Bit of a setup mistake 😅
Can you spot it?
#boardgames #aspens

“Tall Aspens, Fall Color” — A large grove of big aspen trees with autumn color, on an Eastern Sierra Nevada hillside.

This is a type of autumn aspen photograph that I think of as a “wall of color.” Here there are more of the tall and straight trees than we see in many places in the Sierra, and the entire grove is at or near its fall peak. It helps that I had a somewhat elevated vantage point to make the photograph, part of what lets me fill the frame with color…continues: https://gdanmitchell.com/2025/11/21/tall-aspens-fall-color/

#aspens #autumn #fall #foliage #trees #sierranevada #nature #landscape #landscapephotography #photography #photo

“Aspen Transition” — Autumn aspen trees begin their seasonal color transition in the Eastern Sierra Nevada.

The colors of autumn aspen trees are so impressive that you might think that photographing them is simple. But there are challenges, at least not if you want the best possible photographs. The intense fall colors present a challenge to modern digital cameras. Very intense colors,like the yellows, reds, and oranges of these trees, can “blow out” the image if you use a “normal” exposure. The color is very intense, especially if the leaves are in direct sunlight. That’s why I often prefer to photograph these trees in soft, filtered light ore even in shade…continues: https://gdanmitchell.com/2025/11/20/aspen-transition/

#aspens #fall #autumn #foliage #sierranevada #nature #landscape #landscapephotography #photography #photo

Dancing Aspens

Dance, and spread joy

#photography #aspens #joy #silentsunday

“Autumn Aspens Leaves and Trunks” — Yellow leaves and white bark on autumn aspen trees, Sierra Nevada.

I have noted before that many Sierra Nevada aspen trees do not quite correspond to our classic expectations — rather than tall, straight trees we often see shorter, broken and bent aspens. I think this may be a consequence of things like very rocky terrain, lower precipitation, and steep slopes. But the classic trees with straight trunks and tall canopies do exist…continues: https://gdanmitchell.com/2025/10/24/autumn-aspens-leaves-and-trunks/

#aspens #fall #autumn #foliage #trees #sierranevada #landscape #nature #landscapephotography #photography

“Autumn Leaves and Frost” — Fallen autumn leaves, covered by frost, on a cold fall morning in the Sierra Nevada.

These fallen, frost-covered leaves were so interesting that I took a significant break from photographing trees to focus on them. They lay in a shaded strip along the edge of a gravel back-country road high in the Eastern Sierra. (I wonder what the other aspen hunters who drove past must have thought when they saw me ignoring the big trees and pointing my lens down at the ground!)…continues: https://gdanmitchell.com/2025/10/23/autumn-leaves-and-frost/

#fall #autumn #foliage #leaves #aspens #nature #landscape #landscapephotography #photography

“River of Aspen Color #2” — A band of colorful autumn aspen trees follows a gully down a Sierra Nevada slope.

If you follow the fall color transition in the Eastern Sierra Nevada you have almost certainly seen photographs of this grove. (Hint: there other groves like it that are less well known, and I’ll do my part to help it stay that way!) The trees descend from a high ridge along a gully, then spread out in a larger grove at the bottom at the edge of a subalpine lake. The form of the grove is fascinating, as is its color transition between the upper orange and red trees and the yellow trees below…continues: https://gdanmitchell.com/2025/10/22/river-of-aspen-color-2/

#fall #autumn #foliage #aspens #trees #nature #sierranevada #landscapephotography #photography

“All Of The Colors” — An Eastern Sierra Nevada aspen forest showing every autumn color from green through yellow and orange to red.

One challenge when photographing Sierra Nevada aspen color, at least if you want large scale views of groves, is finding a suitable vantage point. Some groves are beautiful… but a long distance from any easy access. Others would make lovely photographs, but there is no clear, unobstructed view of them. (In those cases, going inside the grove works, but with a different outcome.) The trees in this photograph solve both problems — they are easy to access, and there is a clear view from a nearby elevated position…continues: https://gdanmitchell.com/2025/10/21/all-of-the-colors/

#fall #autumn #colors #foliage #aspens #tres #nature #landscape #landscapephotography #photography

“Within The Grove” — Autumn aspen leaves begin to glow in morning light as the sun clears a distant ridge.

This is one of those odd little spots that is likely on no one’s itinerary of important aspen color sites except mine. I first stopped here a couple of decades ago on the drive between some better known locations, and since that time I have paused here every season to photograph this little grove. This year I arrived just as the canopy was thinning and, on this morning, as the first direct sunlight began to flood the grove…continues: https://gdanmitchell.com/2025/10/20/within-the-grove-2/

#fall #autumn #foliage #aspens #sierranevada #trees #nature #landscapephotography #landscape #photography

“Small Aspen, Trunks, and Rocks” — A small aspen tree grows along a rock face beneath taller trees.

