Tag Archives: vein

Red and Green Aspen Leaves

Red and Green Aspen Leaves

Red and Green Aspen Leaves. Sierra Nevada, California. October 3, 2009. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Red and green aspen leaves in the Sierra Nevada near South Lake.

I spotted a grove of small aspen trees with very colorful leaves as I was driving down from South Lake and just as the light was just about too dark to continue shooting – especially since the wind was rising and by this time blowing like crazy! It can be tricky to shoot aspen leaves close up even in a slight breeze, but shooting them in fading light when the wind is rising to near gale force is darn close to impossible!

While many of the trees in this grove were headed more in the yellow direction, I found a few that seemed to be going almost straight from green to red.

This photograph is not in the public domain. It may not be used on websites, blogs, or in any other media without explicit advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

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keywords: red, green, yellow, aspen, leaf, leaves, tree, branch, bokeh, season, fall, autumn, sierra, nevada, mountain, range, california, usa, south, lake, bishop, creek, eastern, close, up, macro, nature, scenic, travel, vein, stock

Aspen Leaves Near Conway Summit

Aspen Leaves Near Conway Summit

Aspen Leaves Near Conway Summit. Sierra Nevada, California. September 27, 2009. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Aspen leaves take on fall colors in the middle of a grove near Conway Summit, California.

This is more or less my first autumn aspen color photograph of the 2009 season. Near the end of September I was in the Sierra for a few days, mostly to backpack into Cathedral Lakes for a bit of photography – but after emerging from that trip I had just enough time for a quick trip over Tioga Pass to the “east side” near Lee Vining and then around Conway Summit and Virginia Lake.

In the past I’ve found that the aspens up high on the road to Virginia Lake seem to change fairly early, and they have often lost their leaves even while trees elsewhere are still in good condition. With that in mind, I thought it would be a good idea to try to make an early trip up this road. As you start up the Virginia Lake Road from Conway Summit you soon begin to pass some fairly large groves of aspen trees. The first grove, along the right side of the road, was still almost completely green. However, just up the road from here and on the left side is another grove at the turn-off for a gravel road – and this grove was in great shape. Many of the leaves had turned golden, and a few had turned hues of red and orange. At the same time there were still quite a few green leaves and only a few leaves had fallen.

As the sun dropped closer to the high ridge of the Sierra crest above Virginia Lake, the east side of this grove began to fall into shade – which can be the best of conditions for photographing the intense colors of these leaves.

This photograph is not in the public domain. It may not be used on websites, blogs, or in any other media without explicit advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

Web: G Dan Mitchell Photography
Twitter: http://twitter.com/gdanmitchell
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keywords: aspen, tree, branch, twig, leaf, leaves, red, yellow, gold, green, vein, fall, autumn, season, color, bright, conway, summit, highway, 395, virginia, lake, road, grove, tree, forest, sierra, nevada, mountain, range, nature, scenic, travel, foliage, flora, eastern, plant, stock

Dogwood Leaves After Rain

Dogwood Leaves After Rain

Dogwood Leaves After Rain. Yosemite National Park, California. June 6, 2009. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Water droplets from a passing shower on dogwood tree leaves, Yosemite National Park.

As I drove into Yosemite via the highway 120 “north” entrance, shortly after entering the park I passed by a large dogwood grove at the bottom of a steep descent. I know this spot well, and I watch if for dogwood blossoms every spring – and I can often find blossoms here long after they have gone from the Valley. On this morning the colors were intense from the previous day’s rain and due to the slightly overcast conditions. I was surprised to find that even at the end of the first week of June there were still some very nice looking dogwood blossoms and intense green leaves everywhere. The leaves in this photograph are on one of the dogwood trees in a shady section of the forest.

This photograph is not in the public domain. It may not be used on websites, blogs, or in any other media without explicit advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

keywords: dogwood, tree, leaf, vein, wet, water, drop, droplet, rain, mist, shower, spring, green, nature, plant, foliage, twig, branch, yosemite, national park, grove, forest, morning, spring, stock, california, usa

New Tree Shoots and Moss

New Tree Shoots and Moss

New Tree Shoots and Moss. Castle Rock State Park, California. April 19, 2009. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

New spring shoots grow against a bed of moss on the side of an oak tree.

As I walked a trail across a grassy hillside studded with oaks, I was not looking for this photograph – I was actually heading to a spot a bit further on where I’ve photographed lupine flowers in previous springs. But these small branches (very red in a non-black and white version) caught my eye, especially as they grew against a background carpet of moss. (I posted a black and white version of this photograph yesterday.)

This photograph is not in the public domain. It may not be used on websites, blogs, or in any other media without explicit advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

keywords: new, spring, growth, shoots, branch, leaf, red, white, twig, bud, oak, tree, moss, green, pattern, vein, nature, castle rock, state, park, california, usa, foliage, plant, stock