Aspen Transitions
A small stand of old aspen snags surrounded by young trees transitioning to autumn colors, Eastern Sierra Nevada.
There is sometimes a debate about the “best” moment to photograph autumn aspen color. Some say it is when the first trees show golden color. Others prefer the stage where every color from green through yellow, orange, and read is visible. Once the treen is gone, only the wild autumn color remain. But there’s something compelling about the post-peak stage when many leaves have fallen and the stark whit trunks are more easily seen. This photograph from the “every color”stage, and you can follow the “aspen color rainbow” right from the closest green trees rung up to intensely colorful leave farther up the valley.
This color range is one of the “transitions” in this photograph, but it isn’t the only one. Like all living things, aspens do not last forever — but when the old trees die new ones quickly spring up. I’ve gone back to burned groves months after a fire to see new shoots already emerging from the roots of the dead trees. Look closely at this photograph and you’ll see a row of old aspen snags near the front of the scene — perhaps they were burned in a fire some years ago. But now they are almost obscured by the colorful new trees.
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.
Aspen Transitions
A small stand of old aspen snags surrounded by young trees transitioning to autumn colors, Eastern Sierra Nevada.
There is sometimes a debate about the “best” moment to photograph autumn aspen color. Some say it is when the first trees show golden color. Others prefer the stage where every color from green through yellow, orange, and read is visible. Once the treen is gone, only the wild autumn color remain. But there’s something compelling about the post-peak stage when many leaves have fallen and the stark whit trunks are more easily seen. This photograph from the “every color”stage, and you can follow the “aspen color rainbow” right from the closest green trees rung up to intensely colorful leave farther up the valley.
This color range is one of the “transitions” in this photograph, but it isn’t the only one. Like all living things, aspens do not last forever — but when the old trees die new ones quickly spring up. I’ve gone back to burned groves months after a fire to see new shoots already emerging from the roots of the dead trees. Look closely at this photograph and you’ll see a row of old aspen snags near the front of the scene — perhaps they were burned in a fire some years ago. But now they are almost obscured by the colorful new trees.
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.