Tag Archives: agriculture

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Wildlife

Geese in Pre Dawn Sky

Image Leave a comment
Geese in Pre Dawn Sky
Strings of migratory geese fly high above farm country before dawn

Geese in Pre Dawn Sky. © Copyright 2019 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Strings of migratory geese fly high above farm country before dawn.

I never know exactly what I’ll find when I show up to photograph birds. It might be foggy or the sky might be clear from horizon to horizon. There might be thousands of geese… or none at all. (And when there are none… they might show up later in the day.) The rising sun may produce brilliant colors, or it may be muted by low clouds.

If I recall correctly, we had hoped for fog on this morning — New Year’s Day — but instead found fairly clear weather. There was some thin fog hanging around, but it had more of the quality of a sort of atmospheric haze than of regular fog. And above this haze the clear sky was visible and changing colors in the first light. High above the geese were already active, and long chains of them flew high above us.

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.

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

Photographs: Central California, Photographs: Nature

Winter Fields

Leave a comment

Winter Fields
A flock of sandhill cranes flies through an evening winter sky about the San Joaquin River

Winter Fields. © Copyright 2018 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A flock of sandhill cranes flies through an evening winter sky about the San Joaquin River

During winter I travel to California’s Central Valley somewhat frequently, ostensibly to photograph birds but, to be honest, also to photograph the landscape — one that often features fog, fields and trees on the trajectory between winter and spring, unusual effects of light, and those birds. In mid-January I was there one afternoon, on my way to an opening reception at the Carnegie Arts Center in Turlock. The drive would usually take me about two hours, but I left early to create some time to explore areas along the San Joaquin River as it approaches the delta and eventually San Francisco Bay.

It was an interesting weather day. It was range when I left the San Francisco Bay Area, but I got ahead of the front as I crossed into the valley, and it was partly sunny as I headed east on country roads towards this destination. Out here by the river it was hazy and foggy, as it so often is this time of year, and before long the clouds of that front caught up with me and produced an interesting and evocative “atmospheric soup” that was occasionally illuminated subtly when the clouds above the fog to the west thinned. The photograph looks across fallow and muddy fields where sandhill cranes were collecting and towards the scattered trees that grow nearer to the river, above which a flock of cranes flies past.

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 | Twitter | Facebook | Google+ | LinkedIn | Email

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: Wildlife

Cranes, Woodland Haze

Leave a comment

Cranes, Woodland Haze
A flock of sandhill cranes flies above San Joaquin Valley fields and woodland.

Cranes, Woodland Haze. © Copyright 2018 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A flock of sandhill cranes flies above fields and woodland.

Yesterday I managed to make it out the valley with the main goal of visiting the reception for “Valley Focus: On Photography,” a wonderful exhibit at the Carnegie Arts Center in Turlock. (Note: Those of us in the San Francisco Bay Area, spoiled by the proximity of a lot of really top-notch art, sometimes forget that there is “good stuff” elsewhere in the state. The Carnegie Center is a fine example.) It is about a two-hour drive out there from my home, and I was thinking that I could leave in the mid-afternoon and make it in time for the 5:00 PM reception… until I was reminded of something I should have been thinking of, the monumentally awful commute traffic along my intended route between the Bay Area and the Central Valley. So I left early, with a plan to visit some wild areas I have wanted to look at for some time.

It rained, sometimes hard, during the first part of the drive, but as I dropped down into the great valley it was clear that I had gotten ahead of the weather front — clouds behind me, broken clouds and blue sky ahead, and glowing light coming over the mountains to the west. I headed south and then east, finally locating a somewhat out-of-the-way spot where there was access to bird viewing. It wasn’t the ideal place to watch the birds, but there were some wonderful woodlands off to the west along a river. I made this photograph from a slightly elevated position, looking toward those trees as a flock of sandhill cranes arrived and then landed nearby.

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 | Twitter | Facebook | Google+ | LinkedIn | Email

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

Photographs: Central California, Photographs: Nature

Trees, Marsh, Fog

2 Comments

Trees, Marsh, Fog
Trees grow in flooded San Joaquin Valley marshland pond

Trees, Marsh, Fog. © Copyright 2018 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Trees grow in flooded marshland pond

On January 1st, New Year’s Day 2018, a group of friends and photographers gathered to greet the dawn (literally!) of the New Year, raise a toast or two, hang out, and photograph birds and the expansive landscape. It meant going to bed early on New Year’s Eve, but I can’t think of a better way to celebrate the first day of the new year. (Though that 4:00 AM alarm and two-hour drive in the dark was perhaps just a bit less festive…)

After photographing all morning the bird action seemed to slow and we all gathered for a quiet little party in a parking lot near large ponds. A bit later all of us felt like we needed a walk, so we broke off into groups and followed a trail around a marsh and to some tall trees. I was the last one to start, and I decide to simply bring along my smallest camera with a single little lens, foregoing the usual Big Bag Of Gear and Gigantic Tripod. As much as I was more of a mind to walk and think than to photograph, I couldn’t help but stop and make a few handheld photographs of the complex landscape of the marsh.

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 | Twitter | Facebook | Google+ | LinkedIn | Email

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