Autumn Wetlands. © Copyright 2019 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.
Morning fog clearing above a California Central Valley wetlands pond.
This is perhaps not a spectacular, iconic scene — and that may be an understatement! The specific place is hardly significant beyond my personal familiarity with it, and you could easily find similar places all over California’s Central Valley, spots near rivers and other water sources where the water pools and forms marshes, either naturally or as a result of human planning. It can be difficult to persuade others to find the beauty in such seemingly-ordinary places, but over time that beauty does emerge.
This day started in thick tule fog that made it impossible to see more than a few hundred feet. Later in the morning the fog began to thin, and sunlight came through breaks in the low clouds. By the time I made the photograph it was more sunny than not, but the light was soft due to the remnants of that earlier fog. These ponds led off toward levees and… more water and 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 and Amazon.
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