Four Black Oaks in Autumn, El Capitan Meadow

Posted on 15 November 2009

Four black oak trees with autumn colors in morning light, El Capitan Meadow, Yosemite Valley, California.

This group of trees has achieved near-icon status, having been photographed many times in many ways in many seasons and in a wide variety of lighting conditions by many photographers. (Whew..) Several factors have perhaps led to them being photographed so often. First, the group has some very appealing features, especially their close spacing and the gentle curves of their forms along with their location in an area with a lot of surrounding empty space but still with interesting background further away. Secondly, and probably as a result of the previous factors, they have been photographed often enough that many people are familiar with wonderful photographs of the group by any of a number of well-known photographers. Finally, I cannot ignore the fact that they are only a few feet away from one a very popular place to pull off the road – in fact it is entirely possible to frame up an effective composition while standing next to your car!

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.

keywords: fall, autumn, season, four, black, oak, tree, grove, trunk, branch, leaves, leaf, yellow, gold, brown, green, color, el capitan, meadow, cathedral, rocks, cliff, mountain, sierra, nevada, range, yosemite, valley, national, park, california, usa, scenic, travel, landscape, nature, forest, grass, shadow, silhouette, form, group, stock

Category: Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Northern California, Photographs: Sierra Nevada, Photographs: Yosemite
Tags: autumn, black, branch, brown, california, cathedral, cliff, color, el capitan, fall, forest, form, four, gold, grass, green, group, grove, landscape, leaf, leaves, meadow, Mountain, national, nature, nevada, oak, park, photo, photography, range, rocks, scenic, season, shadow, sierra, silhouette, stock, travel, tree, trunk, usa, valley, yellow, yosemite

3 comments to Four Black Oaks in Autumn, El Capitan Meadow

timparkin

says:

November 15, 2009 at 4:35 am

I can see why people like it so much – To be honest I haven’t seen a picture of these pictures before. Any chance of pointing us to some ‘famous’ versions? I really like the way the branches and leaves look like they’re floating around the tree rather than actually attached to it..