Tag Archives: yelow

Trees and Cliff, Morning Light, Ahwahnee Meadow

Trees and Cliff, Morning Light, Ahwahnee Meadow
Trees and Cliff, Morning Light, Ahwahnee Meadow

Trees and Cliff, Morning Light, Ahwahnee Meadow. Yosemite Valley, California. October 31, 2010. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Morning sun light illuminates autumn trees at Ahwahnee Meadow and dissolves the last remnants of morning ground fog, Yosemite Valley.

This was just about the very last exposure I made in this series. As I wrote earlier, I had started shooting in Ahwahnee Meadow before sunrise, on a very cold morning (frost on the grass!) when ground fog obscured the trees. I continued to photograph here for perhaps an hour and a half as the sun light began to touch the highest cliffs and peaks and slight breezes began to move the ground fog. Finally the light began to make its way down to the valley floor, hitting the trees along the west edge of the meadow. At this point I figured it wouldn’t be long before the trees that I was shooting would be touched by the first bit of light. This photograph was made at just about that moment when, fortuitously, some thin clouds moved overhead and muted the fist light to strike the yellow leaves of this grove of trees, standing above the very last remnants of the ground fog.

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

G Dan Mitchell Photography
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Aspen Grove, Bishop Canyon

Aspen Grove, Bishop Canyon
Aspen Grove, Bishop Canyon

Aspen Grove, Bishop Canyon. Sierra Nevada, California. October 3, 2010. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Twisted and leaning aspen trunks in a large grove in the Bishop Creek drainage, Sierra Nevada, California.

These trees are in a grove where I have stopped quite a few times with the intent of making photographs, but never quite seeing what I wanted. I’ve been there on sunny days, and early in the morning before the direct sunlight strikes these trees. This was the first time that I’ve photographed these trees and felt that it was a success – and I think that the different light conditions are the reason. As I made the photograph it was overcast and raining lightly. From moment to moment the amount of light would subtly vary, but it remained soft and diffused due to the clouds and rain.

I also took a lot of time just wandering around in this grove and looking – in fact it would probably be accurate to say that I did more looking than photographing! I actually walked out of the grove a few times, thinking I was done, only to see another potential angle and wander back in again.

The fall color season in the eastern Sierra has become more and more popular with photographers over the past few years, due perhaps to the adoption of DSLR cameras and to publicity about the subject on the web. However, while some places are extremely crowded, others are can still be fairly quiet and uncrowded. And, fortunately, while the crowds seek out the familiar shots it is possible to find less crowded places… even as scores of photographers drive past them on their way to the iconic sites where they will line up side by side to make the same photographs.

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

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