Tag Archives: trees

Alpine Lake in Shadow

Alpine Lake in Shadow
Rocky terrain around a awilderness alpine lake in shadow, Kings Canyon National Park.

Alpine Lake in Shadow. © Copyright 2013 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Rocky terrain around a wilderness alpine lake in shadow, Kings Canyon National Park.

I photographed this scene in a sort of light that I might not typically use for such a subject. This lake lies in a basin beneath some very tall and rugged peaks, and it loses its sunlight well before sunset as the shadows of those peaks stretch over the landscape. The softness of the light here is what you get it and kind of light, where the illumination comes from the diffused blue dome of the sky.

Of all the variations of Sierra Nevada terrain, places like this hold a special attraction for me. Near timberline, they mark the transition from the familiar forested country to the wild and rugged high places. The softening effect of vegetation is still here, but the views are open and rocks are everywhere. It is a landscape of possibilities, chief among them the potential to follow any line of passage that you can see.


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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Tall Aspens, Autumn

Tall Aspens, Autumn
A grove of tall aspen trees with autumn foliage in the Eastern Sierra Nevada.

Tall Aspens, Autumn. © Copyright 2020 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A grove of tall aspen trees with autumn foliage in the Eastern Sierra Nevada.

Before I posted this photograph I shared another one that focused on a grove of small, slender aspen trees. In the accompanying text I pointed out that such groves tend to be typical of the Sierra, but that groves of tall, thick trees like those seen in other western locations do occur occasionally. This is one of those groves. The trees here grow in the middle of a rather large grove of aspens, in a valley that I suspect must be both sheltered and well-watered. Although many nearby trees are, indeed, of the more modest and sometimes twisted type, in the middle of this grove there are many like these, tall, straight, and with thick trunks.

I photographed these a bit before their peak color. Typically those smaller trees tend to change first, and the larger trees that grow in more sheltered locations may achieve best color a week or more later. This group grows on a gentle slope, and face a lookout where I was able to set up my camera with a long lens, and then spend some time simply looking for compositions within the span of the larger grove.


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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Golden Aspen Forest, Autumn

Golden Aspen Forest, Autumn
A dense forest of golden Sierra Nevada autumn aspen trees.

Golden Aspen Forest, Autumn. © Copyright 2020 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A dense forest of golden Sierra Nevada autumn aspen trees.

After sharing a bunch of very colorful red and orange aspen leaf photographs recently, someone asked me about those colors, wondering if they were a stage in the color development that led to the yellow/gold leaves with which this person was familiar. In response I pointed out a couple of things. First, those other colors — the reds and oranges — are actually the terminal colors of those leaves before they fall, and they do not go through a yellow stage. Secondly, those colors are, at least in the Sierra, the exception to the more familiar rule, which is the yellow colored leaves — those are by far the most common type.

The grove in this photograph is perhaps of the more typical sort. For the most part, the tall, thick-trunk trees of Colorado and similar places are quite rare in the Sierra. They do exist here and there, especially in some sheltered and well-watered locations. But more often we see smaller trees and trees that do not grow straight and tall. Many lovely Sierra aspen groves include trees that are only one or two times the height of a person. This is one of those groves. Note the typical yellow color, the small and slender trunks, and the surrounding vegetation representing fairly dry conditions.


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.

The Last Leaves

The Last Leaves
A few sparse leaves in a high elevation grove of slender aspens in the Eastern Sierra Nevada.

The Last Leaves. © Copyright 2020 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A few sparse leaves in a high elevation grove of slender aspens in the Eastern Sierra Nevada.

For some reason this little grove and I have a long-standing relationship. Quite a few years ago I noticed it while exploring a slightly less-visited spot in an Eastern Sierra canyon that can be quite popular. As I crossed a creek I happened to look up and notice a grove of small and very densely-spaced aspens, then as this year already mostly bare of leaves even as the surrounding trees were in full autumn color. The trees are a bit inaccessible, so I usually photograph them with a long lens, most often from almost the same angle, since obstructions interfere with almost any other. But I return every year.

I suspect that most of us who spend a lot of time in a particular place eventually end up developing a personal collection of odd little spots that we connect with, places that others might not even notice. In various locations around the Sierra there are a few flat rocks, a couple of boulders, a high flat spot along a popular trail, a turn-off from a trail, a bit of meadow, a creek crossing , a little clump of aspens and more that feel like old friends every time I come back to them.


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 | FacebookEmail

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

Scroll down to leave a comment or question.


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