Sunrise, Fog, And Birds. © Copyright 2020 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Geese and cranes in a fog-filled sunrise winter sky above California’s Central Valley.

Many places in California that were once quiet and lonely and even overlooked or forgotten have become, at times, busy and crowded. I write here not just about well-known and iconic locations along the coast, in the cities, at national parks, but about places that might seem like nothing special at all to most people at most times. The issue, of course, is that there are so many of us now. But I have learned that it is often possible to sneak in around the margins and still find solitude. In some places that means going on days when others won’t be there, arriving when most people are still asleep, picking conditions that keep lots of people away. Arriving before dawn in dense fog on a freezing morning at a distant place that isn’t scenic can do the trick.

This was one of those days and one of those places. You could find a scene like this at innumerable spots in the state on a foggy morning, but you might have to get up before 4:00AM, wear extra clothes, drive through that fog, and then understand that you’ll pay a price in less-than-astonishing conditions on many mornings… in order to earn one on which the sun rises through thick tule fog as thousands of birds wheel overhead.

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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” is available from Heyday Books and Amazon.

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

Avocet and Geese, Fog. © Copyright 2020 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

An avocet crosses a marsh in front of a flock of geese on a foggy winter morning.

The two types of birds in this photograph could hardly be more different that those in this photograph — geese (Snow geese, if I recall correctly) and a solitary American avocet. The snow geese are annual visitors on the west coast of North American, migrating down from the arctic each winter. Avocets, as I understand it, a permanent residents of wet areas like this one. These migrating geese almost always flock together in very large groups, while I typically see avocets alone or possible in very small, loosely bound groups. And while these geese appeared to be mostly… just hanging out, this avocet was quite busy at feeding.

Of course, the birds aren’t the only story here. Winter brings wetlands fog, and on this morning it was thick. It had been even thicker when I started photographing just before sunrise, so much so that I really wan’t able to photograph much until it began to thin a bit, allowing in a bit more light.

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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” 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.

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

Snow Geese In Flight. © Copyright 2020 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A small group of snow geese in flight against an overcast winter sky,

Photographing winter birds, especially the larger migratory birds and those that flock together, is a special pleasure during this season. All up and down “my” west” coast birds arrive from very distant locations, many from the arctic, and reveal connections between far flung parts of the planet. I’ve photographed them from Southern California all the way up to Washington’s Skagit Valley.

In one way photographing a set of birds like this is a simple thing: just be there with a camera and be ready to photograph when they appear nearby. But the truth is more complicated. Groups of birds in flight are complicated things. Often they are headed the wrong direction, their positions obstruct one another’s heads, foreground stuff gets in the way, the light of the sky overwhelms the scene, and they move fast! This photograph manages to avoid many of those pitfalls — each bird’s head is visible, their arrangement seems interesting and appealing, and the muted light lets us see details.

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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” 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.

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