Category Archives: Photographs: Nature

Photographs: Central California, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Northern California

Central Valley, Winter Dusk

February 9, 2013 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

A line of geese fly in front of the first clouds of an approaching winter storm front above California’s Central Valley.

This photograph was made at a late enough time in the evening that it was becoming hard to see in the same detail that the camera has. The sun had gone down and the light reflected up into the clouds was beginning to fade, and Central Valley haze filled the air, partially obscuring the details on anything more than a few hundred feet away.

We were surprised and pleased to have a spectacular sunset as the clouds of an incoming weather system that had early blocked the light were now lit up from below as the sun dropped to the horizon. The intense colors of the red clouds were almost too bright to photograph. Here I used a long lens to isolate a small section of the terrain to the west that held a group of silhouetted trees, with the Coast Range mountains beyond, and the sky turning all shades of purple, orange, and red. Although it may be difficult to see in this small jpg, a long line of geese is traveling from right to left high in the sky.

Text, photographs, and other media are © Copyright G Dan Mitchell (or others when indicated) and are not in the public domain and may not be used on websites, blogs, or in other media without advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: The Southwest, Photographs: Utah

Red and Yellow Leaves, Sandstone Wall

February 8, 2013 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Brilliant red and yellow autumn leaves of oak and red leaf maple against a backdrop of layered and fractured sandstone, Zion National Park

I suppose that I have to be honest and admit that the main reason for making this photograph was the absolutely ridiculous and gaudy colors in this little bit of red rock canyon. You can find red trees in this area, and you can find yellow trees, but it isn’t often that you (or I, anyway) find this combination of leaves, packed so tightly together, and against the intense color of the sandstone wall.

We had probably driven past this spot a few times before we finally came back and pulled over and photographed it. I can’t speak for the others in my group, but in some ways it is almost a bit embarrassing to point a camera at something so colorful and photograph it… just because it is colorful. Compositionally it was a very tricky thing to shoot. The only feature that brings much relief to the shades of red, yellow, and orange is the single arching crack leading up from right to left.

Photographs: Central California, Photographs: Flight, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Northern California, Photographs: Wildlife

Geese, Central Valley Haze

February 7, 2013 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

A huge flock of Ross’s geese flies in front of a clump of trees and above the marsh in hazy afternoon light, Joaquin Valley, California

If nothing else, this was a day of interesting and varied atmosphere and light. The day began if fog so thick we could barely see and ended with an amazing and unexpected display of color as the underside of the clouds of an approaching weather system lit up just at sunset. In between we had fog of varying thicknesses, occasional breaks of sun, and eventually the sort of luminous haze that often is found in the Central Valley at this time of year. And throughout the day we had the Ross’s geese – in big flock on the ground, passing groups of a few individuals, and the periodic eruptions into flight by entire flocks.

In the afternoon, after the densest fog had cleared, we found ourselves back at the observations platform near the entrance to the refuge, perhaps a bit tired after several hours of steady shooting. To our west was a large pond and the bright backlit valley haze had drained most of the color from the scene. Soon the flocks that we had been photographing near a pasture behind us and to the east began to lift off and fly around our position and out over the pond. I tracked the massive cloud of birds and attempted to photograph them as they appeared in front of various background landscape features. Here they are above the pond and in front of a cluster of trees, with the pale, hazy atmosphere beyond.

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: The Southwest, Photographs: Utah

Colorado River, Dead Horse Point

February 6, 2013 G Dan Mitchell 2 Comments

The canyon of the Colorado River, from Dead Horse Point State Park, Utah

The light was a bit tricky when we drove out to Dead Horse Point to look at the famous view of the Colorado River as it loops below huge cliffs at the edge of Canyonlands National Park in Utah. It was nearing the middle of the day, so the soft morning and evening light was nowhere to be found. It was also hazy, with the slightly opaque air taking on distinctly blue colors. For all of these reasons, and also perhaps as a nod to old school landscape photography, I went with a black and white rendition of this photograph.

This is a truly remarkable bit of terrain. First, in the bottom of the canyon the Colorado River negotiates and abrupt horseshoe bend here beneath the tall cliffs leading up to the “Island in the Sky” portion of Canyonlands National Park. Above the river are a series of huge terraces form as the river eroded its way though the deep and old layers of sedimentary rock that characterize this area. Shooting with a slightly long focal length, I was able to eliminate most extraneous subjects and crop tightly around this area of massive cliffs and terraces.

G Dan Mitchell Photography

Category Archives: Photographs: Nature

Central Valley, Winter Dusk

Red and Yellow Leaves, Sandstone Wall

Geese, Central Valley Haze

Colorado River, Dead Horse Point

Photographer and visual opportunist. Daily photos since 2005, plus articles, reviews, news, and ideas.