Aspen Thicket, Bishop Creek. Near South Lake, California. October 15, 2011. © Copyright 2011 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.
Bright yellow autumn leaves festoon a dense aspen thicket along Bishop Creek near South Lake, California.
At the right point during the aspen season there are so many potential photographic “targets” that it can be almost overwhelming. In this general area along the south fork or Bishop Creek, there were many stands of aspens that were at or just past their color peak. I knew of this row of trees that follows the course of the stream and which is accessible by way of a short gravel road that takes off from the main road – I had photographed them in slightly less interesting conditions last year. This particular little loop road has a number of potential aspen subjects, but this year when I arrived it seemed like the most interesting trees were in this spot near where the side road starts.
I’m intrigued by densely packed trees, so dense that the white trunks, yellow leaves, and the various sized branches can grow together and almost completely fill the space within the grove. This little thicket seemed about as close to exactly what I was looking for as anything else I saw along those lines this year. By shooting at an angle across the line of trees, the light hit their trunks from the left side of the frame, and the depth of the grove was accentuated just a bit. With so much detail to work with it can be a bit hard to find a composition that isn’t overwhelmed by the sheer amount of detail, so here I looked for a section of the grove where the closely spaced white trunks gave some shape and direction to the scene.
G Dan Mitchell Photography
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Thanks, Pat. You are right about the magic of aspen trees, whether in full fall color, spring green, or even the bare branches of winter.
Dan
Love your series of autumn aspens, Dan! There is just something so magical about these trees. As if the brilliantly colored leaves weren’t enough, it’s even more amazing set against those white trunks.