Fall is my absolute favorite time of year. It’s not just the color, there is something about the light, the air and the mood it creates. I remember growing up in Southern California when the leaves would start to fall and blow along the streets. It was a special time when the temperature was just right and the nights a bit nippy but it was so much fun just to be outside in the clear clean air.

This shot was taken along Bishop Creek in the high Eastern Sierra there is a small holding pond where the trees around the pond all turn golden and cast amber reflections on the small lake. The deep golden colors caught my eye but the shot just didn’t look right till I sat down on the soggy banks and got the golden grass into the shot.

© Darvin Atkeson
LiquidMoonlight Studios
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Tags:   Bishop Creek Pond Lake Fall Eastern Sierra Nevada Autumn Aspen Grass Reflections High Country Mountains California Darv Darvin Lynneal Atkeson LiquidMoonlight.com

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As you arrive in Yosemite Valley one of the first things that will overwhelm as you enter the first clearing is the seemingly impossible size of El Capitan. No picture can do it justice. At any moment in time several groups are climbing the massive monolith but it is unlikely you can see them with the naked eye. When you finally spot a group of climbers dangling from the cliff they will seem incredibly smaller than you had ever imagined. This is no small rock. This is sheer piece of granite that doubles as a mountain. Seen here from near Bridal Veil Fall most will be focused on the waterfall but take a small walk up the trail and you will never once loose site of El Capitan.

© Darvin Atkeson
LiquidMoonlight Studios
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Tags:   El Capitan Yosemite National Park California Fall Autumn Darv Darvin Lynneal Atkeson LiquidMoonlight.com

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A light snow storm begins to blow in over a beavers pond near Lake Lundy high in the Sierra Nevada Mountains. Sunlight broke through for a few moments and lit up the distant peaks before closing back down as a flurry of snowflakes began their gentle journey earthward only to disappear as soon as they touched the surface of the pond without leaving even so much as a ripple in the glassy reflection. Autumn had come a bit early this year and was well received by a parched California landscape. The aspen trees that line the creeks and rivers of the Eastern Sierra has began to pull in their deep green leaves revealing the underlying yellow, orange and red colors while the pine trees seemed to almost intensify their deep devotion to the color green. If beavers do indeed dream, I imagine this is what they dream of.

© Darvin Atkeson
LiquidMoonlight Studios
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Tags:   Beaver Pond Autumn Fall Color Eastern Sierra High Lundy California Mountains Aspen Volcanic Peaks Reflection Darv Darvin Atkeson LiquidMoonlight.com

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Hot Creek is a hidden little river that runs through desert East of the Sierra Nevada. It’s name comes from the volcanic pools that come to the surface next to the river and mix with the ice cold water. As a result it has long been a popular place for swimming and skinny dippers after dark. But this beauty has teeth too and a number of people have been burned by sudden changes in the currents. The shifting breeze brings the familiar smell of sulfur lofting up from the canyon below. The river seemed to glow in the moonlight as two bathers made their way down to dip in the warm waters under a moonlit sky.

© Darvin Atkeson
LiquidMoonlight Studios
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Tags:   Hot Creek Eastern Sierra Mountains Sierra California Mammoth Snow Steam Volcanic Skinny Dippers River Creek Moon Moonlight Stars Autunm Fall Golden Light Darv Darvin Atkeson LiquidMoonlight.com

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All we had been seeing were great golden colors of Autumn in the Eastern Sierra. We had all but given up on finding a good grove of aspen trees that had the full range of colors. We had stopped to make a U turn and head back the way we came when we spotted a car with its hood up. A universal sign saying they needed assistance. I yelled across the highway and they indicated they could use a jump start if we had cables. I pulled my car so it was facing opposing traffic and pulled up to the nose of his car. As we got out, Miguel saw a grove in the distance with a rouged dual trail you could somewhat call a road which appeared to head down to the distant grove of color. Once we got the other folks going we decided to try the road not knowing just how bad it might get. It sure gave the undercarriage a good brushing but we made it down into a small grove of rainbow colored aspen. The closer we got, the more impressed we became. Color of all shades were everywhere. Standing underneath the grove the translucent leaves were overwhelmingly colorful when lit by the high afternoon sun. We would spend several hours shooting the creek, old shack, even older road and snow covered peaks that surrounded the grove. It was perhaps the very best color we saw the entire trip.

Though we were pressed for time it really paid off to stop and help someone having problems. We got them going on their trip to shoot color and in the process found an area not likely shot by too many others.

© Darvin Atkeson
LiquidMoonlight Studios
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Tags:   Aspen Rainbow Trees Forest Grove High Sierra Nevada Mountains Fall Autumn Color Leaves Country Road Darv Darvin Atkeson LiquidMoonlight.com

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