Tag Archives: black

Photographs: Birds, Photographs: Central California, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Wildlife

Winter Geese, Winter Pond

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Winter Geese, Winter Pond
“Winter Geese, Winter Pond” — Migratory geese (including Rosss, snow, and cackling geese) settle in a California Central Valley pond as a weather front approaches.

On the best winter days, migratory birds gather by the hundreds of thousands (millions?) up and down California’s Central Valley, especially where the winter wetland ponds form. I first became vaguely aware of this decades ago on a winter drive up the Sacramento Valley on my way to Washington, when for the first time I saw multitudes of birds in the winter sky. Later a chance comment by a friend led me to a location in the delta where birds gather by thousands. Since then, I’ve been addicted to experiencing and photographing this annual wonder.

I made this photograph on a cloudy morning. The cloud shield overhead extended to the edge of the Sierra, which meant we had a brief but brilliant sunrise above the mountains. Then everything went mostly gray and hazy, and the light turned soft. These geese — largely a mixture of Ross’s, snow, and white-fronted — settled into a pond where I paused.

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, Amazon, and directly from G Dan Mitchell.

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Photographs: Fall, Photographs: Fall Color, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Sierra Nevada, Photographs: Yosemite

Autumn Meadow, Drifting Smoke

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Autumn Meadow, Drifting Smoke
Light beams pass through drifting smoke to illuminate autumn trees, Yosemite Valley.

Autumn Meadow, Drifting Smoke. © Copyright 2023 G Dan Mitchell.

Light beams pass through drifting smoke to illuminate autumn trees, Yosemite Valley.

This was just about my first photograph on a November 1 fall color visit to Yosemite Valley. I drove up very early in the morning, departing hours before sunrise so I could be there for early light. At first I was disappointed to find a managed fire in the valley — it filled the west end with thick smoke and produced some haze almost everywhere. For a moment I contemplated driving back out of the Valley and photographing in lower, clearer country. But as I drove a short Valley loop I found that the smoke was producing dramatic effects in some places.

In the end, most photographs I made on this visit involved that haze, which varied from barely visible up to smoke that choked the lungs and burned the eyes. Here the smoke was fairly thick, though it did not spread too far, and even thought there was a lot of smoke among the trees the air was relatively clear where I set up. As I made this photograph the rising sun was still low in the sky, and the interplay of light and shadow formed angled light beams.

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, Amazon, and directly from G Dan Mitchell.

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

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Photographs: Fall, Photographs: Fall Color, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Sierra Nevada, Photographs: Yosemite

Black Oak Trees, Morning Haze

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Black Oak Trees, Morning Haze
Haze from a managed burn drifts among black oak trees in morning light, Yosemite Valley.

Black Oak Trees, Morning Haze. © Copyright 2023 G Dan Mitchell.

Haze from a managed burn drifts among black oak trees in morning light, Yosemite Valley.

During my November 1 fall color foray to Yosemite Valley, I ended up spending a lot of time photographing these black oaks. In addition to providing the expected fall color, smoke from a nearby managed fire drifted in and out, varying from quite thick to just enough to add some atmosphere. The haze made the light more visible, sometimes producing light beams among the silhouetted trees.

For this composition I decided to use the dark shapes of closer trees to frame more brightly lit trees out in the meadow. On a technical note, managing the extreme dynamic range between the highlights of backlit leaves and the deep shadows in the foreground and near the sides was a challenge. As always, the trick was to try to get enough shadow detail to work with in post while avoiding blown out highlights.

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, Amazon, and directly from G Dan Mitchell.

Blog | About | Twitter | 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.

Photographs: Fall, Photographs: Fall Color, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Sierra Nevada, Photographs: Yosemite

Black Oaks, Autumn

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Black Oaks, Autumn
A row of tall black oak trees in autumn colors, Yosemite Valley.

Black Oaks, Autumn. © Copyright 2023 G Dan Mitchell.

A row of tall black oak trees in autumn colors, Yosemite Valley.

These trees, located in an iconic Yosemite Valley Meadow, call to almost photographer. They are interesting at almost any time of year — whether skeletal silhouettes in winter snow, brilliantly green in the spring, or brightly colorful in autumn light. This specific line of trees has always challenged me — one of those “this should be easy” scenes in which it can be difficult to find effective compositions.

On this autumn day the conditions were a combination of the normal for fall — colorful leaves, golden-brown meadows — and something less common, namely smoke from a nearby management fire. At times the smoke was thick, as you’ll see in some other photographs I made during this visit. But midday breezes thinned the smoke, leaving the colors and shapes of the tall trees more clearly visible.

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, Amazon, and directly from G Dan Mitchell.

Blog | About | Twitter | 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.