As a fall color photograph, this is a bit subtler than some of the others I have recently shared. Instead of walls of brilliantly colorful aspen groves we have a single small tree along with a few other even “quieter” bits of autumn color. But the truth, of course, is that autumn in the Sierra is mostly not about those aspens, as spectacular as they are. The arrival of autumn with drying meadows, old leaves on the ground, and more is subtle but undeniable…continues: https://gdanmitchell.com/2025/10/19/small-aspen-trunks-and-rocks/

#aspens #fall #autumn #foliage #sierranevada #nature #landscapephotography #photography

“Lean To The Left” — A conjunction of aspen groves, one with left-leaning small trees and red foliage and the other with large trees with yellow leaves.

My camera position may have a little something to do with the “lean” of the tree trunks in the middle of the frame, but they really were leaning significantly to the left. While our idealized aspen trees are tall and straight, the reality in the Sierra Nevada is often different. There are many groves of very small trees, and many others end up twisted and stunted after being pushed and broken by winter snows and winds.

This grove is huge, stretching from its wide, flat base far up mountain slopes toward a ridge high above. Here the color division — reddish versus yellow — marks the point at which the trees begin to ascend that slope. It is one of the sharpest divisions I know of between trees of different colors…continues: https://gdanmitchell.com/2025/10/18/lean-to-the-left/

#sierranevada #aspens #fall #autumn #forest #nature #landscape #landscapephotography #photography

“Yellow And Green Aspens” — A row of small yellow and green aspen trees in the Eastern Sierra Nevada.

This unassuming row of small aspens is in the high desert along the eastern slopes of the Sierra Nevada. In this terrain, it is common to find small groves of aspen trees in sagebrush country, often along a stream course or other source of water. Because I first encountered aspens many years ago on high country backpacking trips, I used to think the three were trees of the subalpine zone, but they are actually quite common in other places in the Sierra…continues: https://gdanmitchell.com/2025/10/17/yellow-and-green-aspens/

#fall #autumn #foliage #Nature #Tree #Outdoors #sierranevada #aspens #landscape #landscapephotography #photography

“Layered Autumn Aspen Groves” — Groves of Sierra Nevada aspen trees at various stages in their autum color transformation.

As I look back on this year’s autumn aspen photography one theme that emerges (which I wasn’t aware of when I was photographing) is groves that encompass a wide range of colored foliage. At the right moments and in the right places you can sometimes see simultaneously all of the states of the autumn leaf transition, from green trees through yellow, orange, and red… and even some bare trees. In this scene I suspect that the tall, leafless trees are old, dead snags…continues: https://gdanmitchell.com/2025/10/16/layered-autumn-aspen-groves/#Autumn #Forest #Landscape #Nature #Outdoors #fall #foliage #aspens #sierranevada #landscapephotography #photography

“River of Aspen Color” — A band of colorful autumn aspen trees follows a gully down a Sierra Nevada slope.

The grove in this photograph is almost famous. The earliest photograph of it that I’m aware of is by Galen Rowell, and just about everyone who photographs aspens in the Sierra has probably given it a shot. Timing is everything here — along with a bit of weather luck — and I arrived a bit after the peak of color. (At that point there might not be any bare trunks, but some of the foreground trees would still show a bit of green.) Rather than showing the whole thing, I decided to crop a bit and let the green area at upper right intrude into the space where yellow turns to orange…continues: https://gdanmitchell.com/2025/10/15/river-of-aspen-color/

#aspens #trees #fall #autumn #fallcolor #foliage #nature #sierranevada #landscape #landscapephotography #photography

“Aspen Leaves, Morning Frost” — Fallen aspen leaves covered in morning frost, Eastern Sierra Nevada.

I had been photographing long views of colorful aspen groves on mountainsides as the sun came up. Photography in quickly-changing early morning light can be intense, and ideal conditions only last for a short time. As the sun rose the light soon become too intense for the photographs I was interested in, so I went for a stroll along the base of a nearby rocky hill where it was still shady…continues: https://gdanmitchell.com/2025/10/14/aspen-leaves-morning-frost/

#aspens #fall #autumn #color #foliage #sierranevada #nature #landscapephotography #photography

The aspens are changing. Golden color is beautiful. #aspens

“Sierra Stream, Aspen Color” — An Eastern Sierra Nevada stream lined with autumn aspen trees.

I photographed this scene on my recent trip to the Eastern Sierra Nevada to photograph autumn color. Though they are not the only source of fall color — look closely to see others in the photo — the aspen trees are the stars of the show. I arrived at just about the right moment, as there were lots of very colorful trees. But the trip was cut short when extremely strong winds arrived, bringing down many of the peak color leaves. I made this photograph after waiting patiently for a lull between the gusts!…continues: https://gdanmitchell.com/2025/10/12/sierra-stream-aspen-color/

#fall #autumn #fallcolor #autumnleaves #aspens #sierranevada #mountains #nature #trees #landscape #landscapephotography #photography

#Aspens Update
The trees on Friday were gorgeous.
Though I heard that the weather front that moved through in Saturday evening moved us into post-peak leaf peeping

#LeafPeeping #trees #KenoshaPass #Colorado