Category Archives: Photographs: Nature

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Northern California, Photographs: Sierra Nevada

Sierra Foothills, Late Winter

March 1, 2016 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

First growth of the season brings green to Sierra Nevada foothills in late winter

During late winter many parts of California undergo stunning conversion. During the previous summer the landscape dried out under summer heat. As summer turns to fall the heat does not immediately abate, and the landscape may reach its driest point. Then, in a normal year, the winter rains finally arrive. At first the changes — mud, mostly — don’t speak of spring, but at some point in the middle of winter plants again gain a foothold and begin to sprout everywhere. Short and very greens grasses spring up. Wildflowers begin to appear on the hillsides.

This photograph is of an area that seemed to be starting the late winter transformation. Though some trees are still leafless, the hills are otherwise covered with the first, short grasses. A few flowers have begun to appear on some of the chaparral plants. And beautiful light is everywhere. This begins a short but intense period of wild land growth here. The short grasses turn to lush, thick grasses. Wildflowers take over, and the leafless trees begin to show new colors.

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: Northern California, Photographs: Sierra Nevada

Rocks and Grass, Sierra Foothills

February 29, 2016 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Wildflowers and new grasses begin to sprout in the Sierra Nevada foothills.

The “impossible green” season begins early in California. I want to call this a “spring” photograph, but unlike many colder parts of the USA, these colors come to California in late winter. The effect is especially striking in years with good winter rains, and after four years of crushing drought much of California has received between normal and above normal rainfall this year. This past week it seemed like the Sierra foothills were taking advantage of all the moisture and of a recent warm spell.

Over three-day period we spend time in the Central Valley, Yosemite, and in the Sierra foothills. On the first day we were somewhat surprised to see the California Golden Poppies were already blooming in places in Merced Canyon, covering hillsides with a carpet of colorful flowers. Lower down in the foothills the short grasses have turned intensely green and wildflowers are beginning to bloom.

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: Northern California

Wetlands Island, Fog

February 27, 2016 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Thick tule fog obscures the view of a San Joaquin Valley wetlands island

I can’t think of nicer weather for California’s Great Central Valley! (Well, unless you really need to get somewhere by car, in which case this kind of pea soup fog will slow you down, drive you nuts, and make you worry about those drivers who insist on traveling through it at high speeds.) I had a pretty good idea that it was going to be “this kind of day” as I approached this favorite bird photography location. Most of the drive had been clear, but a few miles away the fog suddenly thickened and soon I was creeping along narrow back roads at low speeds.

Our photography begin in fog so thick that we really could not see any of the birds that we heard, even though they were obviously not that far away. Finally it began to thin enough that we could see a few birds, dimly, though the mist. We photographed them for a while, and then I decided to make another circuit of the spot before the fog dissipated. Partway along the fog became less thick and it began to glow from above. I stopped, switched gears from bird photographer to landscape photographer, and made several photographs of these mostly obscured islands and trees and bushes.

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Sierra Nevada

Basalt Columns, Lichen, Autumn Plants

February 26, 2016 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Since this photograph is in the 2016 Yosemite Renaissance 31 exhibit that opens this evening, I am reprising it for today’s post.

Basalt Columns, Lichen, Autumn Plants — Autumn plants and lichen lend color to basalt columns, Devils Postpile National Monument

Autumn plants and lichen lend color to basalt columns, Devils Postpile National Monument

Quite honestly, this photograph was at least partially the product of laziness! We were recently in the eastern Sierra Nevada for a few (more) days of autumn color photography. We had driven up late the previous day, and by the time we got settled in to our lodgings the idea of getting up again at “oh-dark-thirty” to head out and make dawn photographs was not appealing. Rather than overtly cop out, we sort of agreed to maybe not set alarms and instead just sort of see when we might wake up. Needless to say, on the morning after a very long drive that ended late at night… we did not get up at the crack of dawn! In fact, we wandered out for breakfast at perhaps 7:30 or so, and only then returned to our room to get ready for photography.

With no prior planning at all, we made a more or less spontaneous decision to visit Devils Postpile National Monument, which was to our lodgings at Mammoth Lakes. I’ve been in that area many times, but always in conjunction with backpacking trips, and most of those simply headed out from Agnew Meadow. We finally got down there in the middle of the morning. It turns out that this is actually a very good time to photograph this geological structure, as the sun is behind it, producing beautiful soft shaded light on the details of the basalt columns. To make a series of photographs from which this image comes, I used a very long lens, which allowed me to isolate and compose photographs out of small areas of the much larger wall of basalt columns. (Update — December 2015: Patty Emerson Mitchell reminds me that I almost left my camera in the car on this morning, claiming that I was really just there to let her see this location!)

G Dan Mitchell Photography

Category Archives: Photographs: Nature

Sierra Foothills, Late Winter

Rocks and Grass, Sierra Foothills

Wetlands Island, Fog

Basalt Columns, Lichen, Autumn Plants

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