Tag Archives: ridge

Winter Dawn, Central Valley

One of the pleasures — yes, I wrote “pleasures” — of starting a long California drive before sunrise is the chance to see the Sierra Nevada profiled against the pre-dawn sky. Living in the San Francisco Bay Area, I often see variations on this view as I crest the western California hills and descend into the Central Valley. This is a variation on that view, not from the western edge of the Valley but out in its center.

For frequently obscures this long view when I am out in the Valley photographing winter birds. Even when the fog lifts, the atmosphere is often opaque. But from time to time in clears to reveal this striking view of ridges and peaks. This photograph was a “happy accident.” I had arrived at my planned destination only to find that access was blocked temporarily. Rather than wait, I decided to drive and see what I could find. It wasn’t long before I found this view across the agricultural landscape, draped in low tule fog, and extending toward the distant peaks.


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, Amazon, and directly from G Dan Mitchell.

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Sunrise, From the Valley to the Sierra

There is a lot going on in this photograph. Of course, the most obvious first impression is likely to be the wild light. It was a cloudy dawn, and in the gap between the edge of a weather front and the distant Sierra Nevada the sky colors were very intense. And, yes, those mountains are the crest of the Sierra Nevada as viewed from the farmlands of the Central Valley.

It was also hazy, and that made the atmosphere between me and the mountains glow orange For a moment as the sky lit up. Closer, out there among the trees dotting the landscape, tule fog hugged the ground and drifted, occasionally rising over obstructions.


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, Amazon, and directly from G Dan Mitchell.

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Aspen Forest, Mono Basin

Aspen Forest Mono Basin
A thick forest of small autumn aspen trees near a ridge on the edge of Mono Basin.

Aspen Forest, Mono Basin. © Copyright 2023 G Dan Mitchell.

A thick forest of small autumn aspen trees near a ridge on the edge of Mono Basin.

I first encountered this aspen forest perhaps a decade ago while poking around in places other than the usual aspen locations. After a few visits I started to figure out the rhythms of the place and when the colors peak — which is not typically at quite the same time as in much of the Sierra. I’ve wanted to photograph the carpet of aspen trees here, but conditions were never quite right… until this morning of peak color with clouds softening the light and sky.

Many of these trees are small compared to the idealized tall, straight aspens that many have seen. But there are few places in California where as may grow so densely in uninterrupted groves. This must be a very old grove, as there are bare, dead snags mixed in among the living trees. Also unusual: the trees ascend to virtually the summit of this ridge.


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, Amazon, and directly from G Dan Mitchell.

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High Desert Autumn Color

High Desert Autumn Color
A colorful grove of mixed trees in the high desert below the eastern escarpment of the Sierra Nevada.

High Desert Autumn Color. © Copyright 2023 G Dan Mitchell.

A colorful grove of mixed trees in the high desert below the eastern escarpment of the Sierra Nevada.

As the Eastern Sierra aspen color season progressed during October, the colors (to speak generally) work their way down from the highest groves to trees in the high desert, where they may appear alongside cottonwood trees, which themselves produce color even later in the season. On this morning I had finished photographing my sunrise location, but I didn’t want to stop just yet. So I decided to stretch the photography time as far into the later morning hours as possible and to do a bit of exploring at the same time. And this brought me back to this familiar grove in the high desert.

A week earlier these trees were all still almost uniformly green. But now, only days later, the grove was quickly transitioning to bright autumn colors. One of the characteristic parts of experiencing this part of the Eastern Sierra is the meeting of high desert and alpine mountains. So here I decided to juxtapose the two — the foreground trees and sagebrush country, and beyond that high peaks bearing snow, some from last year and some from this year’s early season storms.


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, Amazon, and directly from G Dan Mitchell.

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

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