Tag Archives: atmosphere

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

The Wetlands, Late Winter

March 7, 2015 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

San Joaquin Valley wetlands on a late winter morning

About a week ago we headed off to Yosemite Valley for a few days, primarily to attend the opening reception of the 30th annual Yosemite Renaissance Exhibit in The Valley, but also to spend some time there in what we hoped might be interesting and possibly snowy conditions. Given the way this year has gone, it shouldn’t be surprising that the hopes of snow were not met — though there was a five-minute flurry in the morning in the Valley and we found a few inches of new snow by climbing up out of the Valley. But “there is always something to see,” and there was no shortage of other things to photograph.

On our way to the Valley from the San Francisco Bay Area we made a short morning stop at a favorite migratory bird hangout. Typically we arrive here by dawn and encounter thick tule fog. This morning was different and more spring-like with sun and a few puffy clouds overhead. While it seems wrong to see this weather in what should be winter, it still was beautiful, and I made this simple photograph of a quite wetlands marsh where I more typically photograph in fog very early in the morning.

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

Wetlands Sunrise, Winter

January 15, 2015 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

The sun rises above wetlands, barely visible through San Joaquin Valley winter fog

We arrived at this place in California’s San Joaquin Valley well before dawn on New Year’s Day — with some of us having driven as many as two hours in the dark to get there. After the drive, it is always a special moment when we get out of our cars in the cold for warm greetings and hear the sound of cranes and geese waking up in the dark distance. Knowing that the sunrise won’t wait for us, we then turn to unpacking cameras and tripods and to fitting lenses, and then we move out along the perimeter road to find the right combination of birds and atmosphere and light for photographing the dawn that will begin our full day of photography.

This morning was foggy, but not so foggy that we would not see the sunrise. With this in mind we headed to the west side of the wetlands, where we could have a view back across the flatlands and ponds toward the sun rising above the fog and the distant Sierra Nevada. As the sky began to glow we each estimated where we thought the sun would appear, and we found good spots to set up our cameras. As the very top of the orb of the sun appeared on the horizon I quickly made a small adjustment to my location to place the sunrise between the two distant tree silhouettes and to include some interesting foreground water. This was one of the very first exposures I made, at a point where the sun was still so obscured behind the low fog that I could look directly at it — within moments it rose above the ground mist and became extremely bright. I continued to photograph, but in the end this first photograph of soft light, fog, and pastel colors was my favorite.

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

San Luis Reservoir, Autumn Haze

December 26, 2014 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Soft light and autumn atmosphere obscure the view across the San Luis Reservoir

Since I have previously described the circumstances of photographing this scene, I’ll keep this description short. The San Luis Reservoir is a huge manmade lake in central California, between the south San Francisco Bay Area and the Central Valley. I frequently pass by here as I travel to the Valley, the Sierra, and beyond.

On this day I had been out in the Valley photographing migratory birds and the landscapes in which they are found — my first such visit to the Valley this season. On the way back home I passed the reservoir in the middle of the day, when the bright, late-autumn sun was reflecting off the surface of the lake and making the clouds above the distance mountains glow.

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

Boat, San Luis Reservoir

December 21, 2014 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Two fisherman in a very small boat on the very large surface of the San Luis Reservoir on a cloudy and hazy autumn day

Returning from my first Central Valley winter bird photography excursion of the new season, I passed by San Luis Reservoir in the middle of the day when soft clouds hung above the mountains across the water and the sun made the hazy atmosphere glow. I usually just drive right past this place — which isn’t easy to access, even though the road runs right next to it — but I decided to figure out how and where to stop and make some photographs.

I found a high overlook at the visitor center that stands at the north end of the huge earthen dam, and from here there was a panoramic view of the surface of the lake and the surrounding California hills, which are mostly golden at this point in the early winter season. (Before long, after the first real rains, they will turn “impossibly green.”) As I photographed landscape subjects I noticed one very small fishing boat on the otherwise-empty surface of the huge reservoir.

G Dan Mitchell Photography

Tag Archives: atmosphere

The Wetlands, Late Winter

Wetlands Sunrise, Winter

San Luis Reservoir, Autumn Haze

Boat, San Luis Reservoir

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