Category Archives: Photographs: Central California

Photographs: Central California, Photographs: Nature

Orchard, Fog

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Orchard, Fog
“Orchard, Fog” — Thick winter tule fog spreads through a Central Valley orchard.

The primary goal of my visit to the Pacific Flyway on this early-January day was to photograph migratory birds in the tule fog. I regularly check the weather predictions at this time of year, since it is the time of “interesting weather,” and this can make all the difference when it comes to the photographic potential of a location. On the day before I made this photograph, my check revealed a very good chance for dense tule fog — the kind that sane drivers try to avoid but which attracts photographers. So I was up very early, ready to drive through the fog for the chance to photograph it.

Local conditions can vary a great deal on days like this. Out where I was photographing birds the sky was beginning to clear, but I still wanted fog. So I drove a ways in a direction where the sky seemed darker, and before long I was once again engulfed. I had this orchard in mind as drove, and when I got there I took a gravel side-road to a spot where I could see an uninterrupted expanse of tree silhouettes fading into the distant fog where the sun was trying to break through.

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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” (Heyday Books) is available directly from him. Blog | Bluesky | Mastodon | Substack Notes | Flickr | Email

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

Cranes in Fog

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Cranes in Fog
A group of lesser sandhill cranes in thick morning fog, California Central Valley.

Cranes in Fog. © Copyright 2022 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A group of lesser sandhill cranes in thick morning fog, California Central Valley.

Awake almost three hours before sunrise, I headed to the kitchen to make coffee — enough to wake me up and enough to fill a thermos for later. I had mostly packed the car the previous night, so I just had to grab a small bag and head out the door to begin a two-hour pre-dawn drive to a place where I expected to find migratory birds and plenty of tule fog, two subjects that I chase during the winter months. The fog began a half hour before I arrived at my destination, and when I arrived as the first light came to the sky I heard thousands of birds in the distance.

At first it was too dark and the atmosphere too opaque for photography, so I headed out to find the source of the sounds. Soon I encountered a large flock of snow geese which departed a moment later. Moving on I got to a spot where I could hear the easily recognized sound of cranes nearby. I could just barely see them though the thick fog, but I stopped and waited, and as the fog drifted a bit I was able to spot them and make a few photographs of a group standing in shallow wetlands.

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

Winter Wetland Trees

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Winter Wetland Trees
A copse of winter wetland trees along the Pacific Flyway, New Year’s Day 2022.

Winter Wetland Trees. © Copyright 2022 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A copse of winter wetland trees along the Pacific Flyway, New Year’s Day 2022.

This photograph is another one from our New Year’s Day adventure with friends under the skies of the Pacific Skyway. We joined up for New Year’s Eve and then New Year’s Day morning to celebrate the arrival of the new year along with a few tens of thousands of our bird friends, something that has become a tradition among this group of friends and (mostly) photographers.

I think that most of us would agree that it is the combination of birds and fog that primarily attracts us to these places in the winter. The attraction of fog might seem strange to those who live in it and have to drive in it and sometimes tolerate weeks of damp and gray. But its presence lends mystery to this landscape and creates an unending variety of conditions of mystery and light. On the morning I made this photograph, the skies were mostly clear, though a combination of high clouds and very thin fog near the ground softened the light on this group of trees.

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: Central California, Photographs: Nature

Wetland Reflections, Dawn

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Wetland Reflections, Dawn
Dawn clouds reflected in the surface of a wetland pond, Pacific Flyway, New Year’s Day 2022.

Wetland Reflections, Dawn. © Copyright 2022 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Dawn clouds reflected in the surface of a wetland pond, Pacific Flyway, New Year’s Day 2022.

The dawn light is remarkably fleeting. The space between “too early” and “too late” can be extremely small, and on a morning like this one I might have only moments to see what is happening in the sky, find a foreground, create a composition, and make some photographs. When the light arrived and a small group of clouds appeared in the distance, I first worked handheld with a long lens in order to narrow the view and get some flexibility about positioning the tree. Then I grabbed another camera that had a wider angle lens attached, and I made a few photographs that included more sky and water than seen here.

I have photographed in some remarkable landscape, where particular objects demanded attention. But this landscape along the Pacific Flyway is not that sort of place. To be honest, often it can seem plain and even boring. Much of the area is agricultural country, and nearby there are large cattle operations — not the most scenic or pleasant of landscape subjects. But for a few months each winter the fields flood and migratory birds return, and when the conditions are just right magic may happen.

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 | 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.