Photographs: Nature

Bark

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Bark
Detail of colorful tree bark patterns.

Bark. © Copyright 2020 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Detail of colorful tree bark patterns.

This photograph comes from a recent morning photography foray with Patricia Emerson Mitchell during which we visited one of her favorite SF Bay Areas locations for photographing flowers. (That’s her thing!) The location is an old estate on the San Francisco Peninsula that features extensive gardens that are open to the public these days. She knows that place well enough that she plans her visits around what is blooming, and this week it was daffodils.

While I’m not mainly a photographer of flowers — or, for that matter, small things in general – I do give it a try sometimes. I brought along a macro lens and photographed small, floral things. I’ll share more of those photographs soon. But I’m also easily distracted by other things including weathered wooden structures, ivy, and the marvelously patterned bark on a row of trees. There were more than a dozen trees with variations on this kind of pattern, so I spent some time moving from tree to tree and focusing my macro lens on the remarkable colors and patterns.

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” is available from Heyday Books and Amazon.

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Photographs: Birds, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Wildlife

Red-Winged Blackbirds

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Red-Winged Blackbirds
A group of male red-winged blackbirds on display in brush

Red-Winged Blackbirds. © Copyright 2020 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A group of male red-winged blackbirds on display in brush.

When photographing the large and impressive migratory birds (cranes, geese, ibises) along with egrets and herons it is easy for me to overlook some of the smaller birds. To be honest, that is what I did when I first started photographing birds — my focus was virtually always on the larger specimens. But over time, and on days when the large birds aren’t around, I began to pay more attention to other no less deserving critters.

Red-winged blackbirds (and related variants) are found all over the place. In fact, I recently have a discussion with a Texas-based photographer friend in which he was extolling them. Where I go I typically spot them in groups in trees and among reeds, singing enthusiastically as the males show off their striking red patches. (There’s hardly a happier sound than a flock of these birds.) Sometimes they surprise me though — I’ll never forget one early wetlands morning when I saw veritable clouds of thousands of them arise at dawn.

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” is available from Heyday Books and Amazon.

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

Photographs: Death Valley, Photographs: Desert, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Southern California

Desert Mountains, Evening Virga

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Desert Mountains, Evening Virga
A large band of virga falls from winter clouds above Death Valley mountains.

Desert Mountains, Evening Virga. © Copyright 2020 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A large band of virga falls from winter clouds above Death Valley mountains.

This was an evening of brief but miraculous atmosphere and light, largely because it was so unexpected. In January I had gone to Death Valley for a few days of winter photography. With the possible exception of the wildflower season, this is my favorite time to visit this landscape. The temperatures are moderate and even cold, crowds often diminish, and passing weather systems can produce beautiful skies. However, I managed to hit four days of fairly “blah” photographic weather — thick, undramatic clouds, opaque atmosphere, and a lot of flat light. What can I say? It happens if you are out there enough!

In such conditions, sometimes persistence can pay off. I kept at it, often in conditions that were not conducive to making special photographs, but that did keep me in the field. And at several points, typically for quite short periods of time, the light did show up. This evening was one of those times. Shortly before it had been overcast and gray, but during the last half hour or so of daylight the sun dropped below a cloud bank and shone through a horizontal gap, lighting mountains, desert and clouds, including one of the largest virga clouds I have seen, with rain falling towards but not reaching the mountains below.

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” is available from Heyday Books and Amazon.

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Links to Articles, Sales and Licensing, my Sierra Nevada Fall Color book, Contact Information.

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

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: New York City, Photographs: Travel

Central Park, Christmas Day

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Central Park, Christmas Day
A wintry Manhattan scene in Central Park on Christmas day.

Central Park, Christmas Day. © Copyright 2020 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A wintry Manhattan scene in Central Park on Christmas day.

When in Manhattan, walk! We learned that lesson on our first serious visit a few decades ago. That was a surprise to these California natives, who live in a world where people drive nearly everywhere. (Things are so spread out here that it is rare to be in a place where everything you generally need can be found in walking distance.) But it quickly became apparent that everyone walks, even if only from the subway station to their local destination, and that you’ll see a lot more if you are on foot, too.

We were in Manhattan again during the last week of 2019. (Funny story — the two times we are most likely to visit are in late December and August. I can hear New Yorkers groaning at that. And they are right.) As always, walking was high on our agenda for the visit, and we were out on foot every day. On this day, relatively “warm” for Manhattan winter, we walked up into Central Park, crossed it, and walked by down along its west side.

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” is available from Heyday Books and Amazon.

Blog | About | Flickr | Facebook | Email

Links to Articles, Sales and Licensing, my Sierra Nevada Fall Color book, Contact Information.

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

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