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Photographs: Mono Lake Basin, Photographs: Nature

Pinnacles, Mono Basin, Morning

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Pinnacles, Mono Basin, Morning
Rocky pinnacles above the immense Mono Basin, early morning

Pinnacles, Mono Basin, Morning. © Copyright 2019 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Rocky pinnacles above the immense Mono Basin, early morning.

As I have written before, my visits to the Eastern Sierra to photograph autumn color often lead me to other non-autumn subjects in the area, and frequently subjects further east than these mountains. That was the case again this autumn, and on more than one occasion I got up early in the morning and left the Sierra to explore the western edge of the basin-and-range country to the east.

The photograph doesn’t give this away, but it was a very cold morning! Temperatures at our campsite in a canyon on the east side were below 20 degrees Fahrenheit, and as we headed out into the more open high desert landscape to the east we saw the thermometer drop to as low as 9 degrees! We arrived at a high overlook before dawn, witnessed the first light on the eastern Sierra crest, and realized that there was quite a bit of wildfire haze floating around. That left me focusing on closer subjects or at least including nearer subjects as foreground to the more distant views. Below our position an impressive set of small buttes stood on the gentle slopes above the distant Mono Basin and the hills 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 and Amazon.

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Photographs: San Francisco, Photographs: Urban/Street

Wolfe

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Wolfe
An old eating establishment in a rapidly gentrifying area of San Francisco

Wolfe. © Copyright 2019 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

An old eating establishment in a rapidly gentrifying area of San Francisco.

Today you get a San Francisco photograph — since that’s where I’ve been hanging out for most of the past week or so. I am a member of Studio Nocturne, a group of photographers who do night photography. The group has a history going back several decades, and I’ve been working with them for the past decade or so. My night photography has evolved over that time — back in about 2003 when I first explored the genre I was photographing what I think of as “industrial landscapes” of abandoned industrial sites. More recently I found that small digital cameras allow me to photograph with a handheld camera in urban settings, and I’ve been adding night street photography to the mix.

To get back to this building… our open studio was in the Potrero district, at the edge of an area that has long housed things like warehouses, industrial concerns, and so forth. Like pretty much all of San Francisco, this area is rapidly losing its former character as it is taken over by condominiums and newer business that serve the new residences. This place, whose signs describe it as a place to get sandwiches, undoubtedly once served the working folks in the area, and time will tell whether or not it manages to find a clientele among the new residents. Meanwhile, when I’m in “The City” I make a point of photographing these places, many of which may no longer be there in a few years.

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: Nature, Photographs: Sierra Nevada

Solo Aspen

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Solo Aspen
One bright autumn aspen tree against a dark forest background

Solo Aspen. © Copyright 2019 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

One bright autumn aspen tree against a dark forest background.

For a long time I have thought about how photographers attempted to convey the entirely color-focused nature of autumn trees and leaves using black and white photography. It isn’t impossible, but it isn’t easy. We are so attuned to the fact that the colors — green, red, orange, yellow, brown — define the subject at this time of year, that it isn’t easy to see them black and white.

So, here is an attempt. I photographed in black and white for a long time before I worked much in color, and I don’t have many photographs of autumn subject from that period, at least not photographs that focus on the color change. In truth, this photograph began in color — both literally as an image captured with a color digital camera and subjectively, as I began the post-processing work in color. While experimenting with various ways of handling color saturation (along with handling the much darker background behind the prominent tree) I happened to lower the saturation slider to zero. Hmmm… that looked interesting! So I went a bit further, using other more sophisticated ways of exploring a monochromatic interpretation, and this is where I ended up.

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

Layered Groves

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Layered Groves
Parallel rows of Eastern Sierra Nevada aspen trees in varying stages of color

Layered Groves. © Copyright 2019 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Parallel rows of Eastern Sierra Nevada aspen trees in varying stages of color.

So, how good has this Eastern Sierra autumn color season been… or not been? To be honest, that is a tough question to answer. If it was the first time you’ve been there for the annual changing of the aspen (and other vegetation) and you got to the right spots at the right time in the right conditions… there’s every chance that you found it to be incredible. And, to be honest, even when the entire range doesn’t light up with autumn color, you can find great color in the area you are visiting and all is good. After seeing quite a few autumn color change cycles in the Sierra, for me this one was just OK. But, odd as it may sound, that has its pluses, too. One of them is that it gives me good reason to look more closely and to look in different places… and to remember that the experience of autumn is not just about colorful leaves.

I visited this spot a couple times during the eight days I spent in the Eastern Sierra over a period of a couple of weeks. On my first visit most of the trees were still green, and I had looked forward to returning a bit later when those green trees transitioned. Surprisingly, when I returned perhaps a week later I found that most of the trees here had already lost their leaves or that the leaves had simply turned brown. But I don’t give up easily! Late in the day, with the low-angle light coming from the right direction, it was possible to frame compositions that juxtaposed the bare trees with those that still held some color. I made this photograph just a few minutes before the sun dropped behind the Sierra crest to the west.

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.