Category Archives: Photographs: Central California

Photographs: Central California, Photographs: Nature

Big Sur River, Autumn

Image 2 Comments
Big Sur River, Autumn
Fallen leaves and trees along the banks of the Big Sur River.

Big Sur River, Autumn. © Copyright 2019 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Fallen leaves and trees along the banks of the Big Sur River.

There is a little lesson or reminder in this photograph that I made earlier this week along a quiet stretch of the Big Sur River. I had planned to head south to photograph along this coastline. This is my favorite time of year along the California coast — the season when the surf can be huge, lots of spray gets thrown up, and there are often interesting clouds. Oh, and there are far fewer tourists in this sometimes-crowded location. However, the light was not cooperating, at least not with my original plan of photographing grand coastal landscape. A Pacific weather front was on its way, and the sky was rather gray and there was some ugly atmospheric haze.

However, as is so often the case, light conditions that may not be wonderful for one subject can work to your advantage with another. The high clouds were still thin enough that they allowed somewhat directional but very diffused light to pass. While that may not be great for those long landscapes, this light can be beautiful inside forests, even during the daytime hours when more typical sunny conditions can produce the nearly unphotographable “pizza light.” So I started looking for different sorts of subjects, and I soon noticed the green water of this river and the bare trunks of these trees standing above a carpet of newly-fallen autumn leaves.

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.

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

White Pelicans, Island

Image Leave a comment
White Pelicans, Island
A small flock ofwhite pelicans on a small wetlands island and reflected in the surface of a pond.

White Pelicans, Island. © Copyright 2019 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A small flock ofwhite pelicans on a small wetlands island and reflected in the surface of a pond.

Growing up in California, early on pelicans were more or less mythical birds to me. I heard stories about them (“Its beak can hold more than its belly can”) but I don’t recall actually seeing them. That is somewhat odd, since my family frequently visited the California coast where the brown pelicans are often seen — flying past almost any coastal location or sometimes settling down on rocks, headlands, or even beaches. When I finally did “discover” pelicans, they were these brown pelicans. Much to my eventual surprise, these were not the only California pelicans, and the beautiful white pelicans are found all over the place, from coastal to inland locations. It was only in the past decade or sot that I made their acquaintance.

In my experience, the behavior of white pelicans is much different than what I’ve see among brown pelicans. My impression of the brown pelicans is that they are often (most of the time?) in flight, coasting along shoreline bluffs and not spending all that much time on the ground. On the other hand, most of the time when I’ve seen white pelicans they have been on the ground, as with this group. Often when I photograph them I spend a lot of time watching flocks on the ground like this one, waiting for them to eventually take to the air. Sometimes it is a long wait! This group posed on the small island for quite a while before they finally took to the air, made a swooping turn, and passed almost directly over me.

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.

Photographs: Central California, Photographs: Nature

Pond, Clouds

Image Leave a comment
Pond, Clouds
Towering late-afternoon autumn clouds reflected in a Central Valley wetlands pond.

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

Towering late-afternoon autumn clouds reflected in a Central Valley wetlands pond.

Who isn’t a sucker for big, fluffy clouds and vast expanses of smooth water? I know I am. Such clouds often appear between winter (and late-autumn) storms in California, and they are among my favorite weather phenomena here. While the form is reminiscent of that of big thunderheads, these clouds are not as large and in person they have a much gentler aspect. I photographed these above Central Valley wetlands on a day of soft and diffuse light — it began in fog and ended in lovely late-day light.

Those who look at my photography with a somewhat technical eye may have noticed that I’m a big fan of long focal lengths for much of my landscape photography. I like the way that they allow me to focus on smaller sections of the grand landscape. But I always carry wider lenses, too, and that is what these conditions called for. Knowing this was a possibility, I actually had two cameras with me — one outfitted with a long focal length to photograph birds and the other with a shorter lens for subjects just like this one.

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.

Photographs: Central California, Photographs: Nature

Wetlands Evening

Image Leave a comment
Wetlands Evening
Dissipating evening clouds reflected in the surface of a Central Valley wetlands pond.

Wetlands Evening. © Copyright 2019 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Dissipating evening clouds reflected in the surface of a Central Valley wetlands pond.

This is the my favorite season in California — from October (with Sierra aspens) though the onset of winter rains (and mountain snow) in November or so, and on to the very beginning of spring. I’m sure that folks in other parts of country occasionally resent us saying it, but sometimes the hot and sunny days of late spring through summer are just… boring. it is rare to see clouds, there is virtually no rain — and those are precisely the conditions I love.

I made this photograph on a recent trip in the Central Valley, mostly looking for wildlife, but also for agricultural subjects, a certain sort of autumn color that is found here into December, and the beautiful skies that appear before and after the passage of weather systems. I had arrived at this place before dawn, photographed through the morning in fog, and returned again after a midday lunch break. Here it less than a half hour before sunset, and things were quieting down and the light was softening, and big, billowy clouds drifted overhead, reflected in the waters of wetland ponds.

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.