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Photographs: Central California, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Ocean & Coast

Two Trees, Big Sur River

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Two Trees, Big Sur River
The trunks of two trees lean outwards over the Big Sur River

Two Trees, Big Sur River. © Copyright 2019 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

The trunks of two trees lean outwards over the Big Sur River.

My typical route down the Big Sur coast when I head out for a day of photography there takes has me primarily focusing on the coast itself — the headlands, bluffs, cliffs, beaches, sea stacks, and surf found along the Pacific Coast Highway. Partway down, perhaps a half hour or so below Carmel, the road jogs inland and follows the Big Sur River for a bit before rising over a saddle and starting a long descent back towards the ocean. I generally don’t do a lot of photography along this inland section… though I do know a few good places to stop for snacks, meals, and espresso!

This visit was a bit different. The light and atmosphere along the coast were affected by an incoming Pacific weather system. There was quite a bit of haze, and the light was interrupted by high clouds. Those conditions are typically less conducive to shooting “big landscapes,” but they can be very wonderful for photographing on a smaller scale, especially in forested areas where the light would otherwise be too contrasty. So I pulled off the road along the Big Sur River, walked a few feed down and embankment, and found a lovely and quiet section of the river when the water flowed smoothly over rocks and trees leaned over the river.

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.

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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

Conifers And Scrub Aspens

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Conifers And Scrub Aspens
Conifers among small autumn aspen trees, eastern Sierra Nevada.

Conifers And Scrub Aspens. © Copyright 2019 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Conifers among small autumn aspen trees, eastern Sierra Nevada.

This should be my final Sierra Nevada photograph that I’ll share in 2019… but expect more in the coming year! I’m using the term “scrub aspen” to refer to these small trees, even though it isn’t widely used. When we think of autumn aspen trees the taller and often straighter trees come to mind. But in the Sierra these trees come in an amazing range of shapes and sizes. Although they are rare, you can find the same tall and straight trees that you might associate with groves in places like Colorado, but trees that are more twisted are more common here. Many are not that large, and in some rocky areas they may be no taller than you are.

These smaller “scrub aspens” growing on rocky slopes frequently seem to be among the first to change colors in the fall. In fact, these were already fully covered in colorful leaves even though it was just a few days into October. (I generally regard the peak of Sierra aspen color as coming around the second week of the month.) I photographed this scene late in the day, when the sun had dropped behind the peaks of the Sierra crest, leaving this valley in shadow.

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.

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Links to Articles, Sales and Licensing, my Sierra Nevada Fall Color book, Contact Information.

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

Photographs: Central California, Photographs: Fall, Photographs: Fall Color, Photographs: Nature

Autumn Pond, Tree

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Autumn Pond, Tree
Autumn colors on a small tree in a wetlands pond

Autumn Pond, Tree. © Copyright 2019 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Autumn colors on a small tree in a wetlands pond.

Central Valley landscapes such as this one often cause me to stop and consider what this area was once like. Today it is mostly agricultural land, marked of into neat squares with water coming from extensive irrigation systems, cut through by roads and highways connecting the increasingly populous cities of the area. But not much more than 100 years ago it was a very different place. One reminder for me is a description that John Muir wrote in the 1800s, remarking on vast fields of wildflowers that he saw as he walked (!) to the Yosemite Sierra. Historically, many parts of the Valley were also quite wet places, with marshy lowlands fed by many rivers and creeks draining from the mountains. (Much of this water is now captured, channelled, and devoted to agriculture.)

Fortunately, some remnants of the old marshlands (and even the original grassland prairie) have been protected. Many of the marshlands were protected, as I understand it, as part of the wildlife refuge program. One of the reasons for this is that hunters did not want to see all of the waterfowl disappear. Recently I read that there is yet another practical benefit to these places — birds that stay in them are less likely to feed on winter crops! In any case, these places now help protect remaining migratory bird populations… and they provide beautiful reflections for landscape photographers!

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.

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Links to Articles, Sales and Licensing, my Sierra Nevada Fall Color book, Contact Information.

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

Photographs: Nature

Cascade, Detail

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Cascade, Detail
An alpine Sierra Nevada stream rushes over rocks and boulders.

Cascade, Detail. © Copyright 2019 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

An alpine Sierra Nevada stream rushes over rocks and boulders.

These little cascades are among the most characteristic features of the Sierra Nevada high country — that region close to and above the treelike dominated by open views, rocky terrain, and (during the summer) the water from melting snow. Such streams range from barely-flowing rivulets to features large enough to qualify as creeks — but they are all rather small at these elevations, and they often take circuitous routes across the alpine landscape. Their scale invites close inspection, perhaps hoping across on rocks, stopping to admire plants and flowers on their fringes, and pausing to take in their sound.

This stream could be almost anywhere in the Sierra high country, but in this case it was perhaps less than five minutes walk from where we base-camped for a week of photography near the end of August and the beginning of September. We established a camp with water on all sides — a lake wrapping around us to the south and west, and flowing water in the remaining directions. As I write this in December, I’m thinking about how much different this landscape looks right now!

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.

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