Category Archives: Photographs: Sierra Nevada

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

Leaning Aspen Trees, Reflections, Autumn

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Leaning Aspen Trees, Reflections, Autumn
Leaning aspen trees with autumn colors, reflected in an Eastern Sierra Nevada pond

Leaning Aspen Trees, Reflections, Autumn. Eastern Sierra Nevada, California. October 8, 2017. © Copyright 2017 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Leaning aspen trees with autumn colors, reflected in an Eastern Sierra Nevada pond

On the first day of this short trip to the Sierra Nevada, with photographs of fall color our objective, we followed a long driving route to the east side so that we could take a look at a wide range of locations. We began by crossing the range quite far to the north at Carson Pass, then headed south over Monitor Pass to US 395, and from there we continued toward our eventual destination in Bishop. Along the way we made quite a few stops and a few side-trips to look at and photograph fall color. By the middle of the day it became clear that we were going to be dealing with wind. (In fact, by the time we arrived in Bishop after dark it was so windy that driving was starting to be an “interesting” experience.) Wind is not generally regarded as being helpful when photographing aspen trees — though there are some ways to deal with it — so eventually we sought out locations where it was moderated a bit.

One way to get out of the worst of the worst winds is to leave the wide-open country east of the range and head up into the narrower canyons. While this typically doesn’t eliminate wind completely, it often does block the worst of it. That’s just what we finally did, turning up into a familiar canyon and driving almost to the end of the road. Here we arrived at a location with quiet ponds surrounded by all kinds of trees, including some with fall foliage. Along the edge of one pond and its boggy surroundings we found large aspen trees leaning away from the water. My assumption is that the soggy ground was no longer solid enough to hold the trees and something, probably even stronger wind than we were dealing with, pushed them toward the nearby grove. Many of the trees were still alive, though you have to wonder whether their current lean angle is the end of the story!

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

Tall Aspen Trees, Autumn

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Tall Aspen Trees, Autumn
A grove of tall aspen trees at peak autumn color, Eastern Sierra Nevada

Tall Aspen Trees, Autumn. Eastern Sierra Nevada, California. October 9, 2017. © Copyright 2017 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A grove of tall aspen trees at peak autumn color, Eastern Sierra Nevada

“The color isn’t very good this year,” someone said. “The color is changing late,” said someone else. “It changed to early,” said another. “The trees are still all green,” according to one observer. “Too many trees are bare already,” lamented one photographer. “The early snow turned lots of leaves black,” someone wrote. “It isn’t as good as it used to be,” reported another. After watching quite a few fall color seasons in the Sierra, I have observed that seasons do seem to have a bit of a personality. I’ve also heard (and spoken!) some generalizations about the development of color every year. It finally occurred to me this season that I often hear some variation on the same comments almost every season! Someone reports early color — or that it isn’t starting on schedule. Someone reports that the colors are better — or worse — that usual. But, aside from some differences likely attributable to weather variations, both long-term and short-term, over time things do seem to play out it fairly similar ways each year.

This year I spent — so far — about six days in the Sierra during fall color season. I feel like I pretty much hit the peak color over the past few days, with good color remaining at higher elevations and starting at the lower levels. If you haven’t gone yet and can get away in the next few days, I’m confident that you’ll be able to find some great eastern Sierra color, too. You will find a few groves have lost their leaves, but you’ll also find some in peak condition and probably even a few trees that are still green. I made this photograph on a very cold autumn morning — made a bit colder due to a miscalculation on an ice-coated rock while trying to cross a stream! — in a location where the morning sun had not yet cleared the top of a nearby tall ridge. The trees were picking up some soft reflected light that opened up the shadows and revealed details and colors that would not be a visible later on when the trees were in full sun.

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

Autumn Color Transition

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Autumn Color Transition
Brush and aspens undergoing the autumn color transition in the eastern Sierra Nevada

Autumn Color Transition. Eastern Sierra Nevada, California. October 4, 2017. © Copyright 2017 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Brush and aspens undergoing the autumn color transition in the eastern Sierra Nevada

When we think of fall color in the Sierra Nevada, for many the first (and perhaps only?) thoughts are of the aspens. The aspens are beautiful — more about them in a moment — but they aren’t the whole show. For example, where the high desert environment meets the mountain environment there can be a lot of spectacularly colorful brush, and the dried grasses contribute their own golden brown tones. Willows can become quite yellow, and even some ferns can glow in the right light. I suppose that this photograph is largely about aspens, but it chose to include some of those other color sources, too.

The aspen color transition is not a sudden thing. In fact, if you start with the earliest oddball individual yellow leaves, often seen by mid September and sometimes earlier, and look all the way out until late October when the last leaves finally fall, you can be looking at a period of as long as six weeks. (To be clear, the core of the season is still the first half of October plus a little.) Even in individual locations the color rarely changes all at once, and brilliantly colorful trees may stand next to trees that are still green. This location along the eastern base of the range is a fine example. Obviously some of the trees are approaching peak color. But if you look closely you may spot a few trees that are already bare. And the great or almost-entirely green trees area still several days to a week before their best color.

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: Nature, Photographs: Sierra Nevada

First Snow At First Light

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First Snow At First Light
Dawn light and shadows on an eastern Sierra ridge with dusting of early autumn snow.

First Snow At First Light. Eastern Sierra Nevada, California. October 5, 2017. © Copyright 2017 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Dawn light and shadows on an eastern Sierra ridge with dusting of early autumn snow.

On this early October morning I had a bit of time for photography before I had to start my drive back to the Bay Area. I had a plan to visit a somewhat lonely high spot from which I might have a view of aspen groves lit by dawn light, so I was up way before sunrise. I broke camp and headed out, driving some gravel roads to get to my destination and arriving before dawn. It was cold! This was the sort of autumn morning that makes it clear the summer is over and winter is coming. When I got up it was 27 degrees, but when I arrived at my destination it was 23. I put on lots of layers, got out of my vehicle, and set up my tripod and camera.

My initial subject was to be the aspens, and I began photographing them in the soft predawn light. A few minutes later the first direct sun hit the tall ridge of the Sierra crest above me and I turned my camera in that direction. As the light swept across ridges and gullies, there was a big contrast between the extremely warm colors of the rock lit by dawn sun and the deep blue light on the snow in the ravines. A day and a half earlier the first snow of October had dusted the Sierra crest. Looked at in a particular way, this photograph appears to me as an almost abstract pattern out of which the forms of the mountain resolve themselves only when I look more closely.

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 | Twitter | Facebook | Google+ | LinkedIn | Email

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