Tag Archives: califoria

Photographs: Birds, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Wildlife

Two Cranes, Morning Sky

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Two Cranes, Morning Sky
“Two Cranes, Morning Sky” — Two lesser sandhill cranes in flight against a morning sky.

If you follow my photographs, it is possible that you recall another photograph of these two cranes in morning sky a few weeks ago. Sometimes I use burst mode to photograph birds as they fly past. One advantage is that you have a better chance of getting that perfect moment when things happen quickly. However, a disadvantage is that you end up with a lot of photographs to review! When this pair flew over, out of perhaps a dozen frames there were two that I liked.

The photograph, and its near-twin, are slightly unusual for me. For one thing, I tend to include some landscape or foliage with the birds. But here it is just birds and sky, albeit with some lovely, fluffy clouds. The angle and color of the light were just about ideal. It was coming at a low angle from my right, where the sun was just over the horizon. As a result the warm, early light shone upwards onto the undersides of the birds.

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: Death Valley, Photographs: Desert, Photographs: Ghost Towns, Photographs: Southern California

Abandoned Mill

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Abandoned Mill
An abandoned mill on a steep slope high in the Panamint Mountains.

Abandoned Mill. © Copyright 2023 G Dan Mitchell.

An abandoned mill on a steep slope high in the Panamint Mountains.

For someone like me, the first instinct is to think of Death Valley National Park as being mostly wilderness, and then to associate that with the idea that it is a place of little or no human presence. In truth there’s virtually no place in the world where we have not left a mark… and there are many examples in this park. They range from evidence of long-ago native populations and their descendants who still live there to the rather astonishing number of old mining sites. No matter where you go in this park., you are bound to see these things.

In the latter category is the site of Skidoo, where there was once a real town and lots of mining and ore refining… in just about the most unlikely location imaginable. It was near the summit of high desert mountains, far from any paved roads. The ruins of the water-powered mill (an astounding story too long to relate here) sit on a steep hillside, overlooking a remarkable expanse of rugged desert terrain and mountains that extends to the distant peaks of the Sierra Nevada.

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

Tall Aspen Grove, Autumn

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Tall Aspen Grove, Autumn
A small group of tall aspens with long, white trunks and colorful autumn foliage, Eastern Sierra Nevada.

Tall Aspen Grove, Autumn. © Copyright 2022 G Dan Mitchell.

A small group of tall aspens with long, white trunks and colorful autumn foliage, Eastern Sierra Nevada.

This photograph is yet another example of the variety of colors during the Sierra Nevada autumn aspen transition. There’s still a bit of green, a lot of brilliant yellow, and highlights of red and orange here and there. Earlier in the season the predominant colors tend to be the yellows set against the greens. But by the second half of the month much (though not quite all) of the green is gone, and the more characteristic autumn colors clearly dominate.

This photograph is also another example of the value of long lenses for landscape photography. I use everything from 16mm to 400mm and sometimes longer for landscape. The long lenses let me photograph subject that are simply not accessible. They allow me to work at a distance from an elevated perspective that isn’t available closer to the subject. They are useful for narrowing down the scope of a composition and eliminating distractions. All of those were in play when I made this photograph.

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

Photographs: Death Valley, Photographs: Desert, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Southern California

Creosote and Curving Dunes

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Creosote and Curving Dunes
Curving sand dunes rise beyond a few scattered creosote plants.

Creosote and Curving Dunes. © Copyright 2022 G Dan Mitchell.

Curving sand dunes rise beyond a few scattered creosote plants.

Well, this is becoming a bit ridiculous. More than once I thought I was at the end of this year’s Death Valley photographs. More than once I’ve been wrong, and a deeper dive into the files produced more images that seemed worthy of sharing. It appears that I’ve been wrong yet again! There’s this photograph, and I still see a few more that will get post-processing love in the near future.

We made a late afternoon visit to these dunes at the end of March. I felt that we’d need about an hour or an hour-and-a-half to photograph them leading up to sunset. The light looked promising in the afternoon and even as we arrived, but soon a thick bank of high clouds developed in the west. By “golden hour” the light was impaired by this development, though there were moments when the sun lined up with thinner clouds and the light took on a bit of a directional quality.

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 | 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.