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: Central California, Photographs: Fall, Photographs: Fall Color, Photographs: Nature

Autumn Pond, Tree

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Autumn Pond, Tree
Autumn colors on a small tree in a wetlands pond

Autumn Pond, Tree. © Copyright 2019 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Autumn colors on a small tree in a wetlands pond.

Central Valley landscapes such as this one often cause me to stop and consider what this area was once like. Today it is mostly agricultural land, marked of into neat squares with water coming from extensive irrigation systems, cut through by roads and highways connecting the increasingly populous cities of the area. But not much more than 100 years ago it was a very different place. One reminder for me is a description that John Muir wrote in the 1800s, remarking on vast fields of wildflowers that he saw as he walked (!) to the Yosemite Sierra. Historically, many parts of the Valley were also quite wet places, with marshy lowlands fed by many rivers and creeks draining from the mountains. (Much of this water is now captured, channelled, and devoted to agriculture.)

Fortunately, some remnants of the old marshlands (and even the original grassland prairie) have been protected. Many of the marshlands were protected, as I understand it, as part of the wildlife refuge program. One of the reasons for this is that hunters did not want to see all of the waterfowl disappear. Recently I read that there is yet another practical benefit to these places — birds that stay in them are less likely to feed on winter crops! In any case, these places now help protect remaining migratory bird populations… and they provide beautiful reflections for landscape photographers!

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: Nature

Cascade, Detail

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Cascade, Detail
An alpine Sierra Nevada stream rushes over rocks and boulders.

Cascade, Detail. © Copyright 2019 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

An alpine Sierra Nevada stream rushes over rocks and boulders.

These little cascades are among the most characteristic features of the Sierra Nevada high country — that region close to and above the treelike dominated by open views, rocky terrain, and (during the summer) the water from melting snow. Such streams range from barely-flowing rivulets to features large enough to qualify as creeks — but they are all rather small at these elevations, and they often take circuitous routes across the alpine landscape. Their scale invites close inspection, perhaps hoping across on rocks, stopping to admire plants and flowers on their fringes, and pausing to take in their sound.

This stream could be almost anywhere in the Sierra high country, but in this case it was perhaps less than five minutes walk from where we base-camped for a week of photography near the end of August and the beginning of September. We established a camp with water on all sides — a lake wrapping around us to the south and west, and flowing water in the remaining directions. As I write this in December, I’m thinking about how much different this landscape looks right now!

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: Central California, Photographs: Fall, Photographs: Nature

Three Trees, Fog

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Three Trees, Fog
Three trees on a foggy Central Valley late-autumn morning

Three Trees, Fog. © Copyright 2019 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Three trees on a foggy Central Valley late-autumn morning.

This group of trees, and especially the central one, have gradually become “old friends” of mine when I photograph in California’s Great Central Valley each winter. (If you photograph frequently in a favorite location, I’ll bet that you have some similar personal favorites!) Every time I pass by here, coming around a particular curve in the road, I spot the first tree and begin considering how it relates visually to the elements behind it, primarily including the other two “mirror image” trees.

The conditions in the photograph are fairly typical of late-autumn up and down this great valley, which stretches hundreds of miles from the southern end (where roads lead over mountains to the LA Basin) to the north (where Mount Shasta looms). When the conditions are right (or “wrong” if you live out there and it is the thirtieth day of them!) the damp air is very still and tule fog forms. This fog is dense but not deep — you might not be able to see more than a hundred feet in front of you but you can look up and see the sun or stars. The fog completely transforms this landscape, eliminating the sense of grand space and scale and instead producing a sense of intimacy and mystery.

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: Central California, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Ocean & Coast

Headlands, Incoming Autumn Storm

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Headlands, Incoming Autumn Storm
An incoming Pacific weather front darkens the skies above Big Sur coastline headlands.

Headlands, Incoming Autumn Storm. © Copyright 2019 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

An incoming Pacific weather front darkens the skies above Big Sur coastline headlands.

This location is both a rather famous one (or, perhaps more accurately, right beneath a famous one) and typical of many of the more dramatic sections of the California coastline. I am very fortunate to have been brought up close to the center of this geography, and I can head north or south to find many such places where the ocean and the land meet in such an impressive fashion. Here the Pacific runs right up against coastal cliffs rising to headlands, with narrow beaches and rocks marking the margins of the continent.

In most cases I might try to photograph this scene in different sorts of light — perhaps the bright early morning (when the cliffs are still in shadow), the evening when sunset light hits the coast directly from the west, or in dramatic fog or clouds. But those conditions were not to be seen on this late-autumn day when an incoming Pacific weather front was covering the sky in a thin shield of clouds. In my view, these conditions also bring a special sort of light, with the diffusive effect of the clouds revealing subtler color and filling in and lighting areas that would otherwise be in shadow.

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.