Category Archives: Photographs: Northern California

Photographs from Northern California

Photographs: Northern California, Photographs: San Francisco

Alcatraz, Sunrise

March 25, 2013 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Alcatraz Island silhouetted against reflected sunrise light on San Francisco Bay

On this morning I crossed the Golden Gate Bridge heading north around dawn, on my way to redwoods and the coast. As I cross the bridge I’m always on the lookout for potentially interesting conditions of light or atmosphere or interesting things happening on the bay. Having heard a weather forecast of “no fog,” I was a bit surprised to find… fog in the hills on the north side of the bridge, along with a slightly opaque atmosphere over the bay. I wouldn’t call that “fog” exactly – more like “could have been fog if the wind had blown a different direction or the temperature had been a bit colder.” In any case, it was an interesting development – more interesting to me than the potential for perfectly clear air.

So I left highway 101 on the north side of the bridge and detoured briefly up into the Marin Headlands, not sure what my subject might be but certain that the light looked interesting. I started to wander out to a spot where a view across the “Gate” is found, but didn’t get that far. Instead, I found interesting light in other directions – down toward Sausalito, across the Bay toward the Embarcadero and the Bay Bridge and, as in this photograph, Alcatraz. By good fortune it happened that on this morning the reflection of the rising sun was just in line with the left edge of the island. This light is almost too bright to look at, but with a long lens and the right exposure the camera can look at it just fine! The water tower on the island casts a shadow on the reflections in front of Alcatraz, and beyond the flat area of Treasure Island is visible, with even more reflective bay water beyond that. Oakland and the East Bay hills and shoreline are completely lost in the golden haze.

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

Great Blue Heron, Foggy Pasture

March 24, 2013 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

A lone great blue heron overlooks a pasture in clearing fog, San Joaquin Valley, California

I photographed this critter on my first bird photography trip of the season in the Central Valley of California, during which I visited several wildlife refuges in the Merced area. In typical Central Valley form, the day started out very foggy – tule fog hugged the valley floor and obscured the view in many places. By late morning most of the fog had dissipated, and hazy light came through the still-humid cool-season atmosphere.

When I first arrived at this refuge, the fog was so thick that it was more or less impossible to photograph the birds – though I tried! Eventually I reconsidered and did some landscape photography in the mysterious atmosphere of the thick fog. As it finally began to clear, I turned my attention back to the migratory birds. I found this solitary blue heron in a pasture at the far corner of the refuge, and I used my car as a “blind” to eventually pull almost parallel to it on the gravel access road, then stopping to make a series of telephoto shots with the foggy pasture as the backdrop.

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

White Pelicans in Flight

March 23, 2013 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

A flock of white pelicans crosses the marsh before landing at a San Joaquin Valley wildlife refuge

I believe that I have written in the past about the first time I saw white pelicans in the Central Valley of California. The preface to that story is that I somehow managed to live in this part of California for my whole life without realizing that this valley is filled with an amazing diversity of migratory wildlife every winter, so I’m still “discovering” things that many other take for granted. In any case, I was out in the valley at one of the wildlife refuges on a very foggy morning when it was impossible to see more than a few dozen feet into the murk. I could hear birds, but certainly not see them. I stopped and opened the window of the car to listen, and almost immediately a flock of large birds coasted silently into and out of sight. I was somewhat taken aback and thought for a moment that they “looked like pelicans,” but since I had no idea that such birds would be found here I dismissed the thought. Later that day my friends began to talk about seeing “white pelicans,” and later they showed me where a flock was resting on a small island in a marsh.

This flock arrived late in the day and was again unexpected. We had travelled to the edge a marsh to watch a large flock of Ross’s geese. They were settled in for the afternoon, but we knew that they would begin to fly out as the end of the day approached. This time it was almost completely clear, so it was easy to see this large flock of birds as it silently floated over the edge of the marsh – with almost no flapping of wings, in great contrast to the geese! This time I more quickly figured out what I was seeing and I photographed them as the crossed into the center of the marsh and landed.

Photographs: Northern California, Photographs: Structures and Objects

Window and Rusted Chimney

March 21, 2013 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

During the first weekend of 2013 I joined a bunch of Bay Area photographers who were taking part in a “long exposure photo walk,” shooting with this group at dawn near the Golden Gate Bridge and then later in the morning at this historic location. China Camp was, as I understand it, a shrimp fishing village established on the shoreline of the northern San Francisco Bay in the 1800s by immigrants from China. It has long since been abandoned and now is part of a California state park. It seems mostly like a place of quiet and solitude these days, and the most common sounds during my visit were the cries of shore birds.

A few buildings, some apparently reconstructed or restored, remain from the original village. They sit right along the shoreline in a shallow cove with an open view across the northern bay. I had beautiful soft light on this visit, as a Pacific winter storm was just beginning to clear, leaving it its wake plenty of atmospheric moisture and cloudiness. I photographed the very weathered side of this building as that light vacillated between cloudy gray and nearly full sun, catching this shot as some sun shone through, though softened a bit by the clouds.

Leave a comment or question using the form. (Click the title to see the full article and to comment if you are viewing it on the home page.)

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

G Dan Mitchell Photography

Category Archives: Photographs: Northern California

Alcatraz, Sunrise

Great Blue Heron, Foggy Pasture

White Pelicans in Flight

Window and Rusted Chimney

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