Category Archives: Photographs: Central California

Photographs: Birds, Photographs: Central California, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Wildlife

Cranes at Dusk

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Cranes at Dusk
“Cranes at Dusk” — The evening fly-in of lesser sandhill cranes at dusk.

We spent New Year’s Day with friends, after getting up early to greet the literal dawn of the new year. OK, it was kind of cloudy and we didn’t see the sun until later. But still, it was a great day and a fine group to share it with. We photographed birds and landscape, and we shared food and drink that each of us had brought for the occasion. The day culminated with the evening fly-in of sandhill cranes.

The sandhill cranes stay in nearby ponds overnight, and around dawn many of them get up and fly away for the day. Typically they return at dusk, when there’s barely enough light left for photography, and their characteristic cries mark the end of the day. This small group was cooperative enough to pass through a patch of beautiful, colorful twilight sky just before landing.

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, Amazon, and directly from G Dan Mitchell.

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Photographs: Central California, Photographs: Nature

Wetlands, Dawn Light and Fog

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Wetlands, Dawn Light and Fog
Shallow fog diffuses the morning light in Central Valley wetlands.

Happy New Year’s Day 2024! When this post appears on January 1, I’ll be in the field to greet the literal dawn of the new year with friends, fellow photographers, and few thousand migratory birds. With luck, it may be a morning like the one in the photograph, with beautiful soft light, a bit of fog, sunrise colors, and lots of wildlife all around. I hope that your new year begins as well!

This photograph comes from dawn on a December morning when I visited wetlands. My main goal was to photograph birds, but somehow I almost always end up photographing landscapes in such places. I arrived to some of my favorite conditions: the glow of pre-dawn light, thick fog, chilly air, and the sound of thousands of birds all around me.

Note: I’m starting the new year with a few changes at my website, including the new, simplified format for posted photographs and streamlined text. Since this is something of an experiment, don’t be surprised if I continue to make changes for a while.

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, Amazon, and directly from G Dan Mitchell.

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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.

Photographs: Birds, Photographs: Central California, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Wildlife

Toward the Moon

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Toward the Moon
A small flock of lesser sandhill cranes flies toward the early morning moon.

Toward the Moon. © Copyright 2023 G Dan Mitchell.

A small flock of lesser sandhill cranes flies toward the early morning moon.

This photograph closes out my posts for 2023. This time is an opportunity to look back across the year that is ending and to look forward to what may be coming in the new year. It was a bit of a different year for me photographically, particularly in that we took a long overseas trip (from which I still have many photographs to share). As a result, there were fewer of my familiar Sierra photographs… since I was thousands of miles away during months when I usually spend time in the mountains. What will the new year bring? We’ll start to find out soon enough!

This photograph comes from a November day of migratory bird photography, my first of the new season. I photographed intensely in during the window of beautiful light around sunrise, and at this point I turned my attention to sandhill cranes taking to the air among broken, sunrise-lit clouds, some of which are slightly obscuring the moon in this photograph.

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, Amazon, and directly from G Dan Mitchell.

Blog | About | Instagram | Flickr | Facebook | Threads | Post | 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.

Photographs: Birds, Photographs: Central California, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Wildlife

Sandhill Cranes, Morning Light

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Sandhill Cranes, Morning Light
A small flock of lesser sandhill cranes reflected in a wetlands pond.

Sandhill Cranes, Morning Light. © Copyright 2023 G Dan Mitchell.

A small flock of lesser sandhill cranes reflected in a wetlands pond.

It was a relatively slow day of bird photography on my first foray to the Central Valley of the season. Not that this was a surprise — it was still early for the arrival of the big flocks of geese that I look forward to a bit later in the season. So sandhill cranes were my primary subject s— flying overhead or standing in shallow ponds like this one.

While the scene lookS tranquil, I knew that it would not last. Typically, at some point around sunrise or just a bit later, the cranes lift off from the ponds where they spend the night. This does not happen all at once, as it often does with geese. Instead, small groups suddenly take to the air, sometimes leaving their compatriots behind. I stopped to photograph this group because of the reflection, but also because I knew that they would soon fly out.

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, Amazon, and directly from G Dan Mitchell.

Blog | About | Instagram | Flickr | Facebook | Threads | Post | Email

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

Scroll down to leave a comment or question. (Click this post’s title first if you are viewing on the home page.)

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