Category Archives: Photographs: Northern California

Photographs from Northern California

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

Snowy Egret

January 19, 2016 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Snowy egret stands at rest

I recently posted a photograph of a great egret, probably the most striking are recognizable of the egrets found in the parts of California where I photograph. That bird is found in field, creek beds, along lakes and rivers, and even in Pacific Ocean kelp beds. But it isn’t the only kind of egret found in the state. Two others are the snowy egret (seen here) and the small cattle egret. All of them often are found alone, though occasionally in small groups, and all may fly off with the least provocation if you get too close.

This snowy egret seemed to be in a rather inactive mood as I came upon it while driving around the perimeter of a wildlife refuge. Those who aren’t familiar with the California refuges and their regulations might wonder why one would drive rather than walk, but it turns out that this is the rule in most areas of the refuges. One is supposed to stay mostly inside a vehicle and make photographs from the “mobile blind” of the vehicle, supposedly since this is less stressful for the birds. So I stopped the vehicle and then very slowly moved forward a bit at a time, first to get close enough for an initial photograph and then to work my way closer for an even better image. Much to my surprise, this specimen didn’t budge at all, and I was able to stop quite close and make frame-filling photographs.

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: Wildlife

Snow Geese in Flight

January 17, 2016 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

A flock of snow geese takes to the air above the Sacramento Valley

Occasionally during idle moments out photographing birds, when not much else is on my mind, I try to imagine what it might be like to be one of them, to live their very different lives, especially among the migratory flocking birds like geese. (Yes, I recognize that much of their lives would seem very, very unromantic and even brutal.) One of the most difficult and interesting things to try to imagine, given that it is so far out of our own experience, is what it might be like to be airborne among so many other birds.

One of the special moments that comes when photographing the migratory geese is when something triggers them to all take to the air at once in huge groups that may number in the thousands — maelstroms of wings and sound and flight. When this happens we often simply point our cameras in that direction and begin photographing almost mindlessly. (In the best circumstances, it isn’t quite so mindless, and we pay attention to things like the background landscape and the light as this happens.) Often these lift-offs happen at a distance, but when it is closer the effect is even wilder. On this morning I was fortunate to have a viewing position that was very close to the place where the birds had settled in, and when the inevitable wild liftoff came, it was about as close as I have experienced, and I was able to photograph straight through the rising flock, from very close birds to those already farther up in the air.

All media © Copyright G Dan Mitchell and others as indicated. Any use requires advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

Photographs: Architecture, Photographs: Northern California, Photographs: San Francisco, Photographs: Structures and Objects, Photographs: Urban/Street

Fire Escape, Shadows

November 30, 2015 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Shadows from a fire escape fall across the front of a San Francisco building

I made this photograph late in the day back in early September, on a street photography shoot with a group of like-minded folks in San Francisco. We met in the late afternoon, wandered about for a while in the beautiful late-day light, then broke for dinner before going back out to photograph after dark.

One one hand, you could probably find a similar scene in many other cities. On the other hand, it also evokes the architecture of San Francisco, where buildings are packed tightly together, often with seemingly little regard for their aesthetic appearance when viewed from the street — with the result being very utilitarian facades, often featuring metal gates, fire escapes, and sometimes a worn and weathered appearance. This street runs almost directly east-west, so late in the day the sunlight was falling across the front of the building at a low angle and casting strong shadows.

Photographs: Night, Photographs: Northern California, Photographs: Structures and Objects

Yellow Building, Ventilation Towers

November 27, 2015 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Night photograph of a building in yellow light and ventilation towers, Mare Island

This was one of the last photographs I made on a recent evening with The Nocturnes at the historic Mare Island Naval Ship Yard. After spending the first half of the shoot exploring some little hidden areas that aren’t quite so obvious, I made my way back towards the “historic core” of the ship yard near the dry docks. This area is well-lit these days, as it is being used to dismantle ships of the “ghost fleet” that have been anchored in the delta for years.

The nature of that light is part of the subject of this photograph. The foreground building, with its classic and well-worn military base construction, stands across a street from the work area. It is brightly lit by sodium vapor lamps whose light floods this entire area, and this kind of lighting has a very warm color cast, so warm that it can give a bright yellow appearances to buildings that are very drab in daylight. Off in the distance is another set of buildings, with some kind of ventilation or cooling towers standing above them. The color of the light on that structure is a mystery — aqua, faint purple, yellow, blue-green. Most likely it is due to a combination of multiple light sources including sodium vapor, industrial LED streetlights, and more. Above all of that is the sky, though it also has a somewhat odd coloration, much warmer that the sky tones in rural areas due to the city lights reflecting on clouds.

G Dan Mitchell Photography

Category Archives: Photographs: Northern California

Snowy Egret

Snow Geese in Flight

Fire Escape, Shadows

Yellow Building, Ventilation Towers

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