Dawn Light, Fog, Marsh and Tree. San Joaquin Valley, California. February 14, 2014. © Copyright 2014 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.
Early morning fog above a marsh briefly glows with pink dawn light, San Joaquin Valley
The winter season ends all too quickly here in California, and blossoms are already appearing on trees. Especially in this drought year, now is the time to enjoy the sights of the cool season – so when we had a chance to make another trip out to the San Joaquin Valley to chase migratory birds a few days ago we immediately changed our previous plans and headed out that way. We left shortly after 4:00 AM so that we could meet friends in the valley at 6:15 – well before dawn, but just in time to be ready for the potentially beautiful pre-dawn light, especially if it would turn out to be foggy.
And it did. Although the two-hour drive was mostly through clear conditions, perhaps 10 minutes from our destination we began to run into the typical Central Valley tule fog. It makes driving difficult… but it makes light wonderful! As soon as we drove into the area where we would photograph we could see that the ground-hugging fog was starting to glow in the pink pre-dawn light. Sometimes we hang out for a bit and chat before getting to work on photographing, but these conditions created a sense of urgency and we immediately moved on to look for subjects. Soon one of the members of our party stopped and headed across a bit of pasture towards the edge of a pond where the quiet water reflected the image of a solitary tree and the colorful sky. I soon joined him, and after he moved on I made a series of photographs of this scene. Photographs made a moment later in the sequence have more of a blue coloration, but for a brief moment the fog glowed pink-purple in the early light.
G Dan Mitchell is a California photographer and visual opportunist whose subjects include the Pacific coast, redwood forests, central California oak/grasslands, the Sierra Nevada, California deserts, urban landscapes, night photography, and more.
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Text, photographs, and other media are © Copyright G Dan Mitchell (or others when indicated) and are not in the public domain and may not be used on websites, blogs, or in other media without advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.
What is it about this pinkish light that I find so appealing…? It seems especially attractive when found in synchrony with the blue of twilight.
I’ve often wondered about such things. It seems to be almost ingrained in us to take pleasure in warm, colorful light – the sort of light that we see near the ends of the day. I know what I like about the light at this time of day, but what explains the fact that we are somehow programmed to respond to it emotionally?
Dan
It does seem universal. I know I am inexorably drawn to saturated colors (I can’t help it…!) to the degree that I really have to monitor myself (with admittedly limited success) when I’m doing post on my own work…