Category Archives: Photographs: Central California

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

Coastal Rocks, Surf, and Horizon

Image Leave a comment
Coastal Rocks, Surf, and Horizon
Pacific Ocean surf breaks over coastal rocks, backed byt the distant horizon.

Coastal Rocks, Surf, and Horizon. © Copyright 2023 G Dan Mitchell.

Pacific Ocean surf breaks over coastal rocks, backed byt the distant horizon.

This may be the final photograph in a recent series of images from a short visit to the upper Big Sur Coast during a brief break between our recent storms. It was just one morning, but after being kept mostly inside by a stream of closely-spaced storms, it seemed like time to get out!

While there were no storms on this day, the effects of the past storms were everywhere — downed trees, landslides, damaged roadways. And the next one was already starting to arrive, muting the light, sometimes making the atmosphere a bit murky, and generating large surf from the northwest.

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 | Twitter | Flickr | Facebook | 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.

Photographs: Central California, Photographs: Nature

Morning Clouds, Dormant Tree

Image Leave a comment
Morning Clouds, Dormant Tree
Morning sky filled with blue clouds behind a winter-dormant tree, Central Valley, California.

Morning Clouds, Dormant Tree. © Copyright 2023 G Dan Mitchell.

Morning sky filled with blue clouds behind a winter-dormant tree, Central Valley, California.

This photograph is from New Yea’s Day morning, when a small group of us met in a wild place to photograph birds and, a bit later, to break out goodies and champagne to toast the arrival of 2023. The day was a rousing social success… which made up for the overall less-than-thrilling photographic conditions. It was far from a “bust,” but moments of good light were separated by many more with gray skies and wind.

This complex tree is an “old friend” of mine — a tree that I see many times each year. Every time I pass I think about how to photograph it and realize that it isn’t an easy subject! My most successful efforts have been in fog, when details of the scene are muted and the background disappears. On this day I had some unusual colors and light to work with — the blue-toned sky and the more colorful breaks in the clouds.

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 | Twitter | Flickr | Facebook | 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.

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

Cranes in Silhouette

Image Leave a comment
Cranes in Silhouette
Sandhill cranes in flight, silhouetted against the sky and sunrise clouds.

Cranes in Silhouette. © Copyright 2023 G Dan Mitchell.

Sandhill cranes in flight, silhouetted against the sky and sunrise clouds.

Sandhill cranes seem to be among the more wary birds in the locations where I usually do my bird photography this time of year. On occasion, geese will not be uncomfortable within a few dozen feet of humans, especially later in the season. But I don’t think I’ve ever been that close to cranes. They even avoid us when flying, and I’ve often watched a group heading straight toward my position only to divert to one side.

I photographed this small flock around sunrise on a day when various kinds of clouds were in the sky — high, thin clouds that had been brilliantly illuminated by pre-sunrise light, and these thinner, wispier clouds that glowed with more subtle colors. Since I wanted the cloud colors in the photograph, I exposed for them, letting the birds go nearly black.

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 | Twitter | Flickr | Facebook | 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.

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

Grove Above the Surf

Image Leave a comment
Grove Above the Surf
A small grove of old trees above the surf and silhouetted against the fog-muted shapes of coastal hills, Big Sur Coast.

Grove Above the Surf. © Copyright 2023 G Dan Mitchell.

A small grove of old trees above the surf and silhouetted against the fog-muted shapes of coastal hills, Big Sur Coast.

This grove of trees sits on the edge of a bluff overlooking the Pacific Ocean along a popular section of the Big Sur Coast. In most cases, I have usually regarded it as a bit of an obstacle, as I have to sort of work around it to photograph certain features in the area. (In fact, I also sometimes have to “work around” a small herd of cattle that sometimes grazes in the foreground meadow!) On this visit I decided to turn the tables and make the trees the subject.

This was an interesting day, and photography was at times a bit challenging. I visited during a one-day break in the string of atmospheric river storms that hit California between late December and January, and I managed to squeeze in a single morning of photography here. Damage from the storms was easy to find, with landslides and road repairs along the way. But on this morning occasional sun broke through the high overcast and made the thin fog luminous.

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 | Twitter | Flickr | Facebook | 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.