade — but across the valley the other side is often in such, producing colorful reflections on the moving water.

I’ve photographed here fairly often and at many times of the year. For a few weeks in the fall the spot produces some wild color combinations as the plants along the river’s banks take on fall colors from red to yellow. On this morning there was still a slight remnant of earlier morning fog, drifting through and beyond the trees of the conifer forest.

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

Autumn Color, Granite Cliff

November 10, 2016 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Transient autumn big leaf maple color in front of the granite face of El Capitan

Many of the beautiful Yosemite Valley big leaf maple trees, with their striking fall foliage, tend to be tucked away in somewhat protected areas, often in dense forest or alongside the river. Here I found one, and a rather large specimen, that stood enough apart from other trees that I was able to isolate it from the rest of the forest.

I had stopped here to photograph a different set of trees, a group that was more typically set against the dark backdrop of tall forest trees and in the shadow of the southern wall of the Valley. As I worked I looked around and happened to glance up at the face of El Capitan and notice that its usually intensely bright face was muted a bit by some high clouds, revealing details that are otherwise hard to see in the middle of the day. In fact, there was a slight blue cast to shadows and some of the dark stains on the rock, a coloration that seemed to contrast nicely with the intense yellow of the fall foliage of the maples.

G Dan Mitchell Photography

Tag Archives: valley

Early Fall Color, Rocky Basin

Tree Trunks, Autumn Leaves

River Bank, Fall Foliage

Autumn Color, Granite Cliff

Photographer and visual opportunist. Daily photos since 2005, plus articles, reviews, news, and ideas.