Category Archives: Photographs: Nature

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

Pelican in Flight, Sunset

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Pelican in Flight, Sunset

Pelican in Flight, Sunset. Pacific Coast, California. September 2, 2008. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A solitary pelican in flight at sunset over the Pacific Ocean coastline of California.

Yet another in the pelican series I shot along the California coast north of Santa Cruz on a September evening earlier this year. The glow of the sun on back of the pelican’s head and the light shining through its wings intrigue me, along with the very faint dividing line between the pastels shades of the ocean and the sky in the background.

To find out a bit more about where and how I made this series of photographs, take a look at yesterday’s post.

keywords: pelican, bird, sea, shore, pacific, ocean, coast, wildlife, nature, flight, fly, wings, california, usa, highway, one, evening, sunset, stock

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

Two Pelicans, Sunset

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Two Pelicans, Sunset

Two Pelicans, Sunset. Pacific Coast, California. September 2, 2008. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Two pelicans fly above the Pacific Ocean along the California coast at sunset.

I’ve posted photos from this set before, but since it has been a while I’ll share the story again. I had taken by son over to Santa Cruz, where he goes to school, and we decided to drive north up the coast in the early evening and look for photo opportunities. Although this section of the coast is always interesting, on this evening the first few places we stopped just didn’t present any obvious photographic opportunities. Finally I decided to just head for a roadside turnout that I had visited before. It is located right at the edge of the steep bluffs above the ocean, and large sea birds often fly right along the edge, apparently catching the updraft from the wind coming in off the ocean. You can see the birds coming for hundreds of yards in either direction, track them as the approach, and if you are lucky they will pass by mere feet from your position.

Making this setting more interesting and/or more challenging on this evening, the sun was setting behind a bit of off-shore fog – and as I panned to follow the birds the exposure went from fairly normal light on either side of my position to the intensely colorful and very bright light coming through the fog when I was aiming directly out to see as in this photo.

Yes, it really was this color.

keywords: pelican, two, bird, wildlife, fly, wing, sunset, fog, orange, gold, ocean, pacific, coast, light, highway, one, scenic, travel, flight, california, usa, davenport

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Sierra Nevada, Photographs: Yosemite

Fletcher Lake Trees, Morning Light

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Fletcher Lake Trees, Morning Light

Fletcher Lake Trees, Morning Light. Yosemite National Park, California. September 8, 2008. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Early morning light illuminates lakeside trees, meadow, and rocks at Fletcher Lake, Yosemite National Park, California.

Years ago, before the park service became (justifiably) more concerned about the damage that hikers and campers causes to meadows, one might have camped among these trees near the shoreline of Fletcher Lake, near Vogelsang High Sierra Camp in the Yosemite high country. I first visited Fletcher that long ago, and I still return every summer, typically near the end of the season when the meadow grasses turn brown and golden and when the crowds diminish. This photograph was made on just such a trip this past September, when the morning light was just coming around the side of Fletcher Peak.

keywords: morning; light; illuminate; fletcher; lake; vogelsang; high; sierra; camp; mountain; range; alpine; rock; meadow; grass; tree; pine; california; usa; backpack; nature; scenic; travel; landscape; yosemite; national park

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Sierra Nevada

Aspens and Early Snow, North Lake

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Aspens and Early Snow, North Lake

Aspens and Early Snow, North Lake. Sierra Nevada, California. October 4, 2008. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

An early autumn snow fall dusts the ridge above the aspen groves at North Lake, Sierra Nevada, California.

Another photograph from my early October 2008 visit to the Bishop Creek area. On the first morning I left Bishop very early, waiting only long enough for the local Starbucks to open. (There I admired a couple of Vern Clevenger photos hanging on the wall – his gallery is next door – and saw a few other bleary-eyed photographers getting some much-needed coffee.) Although the weather was clear in Bishop, it began to cloud up as I drove up toward North Lake. When I arrived before sunrise it was cloudy there, but it looked the conditions might be good for some early morning aspen photography.

But not for long. Almost as soon as I took my gear out of the car the wind came up, the temperature dropped and it began to rain and then snow. I quickly holed up in my car to wait it out, and an hour later the sun began to emerge in between the light snow showers. This well known grove of aspens on the far side of the lake climbs a valley toward the ridge. Although many leaves came down quickly in the wind as the front passed, there was still a lot of color in the grove. Here there is still light snow falling on the ridge, even as sunlight slants in from the right.

keywords: early, autumn, fall, snow, snowfall, squall, weather, cloud, sky, mountain, ridge, aspen, grove, tree, color, orange, yellow, gold, brush, bush, north lake, sierra, nevada, range, eastern, scenic, landscape, travel, nature, stock, meadow, grass