Tag Archives: black

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

Black-Necked Stilt

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Black-Necked Stilt
Black-Necked Stilt

Black-Necked Stilt. San Joaquin Valley, California. February 13, 2015. © Copyright 2015 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A single black-necked stilt works it way across a shallow pond.

This is a fairly simply little picture with a simple story. We arrived early at this refuge on this mid-February day. It began with thick tule fog, but before long the fog began to thin and the blue of the sky reflected on the surface of this shallow wetland pond. There were quite a few birds here — the usual geese and sandhill cranes flying by overhead, night herons in the brush on the other side of the water, avocets, and a few of these wonderful black-necked stilts, with the long and strikingly red legs.

Mostly the birds worked their way among grasses and water plants, but for a moment this one moved into an area of water colored by blue reflected light from the clearing sky, leaving a wake in its path. I decided to compose the photograph with the bird near the top of the frame to suggest its distance and to let the large, uninterrupted foreground suggest that large surface area of the pond.

G Dan Mitchell is a California photographer and visual opportunist whose subjects include the Pacific coast, redwood forests, central California oak/grasslands, the Sierra Nevada, California deserts, urban landscapes, night photography, and more.
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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

Red-Winged Blackbirds, Wetland Tree

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Red-Winged Blackbirds, Wetland Tree
Red-Winged Blackbirds, Wetland Tree

Red-Winged Blackbirds, Wetland Tree. San Joaquin Valley, California. January 25, 2015. © Copyright 2015 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A tree full of red-winged blackbird, in a San Joaquin Valley wetland marsh

This tree and I have become good friends over the past few winters. I have driven past it many times while out in the San Joaquin Valley photographing migratory birds and the flat, agricultural landscape of the place. It is a landmark of sorts on this looping drive — after passing by flat areas with no trees at all, it is the first tree before the route arrives at a grove near the furthest point on the loop.

This tree stands alone on a small peninsula along a levee separating shallow ponds during the winter and adjacent fields the rest of the year. Because of the open landscape, by moving my camera position I have many options for what appears behind the tree, though often the sky itself may be the main show. (Not so much here, since the variations in this foggy sky are quite subtle.) The isolated position of the tree also opens it to light from all directions, so it is interesting in different ways throughout the day — on clear days the sunrise light hits it from the right and the evening light comes in from the left side. The tree is frequently a meeting place for raucous groups of active red-winged blackbirds, and a group of them are perched in its branches in this photograph.

G Dan Mitchell is a California photographer and visual opportunist whose subjects include the Pacific coast, redwood forests, central California oak/grasslands, the Sierra Nevada, California deserts, urban landscapes, night photography, and more.
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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: New York City, Photographs: Urban/Street

Brooklyn Rorschach Test

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Brooklyn Rorschach Test. Brooklyn, New York. August 8, 2014. © Copyright 2014 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Layers and paint and removed paper create patterns on a concrete wall in Brooklyn

There isn’t really a lot to say about this photograph, but there might be a few things to ask. This was more or less a quick “grab shot,” taken while walking not far from the waterfront at the Brooklyn Bridge Park, where it isn’t uncommon to find places where various signs and billboards have been posted and then removed.

So, what you are looking at here is the result of various layers of paint and the after-effects of material that was glued to the walls and then removed. I think it is interesting to ask what you see in these patterns when you look at them. The more I look the more I see, but I won’t try to convince you that what I see is the “right” thing to notice, and I think that lots of other interpretations are possible — or that you might even choose to simply see it as a place where stuff was removed from a black and green wall!

G Dan Mitchell is a California photographer and visual opportunist whose subjects include the Pacific coast, redwood forests, central California oak/grasslands, the Sierra Nevada, California deserts, urban landscapes, night photography, and more.
Blog | About | Flickr | Twitter | Facebook | Google+ | 500px.com | LinkedIn | Email

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: Nature, Photographs: Northern California, Photographs: Sierra Nevada, Photographs: Yosemite

Oak Trees, Winter Fog

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Oak Trees, Winter Fog
Oak Trees, Winter Fog

Oak Trees, Winter Fog. Yosemite Valley, California. March 2, 2014. © Copyright 2014 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Winter fog drifts through a meadow to obscure oak trees, Yosemite Valley

The oak trees of Yosemite Valley always have a strong presence in my thoughts of the place. While coniferous trees are undoubtedly far more common, the individual oaks seem to have more character, and this character is strongly influenced by the changing seasons, weather, and light in their typical environments in and around the Valley’s meadows. In the spring they produce a brilliant green color, especially when lit from behind. In the fall their colors, while not as vivid as those of maples, bring a warm golden/brown color. In winter, as the leaves fall away, the structure of the trunks and branches becomes more visible.

In late winter I was in the Valley for a few days in conjunction with the opening of the Yosemite Renaissance exhibit. Often in the winter the Valley’s meadows will fill with ground fog, especially in the mornings, producing all sorts of photographable beauty. This fog is almost alive, often changing suddenly as barely felt breeze moves it to and fro and cause it to thicken and thin. When we arrived to photograph this meadow the fog was very shallow, but it silently thickened and before we knew it the trees were almost obscured, allowing me time for a “barely there” photograph of oak trees with a few leaves still remaining from the previous season — and just as quickly the fog dissipated.

G Dan Mitchell is a California photographer and visual opportunist whose subjects include the Pacific coast, redwood forests, central California oak/grasslands, the Sierra Nevada, California deserts, urban landscapes, night photography, and more. Blog | About | Flickr | Twitter | Facebook | Google+ | 500px.com | LinkedIn | Email 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.