“In the high country of the mind one has to become adjusted to the thinner air of uncertainty…”–Robert M. Pirsig
Late last week, we decided to take a last-minute trip to the east side of the Sierra Nevada to visit the beautiful fall colors. Having grown up in the Rocky Mountains, my wife and I both miss the crisp air and changing colors of autumn. We arrived in Mammoth Lakes late Friday night, and I was able to photograph sunrise at nearby Convict Lake the following morning. Not only are the fall colors at the end of this image beautiful, but I love the textures present on Laurel Mountain, which is at the western border of the lake.
Laurel Mountain alpenglow, October 2010
After shooting sunrise, I walked over to the aspen grove you see in the above photo. These days, it seems like photographers go hand-in-hand with aspen groves in the eastern Sierra. Some people might argue that the photographers outnumber the aspen trees! The beautiful thing about this aspen grove was that although small, I had it completely to myself. I was able to walk through the trees in silence, enjoying their beautiful show.
This time of year, the blogosphere is flooded with beautiful images of fall colors, however I have a confession. Photographing these aspen groves is difficult for me; while beautiful, Sierra aspen groves feel “chaotic” to me, and making an original composition is difficult. However, the quote that began this blog post applies to my feelings on my “dilemma.” One of the best lessons to learn as a landscape photographer, in my opinion, is to not force compositions out of the landscape, but rather to let the landscape guide you. In other words, when I found myself in this uncertain, chaotic situation, I had to let the landscape guide me, thinking outside of what I normally would do; that’s when the true creativity began to happen.
Autumnal Path, October 2010
How do you let the landscape guide you toward compositions? I’d love to hear what inspires you in the comments…
Aspen Leaf detail, October 2010
Wonderful images, Greg. I’m glad you made it up to the eastside. I was there two weeks ago and despite the crowds, it’s always a rejuvenating experience.
I agree too that shooting the aspens is challenging much like the rain forests of the Pacific Northwest that I recently blogged about. Finding the compositions in the chaos is like putting together pieces of a puzzle, but when it clicks it’s magical.
Hi Greg,
Nice write up and excellent photos as always! I was at Mammoth Lakes and Convict Lake in September during a month long camping trip around the Sierra Nevadas. The number of shots I came home with is a bit overwhelming and I still haven’t written about Convict Lake. The aspens hadn’t changed colour yet, but the scenery was still incredible.
Being from the Pacific Northwest I understand what you mean about chaotic forest scenes. I usually end up focussing on one small part of the scene rather than trying to capture everything in one shot.
I enjoyed seeing your shots and reading your story, keep it up!
Anne.
What a fantastic view of Convict Lake. It is such a beautiful rock face on Mt Laurel.
Thanks Steve! Yeah man, I totally agree about Mt. Laurel; I think its one of the prettiest rock faces on the east side.
Anne, thanks for stopping by and commenting! I’m really jealous of your trip, getting to spend a month bumming around the Sierra! I think your advice is good: to focus on the intimate scenes, trying to minimize the chaos in the bigger picture.
Russ, like Anne said, the Pac NW is chaotic, and finding a way to make it click makes it worth it. I’m headed over to check your blog out now!
I especially like the B/W of the leaf.
I agree about not forcing a photograph out of what’s in front of you, and I don’t do that anymore. I’ll just sit and let a place soak in for awhile until something jumps out and grabs my attention, whether it be a small detail or an abstract pattern or a bigger scene. One of those things that stops you in your tracks. Then I have something to work with.
The process of letting the land lead you brought great results here. I feel the top photograph is your best mountain photograph I have seen yet. Also, you did get something different in the aspen grove, which is a relief to the viewer as we’ve seen a million mediocre to great aspen photos, but most of them run together in the mind and fade fast. The contemplative, yin approach to photography was my father’s specialty and as a result he was able to see something more than most fly-by bright-color snatchers relying on the shock value of color alone. And not only did his work sell well too, people still respect and remember him today for showing them more than surface beauty.
Thanks, David and PJ! Although I may have made some “mainstream” images on the trip, I hoped to create at least 1 or 2 that were worthy of a long term stay in my portfolio. Its been a while since I’ve spent time in an autumn aspen grove–its easy to see why people flock to them. They really are so beautiful!