All posts by G Dan Mitchell

G Dan Mitchell, photographer and visual opportunist focusing on the Pacific coast, the Sierra Nevada, redwood forests, California oak/grasslands, California deserts, urban landscapes, night photography and more. Posting daily photographs since 2005, along with articles, reviews, news, and ideas.
Photographs: Birds, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Wildlife

Four Sandhilll Cranes Taking Flight

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Four Sandhilll Cranes Taking Flight
Four sandhill cranes take to the air above California Central Valley fields.

Four Sandhilll Cranes Taking Flight. © Copyright 2019 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Four sandhill cranes take to the air above California Central Valley fields.

Some folks are perpetual bird photographers, but I (mostly) photograph them on a seasonal basis. My serious interest began with migratory geese coming to California along the Pacific Flyway, and I got in the habit of heading into the field during their season. Along the way my interest expanded to include other birds I saw on my excursions: sandhill cranes, white pelicans, ibises, various herons, egrets, the occasional eagle, hawks, and more. Each year, about half way into the fall season, my attention turns back to the birds. I made this photograph back in early November on an early foray out into California’s Central Valley.

Sandhill cranes are marvelous birds in many ways. They flock but typically in much smaller groups than geese, so it is much more possible to photograph individual animals. (They do collect in larger numbers at times, too.) They are fairly large birds, and when they take to the air there is an initial interval when they can appear a bit awkward. They get a bit of forward motion, launch themselves upwards, and flap strongly to get altitude. In this photograph the four birds are nearly, but not quite, past that point in the take-off, and there is still a bit of what seems like flailing going on.

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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Photographs: San Francisco, Photographs: Urban/Street

Emergency Exit Only

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Emergency Exit Only
Two trash containers in the doorway of a San Francisco building, with “Emergency Exit Only” signs.

Emergency Exit Only. © Copyright 2019 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Two trash containers in the doorway of a San Francisco building, with “Emergency Exit Only” signs.

So, yes, trash bins in the doorway of a San Francisco business — photographed on one of my street photography walks in The City. I’m tempted to just leave that there with no further explanation.

OK, a few hints. You could just look at it as two trash bins in a doorway — after all, that is what you see here. But if you enjoy such things, you could look at it in a variety of other ways, ranging from the mundane (code violations?) to more metaphorical. Your choice.

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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Links to Articles, Sales and Licensing, my Sierra Nevada Fall Color book, Contact Information.

All media © Copyright G Dan Mitchell and others as indicated. Any use requires advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

Photographs: Mono Lake Basin, Photographs: Nature

Mono Lake, Paoha Island, Hills

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Mono Lake, Paoha Island, Hills
Arid hills above Mono Lake and Paoha Island.

Mono Lake, Paoha Island, Hills. © Copyright 2019 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Arid hills above Mono Lake and Paoha Island.

To look at this photograph you would never guess that it was a very cold autumn morning that felt much more like winter than fall. We were camped in an eastern Sierra canyon, had gotten up very early to head out across the Mono Basin, as not far from this spot we encountered temperatures below 10 degrees at one point! Such is autumn in and around the Sierra — summer one moment and distinctly winter-like the next.

This view, photographed in early morning light, looks across the rounded, volcanic hills between the lake and Mono Craters toward the lake and Paoha Island, one of the two volcanic islands here. The distances encompassed by the photograph are quite huge, extending beyond the far shore of Mono Lake to the slopes to the north. That immensity is one of the main features that quantify the experience for me: immense space, deep quiet, and the huge sky.

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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Links to Articles, Sales and Licensing, my Sierra Nevada Fall Color book, Contact Information.

All media © Copyright G Dan Mitchell and others as indicated. Any use requires advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

Photographs: Fall, Photographs: Fall Color, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Sierra Nevada

Aspen Grove, Late Afternoon

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Aspen Grove, Late Afternoon
Late afternoon light on an Eastern Sierra Nevada autumn aspen grove.

Aspen Grove, Late Afternoon. © Copyright 2019 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Late afternoon light on an Eastern Sierra Nevada autumn aspen grove,

Later in the Sierra Nevada aspen color transition many of the groves in this area had already lost their leaves — as you can see if you look towards the more distant trees. But the foreground trees were in that wonderful stage where there are still plenty of colorful leaves, yet enough of them have fallen to more clearly reveal the white aspen trunks. The late-afternoon side light, coming in low over the nearby Sierra crest, helped to make the leaves glow, too.

As I work my way toward the end of this year’s eastern Sierra fall color photography I’m thinking back on the nature of this season. Although the general contours of the color transition are often rather similar from year to year (aside from some of our recent extreme drought years) there are fascinating differences, too. Late in the summer this year I saw a lot of very healthy-looking aspen, probably as a result of two very good water years. That led me to expect that we the colors might be more spectacular than usual. In the end, there was plenty of wonderful color, and I managed to find it in some new-to-me locations… but the transition was unusual and overall not the most spectacular I have seen. It seemed to start a bit early and, to my surprise, in more places than usual I found trees that dropped leaves early. This grove is an example — in a more typical year most of the trees would likely have been in peak color when I made this photograph. No matter… one of the beauties of autumn aspen trees is that there are so many ways to photograph them, and if you don’t get vast groves of wild colors you may find another kind of beauty.

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.

Blog | About | Flickr | Facebook | Email

Links to Articles, Sales and Licensing, my Sierra Nevada Fall Color book, Contact Information.

All media © Copyright G Dan Mitchell and others as indicated. Any use requires advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.