I went to this place to photograph birds – at least that was my excuse. In the past few years I have become passionate about photographing migratory birds in the Great Central Valley of California between late fall and early spring – geese, cranes, herons, ibises, and more. Once you hear the cries of these birds as thousands of them flock together on the ground or in water or, better yet, as they fly overhead, you can become obsessed. In the fall I anticipate their return and watch for early signs. A few weeks ago we managed to find cranes further up the valley, and I knew that the geese wouldn’t be far behind – so this trip was, literally, a “wild goose chase.”
But the truth is a bit more involved. As much as I love the birds, I think that I’m at least as attracted to landscapes where they are found, and to the weather conditions of this season. You might think that a bird photographer would want clear skies and bright light, but I look forward more to fog, clouds, and mist and other kinds of interesting atmosphere. It occurs to me that the birds may partially be my excuse for visiting this landscape. I was expected that it might be clear on this morning, so I was happy (strange photographer!) when I drove into thick fog a few miles from my destination. I arrived just before dawn as the sky was somewhere in that color range between blue and purple and pink, but just barely visible though the murk. I made a few true sunrise photographs that included a barely visible sun behind fog and clouds, then moved on along a gravel road to try to locate the cranes that I could hear. As I came to a right angle turn, the fog stretched beyond the nearby grasses and straight toward the low sun in front of me, thick enough that all details in the distance disappeared (with the exception of a few barely visible birds) into a luminous glow that was almost painfully intense
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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” (Heyday Books) is available directly from him. Blog | Bluesky | Mastodon | Substack Notes | Flickr | Email
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