Tag Archives: blue

Photographs: Death Valley, Photographs: Desert, Photographs: Nature

Clearing Dust Storm, Evening

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Clearing Dust Storm, Evening
Translucent atmosphere as the sky clears in the wake of a Death Valley dust storm

Clearing Dust Storm, Evening. Death Valley National Park, California. March 30, 2016. © Copyright 2016 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Translucent atmosphere as the sky clears in the wake of a Death Valley dust storm

This was the tail end of a massive dust storm that was with us in one form or another for an entire day. Very early in the morning we had seen the precursor conditions when we visited a high ridge in the Panamint range before dawn. At that time there was a kind of haze in the atmosphere that I had come to associate with incipient dust storm conditions. By midday the dust was easily seen rising out of the great valleys on either side of the mountains, and before long tendrils of dust were snaking through the air above our position. Returning to Death Vally itself we encountered a wild scene — thick dust everywhere and extremely high winds. We gave up and shut ourselves indoors for a few hours, and then not long before sunset the wind abated a bit, and I ventured outside.

The dust storm was still raging across the valley, but in our location the winds had dropped considerably. But in the interim a weather system had moved overhead, and now it was raining into the dust storm — something I had not encountered here before. I made my way to an elevated location that was above much of the worst of the dust and from which I had wide views across the lower end of the Valley. From there I could see the Cottonwood Mountains to the west, and as the air cleared slightly the light made its way under the clouds and back-lit the dust still floating in the translucent atmosphere.

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: Central California, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Wildlife

Great Blue Heron in Flight

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Great Blue Heron in Flight
A great blue heron flies above San Joaquin Valley wetlands

Great Blue Heron in Flight. San Joaquin Valley, California. December 26, 2016. © Copyright 2016 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A great blue heron flies above San Joaquin Valley wetlands

This photograph may tend more toward “clinical” than toward “evocative,” but I was happy to have a chance to photograph such a bird this closely as it flew past. The great blue heron is the largest bird that I typically get to photograph in the San Joaquin Valley wetlands where that I visit so often in the late fall and winter.

This bird is not exactly rare, though it is less plentiful than the white egrets that we often see near wetlands. The heron usually is seen alone, often in areas similar to those that attract the egrets, though also perhaps a bit more likely to be in dry fields. Most of the time they stand relatively still and they don’t show obvious signs of being upset or annoyed by the presence of humans… unless you get too close. The boundary between “that’s OK” and “that’s too close” is hard to determine, except that if you cross it the great bird quickly takes to the air and flies away from you.

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: Central California, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Wildlife

Winter Wetlands and Sky

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Winter Wetlands and Sky
Ross’s geese flock on California Central Valley winter wetlands

Winter Wetlands and Sky. Central Valley, California. January 1, 2017. © Copyright 2017 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Ross’s geese flock on California Central Valley winter wetlands

To simplify, there are two common conditions in California’s Central Valley in winter: dense tule fog that reduces the visibility to mere feet, and immense open skies above the flatlands that reveal the distant snow-covered mountains. Sometimes both condiments — and, to be fair, some other possibilities — reveal themselves on the same day, as happened on this New Year’s Day visit.

We headed out to the Great Valley before dawn, arriving to a combination of scattered tule fog that continued to fill in as the morning went on, eventually turning the day rather gray. We spent the morning photographing this landscape and the tens of thousands of migratory birds that occupy it this time of year. By mid afternoon the sky began to clear as winds blew away most of the fog to reveal a clouded-studded blue sky above the expansive wetlands. Here that sky is reflected in a wetland pond — and a bit further out from the camera position you may be able to make out the flock of many thousands of Ross’s and snow geese on the water.

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: Central California, Photographs: Flight, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Wildlife

Five Cranes, Sunrise Light

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Five Cranes, Sunrise Light
Five lesser sandhill cranes fly toward the sunrise

Five Cranes, Sunrise Light. San Joaquin Valley, California. December 26, 2016. © Copyright 2016 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Five lesser sandhill cranes fly toward the sunrise

“High horns, low horns, silence, and finally a pandemonium of trumpets, rattles, croaks, and cries that almost shakes the bog with its nearness, but without yet disclosing whence in comes. At last a glint of sun reveals the approach of a great echelon of birds. On motionless wing they emerge from the lifting mists, sweep a final arc of sky, and settle in clangorous descending spirals to their feeding grounds. A new day has begun on the crane marsh.” — Aldo Leopold, “A Sand County Almanac”

When I began photographing California Central Valley migratory (and native) birds a few years back, the initial draw was geese — snow geese, Ross’s geese, and others. But soon I become aware of the sandhill cranes, and I remembered reading Aldo Leopold’s descriptions of these birds all the way back in college. Something in his description was magical and even though I did not know these birds, I remembered his description.

The cranes’ distinctive cry is the first thing I listen for at dawn in the wetlands. They often seem to settle into places a bit more remote than those favored by geese, at least until later in the season. Their flocks are not as large. They often fly in small groups of three, four, or a few more. Their pattern of flight is more level, their wings work more slowly, and they often glide. They also people. Frequently I’ll spot a group heading straight towards me, but with very few exceptions they divert and take a path to one 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 | Twitter | Facebook | Google+ | LinkedIn | Email

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