Tag Archives: valley

Photographs: Fall, Photographs: Fall Color, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: New England

Autumn Evening, Near Franconia

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Autumn Evening, Near Franconia
Evening light comes to a broad valley near Franconia, New Hampshire.

Autumn Evening, Near Franconia. © Copyright 2022 G Dan Mitchell.

Evening light comes to a broad valley near Franconia, New Hampshire.

This photograph resulted from more than a little serendipity. Earlier we had gone to photograph a nearby area that was on our list of places to see. That led to a detour up a few side roads, all of which took a bit more time than we anticipated. We finished there and moved on, but it was clear that evening was coming soon, and it made sense to find a nearby area to photograph rather than racing to a more distant location.

At about that time we spotted another side road with a sign suggesting a trailhead and a view — so we took it and ended up at a parking lot at the end of the short road. The colors in the area were spectacular, but the light wasn’t yet quite what we had in mind, so we wandered down the trail a bit. Soon I spotted the little bed of white flowers in the dry meadow, and as I thought about how to photograph it I wondered if I could include it and a view of the broad valley beyond. It turned out that there was one camera position that would work, and this is the result, a photograph made just as the light was beginning to suggest evening.

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

Aspens, High Desert Valley

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Aspens, High Desert Valley
Autumn aspen trees line a creek through a high desert canyon, Eastern Sierra Nevada.

Aspens, High Desert Valley. © Copyright 2022 G Dan Mitchell.

Autumn aspen trees line a creek through a high desert canyon, Eastern Sierra Nevada.

Heading across the Sierra early in the third week of October, I wasn’t certain what kind of aspen color I would encounter. There’s always some color at this point in the season, but in many years it has been diminished by wind and passing early weather fronts. But it seemed that these influences were muted this year, and as I approached Sonora Pass I was encouraged by seeing much more color than I expected. I turned south after crossing the pass I headed south where the forests of the Eastern Sierra begins to meet the high desert sage country. As I passed this small valley — where I had not really paid attention to the color potential in the past — I caught a flash of bright color below. I quickly turned around and backtracked to locate a better camera position.

Getting just the right conditions for these trees that grow along shallow canyons like this one is tricky, especially on the eastern slopes of the Sierra. Typical daytime light is often quite harsh, though that diminishes a bit with autumn’s lowering sun angles. But this time I got lucky, and broken clouds created patterns of light and shadow on the sage-covered hills. I set up and waited for the light to show up in the right places, and eventually it lit up the trees in the Vally and produced alternating light and dark patterns in the hills and mountains beyond.

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: New England

Tree-Filled Valley

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Tree-Filled Valley
A New Hampshire valley full of trees in a rainbow of autumn color.

Tree-Filled Valley. © Copyright 2022 G Dan Mitchell.

A New Hampshire valley full of trees in a rainbow of autumn color.

We ended up at this location more or less by accident. We had just finished photographing an area that was on our list of places to visit, and as we drove away it was apparent that it was now late enough in the day that a long drive to another location was out of the question. Earlier we had pass through an area of extensive and quite colorful forest at a time when we could not stop. It was nearby, so we headed that direction… and along the way I saw a sign for a side road. We took it, ended up in a small parking lot near a trail across a bridge, and walked that way.

Later, after walking as far along this trail as slow photographers can go in a short time, we turned around and headed back. Of course, the return walk took even longer since the light was becoming more interesting. Back at the bridge where we had started, the valley along the creek under the bridge was full of trees in various states of color transformation. We stopped and made a few “wall of fall color” photos here before packing it in for the day.

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.

Photographs: Fall, Photographs: Fall Color, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: New England

Autumn Trees, Mountains, and Valley Fog

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Autumn Trees, Mountains, and Valley Fog
Colorful autumn trees and morning fog in distant valleys, New Hampshire.

Autumn Trees, Mountains, and Valley Fog. © Copyright 2022 G Dan Mitchell.

Colorful autumn trees and morning fog in distant valleys, New Hampshire.

This route across the White Mountains is — as I was warned and then witnessed — a very popular location for viewing New England fall color. While I like to investigate less well-known subjects as I get to know a place, since this was our first-ever visit to this region in the fall we started out by joining the hordes on this road. It is iconic and, as I often say, “there’s a reason it is an icon.” The autumn forests here are, indeed, spectacular and our visit coincided with peak color. (In case you wonder, it only took me a day or two to start exploring a few odd little gravel roads, too.)

While this viewpoint is popular and likely heavily photographed, on a morning like this it presents some aesthetic and technical challenges. The beautifully receding hills beyond the fog-lined valley are almost directly in line with the rising sun. This leads to flare challenges and to high contrasts between shadows and backlit foliage. Nearby trees, as lovely as they are, also impede on some of the longer views. But with the camera in just the right place, using my hand to shade the lens, and an exposure that captured scene data to be optimized in post… I think it works.

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.