Tag Archives: willow

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

Shades of Autumn

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Shades of Autumn
A scene of dense vegetation with fall color, Eastern Sierra Nevada.

Shades of Autumn. © Copyright 2021 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A scene of dense vegetation with fall color, Eastern Sierra Nevada.

On this day I came upon a dense grove of small aspen trees mixed with some autumn-colored mountain willows with their slightly less flamboyant brownish fall color. At the time I arrived the trees were in the shadow of the tall mountains nearby, and the light had a bit of a blue quality. It was also soft and diffused, leading to an absence of very bright highlights and filling the shadows with light, too. The aspen leaves stood out a bit from the background with they yellow color.

Looking for some kind of order and structure in such dense subjects is a challenge, one that forces the photographer to look beyond the obvious ways of seeing. Subtle lines in the dense and complex texture can be enough to direct the eye. Slight contrasts in luminosity or color become important. And the lack of a single strong central subject lets the eye wander about the frame and take in the complexity of the scene.

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

Autumn Brush and Trees, Eastern Sierra

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Autumn Brush and Trees, Eastern Sierra
Brush and trees begin to take on autumn colors along the base of the eastern Sierra Nevada.

Autumn Brush and Trees, Eastern Sierra. © Copyright 2021 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Brush and trees begin to take on autumn colors along the base of the eastern Sierra Nevada.

My first memories of Sierra Nevada aspen trees could not be more different than what we see in this photograph. Those early experiences came on backpacking trips when trails briefly traversed small groves. I’m thinking of several of them as I write this — a small section along a trail to Cathedral Lakes, arriving at such groves when descending from the crest on the east side, various other backcountry locations. I always associated them with the “High Sierra,” the high elevation, forested wilderness that lies below the exposed high peaks.

It was much later that my perception evolved and encompassed the recognition that these trees can be part of what is essentially a high desert terrain just as easily. I recall a drive east of US 395 into such an area a few decades ago on which I was surprised to find groves of aspens surrounded by rangeland and no other trees. I soon became aware of what had always been there but which I had not noticed — small groups of such trees all along and near the base of the eastern Sierra. This small grove, along with a bunch of shorter brush, grows in a small creek bed passing through an area that is otherwise profoundly dry and seemingly barren.

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, Photographs: Yosemite

Autumn Light

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Autumn Light
Autumn light on a Sierra Nevada slope with early fall color.

Autumn Light. © Copyright 2021 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Autumn light on a Sierra Nevada slope with early fall color.

This photograph come from that beautiful time of year in the Sierra Nevada when summer is drawing to a close, all the signs of the coming autumn are appearing, and the crowds diminish. (Or at least they used to — a subject for another post…) I’ve frequently written that the signs of autumn appear well before the calendar says the season arrives. This photograph comes from the first week of fall — weeks before the peak of autumn aspen color, but a time when many other autumn colors begin to burst forth.

I am a bit embarrassed to say that I’m not quite positive where I made this photograph back in 2009. I know that I came off the trail from a short backcountry photography trip on this day, and that some time after I made this photograph I seems (looking at my archive) that I went to some location where very early aspen color was beginning to appear. The likely time of day, the direction of the light, the relatively barren upper slopes, and the time of day all suggest a location near to or just east of the crest. But the exact spot? Not sure!

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

Red and Yellow Aspen Leaves

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Red and Yellow Aspen Leaves
Autumn aspen leaves in yellow and red, Eastern Sierra Nevada.

Red and Yellow Aspen Leaves. © Copyright 2020 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Autumn aspen leaves in yellow and red, Eastern Sierra Nevada.

Although it is hard to quantify such things, this Eastern Sierra fall color season seemed to produce better colors than I have seen in some time. Overall the colors were good, but two characteristics stood out. In many years I see a significant number of trees whose leaves simply turn dark brown or black and fall off — but I saw virtually no examples of that this year. But the most impressive feature this year seemed to be the large number of trees with red or orange colors. We always look for those, but they don’t necessarily show up in large numbers every year.

After photographing the large landscape at an iconic location I found a lovely grove full of leaves of every color from green through red, orange, and gold. I put a macro lens on a camera and wandered among the trees, looking for compositions that mostly consisted of a few leaves, often with some interesting color or light in the background.

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 and Amazon.

Blog | About | 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.