Tag Archives: california

Photographs: Birds, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Wildlife

Quartet of Geese

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Quartet of Geese
Four closely-spaced Ross’s geese in flight above the California Central Valley.

Quartet of Geese. © Copyright 2021 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Four closely-spaced Ross’s geese in flight above the California Central Valley.

This is a somewhat straightforward photograph of a small group of Ross’s geese in flight over California’s Central Valley. I made the photograph on a cold January morning back in 2013… which is the sort of thing you might find me doing on January mornings in just about any year.

I often try for some kind of landscape context with these bird photographs, or perhaps some unusual light or color or atmosphere. But this photograph is pretty straightforward — just four geese against the winter sky. One thing I like about it has to do with the positions of the four birds. You can press the shutter a whole lot of times as geese fly by before you get a photograph where four of the birds stand out this clearly and are this 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.

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Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Sierra Nevada, Photographs: Yosemite

Tuolumne Canyon, September

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Tuolumne Canyon, September
Wildfire smoke colors the morning light on domes above the Tuolumne River, Yosemite National Park.

Tuolumne Canyon, September. © Copyright 2021 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Wildfire smoke colors the morning light on domes above the Tuolumne River, Yosemite National Park.

Back in 2014 a group of us spent a week photographing in the Yosemite backcountry. We packed in to our first locations, spent a few days there, then moved along and ended up near the location of this photograph in the canyon of the Tuolumne River. While many have an impression of the Tuolumne formed by its leisurely passage through the Tuolumne Meadows area, other sections present a very different view.

Our stop here coincided with a very destructive wildfire in Little Yosemite Valley, and on the afternoon of our arrival the smoke had block the sun as ash floated down from the sky. Later much of the smoke blew in other directions, yet there was still a general smokiness in the atmosphere. That slightly brown haze colored the light in this early morning view of the canyon of the Tuolumne River.

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: Nature, Photographs: Sierra Nevada, Photographs: Yosemite

Morning Shoreline

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Morning Shoreline
Early morning light approaches the rocky shoreline of a backcountry Yosemite lake.

Morning Shoreline. © Copyright 2021 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Early morning light approaches the rocky shoreline of a backcountry Yosemite lake.

With this photograph we are back in the Yosemite National Park backcountry at a lake that I’ve visited many times, including this occasion more than a decade ago when I joined a group of friends and photographers here fo a few beautiful early fall days. This late-september and early October period is my favorite in these mountains. Most of the crowds have left, especially in the backcountry, the mosquitos are gone, and most days are beautiful and filled with warm autumn light. (Of course… occasionally it does snow…)

This photograph is part of a series of images I have shared recently, all made on a morning spent walking around the perimeter of this lake. The earlier photographs were made before the direct sunlight arrived on the scene, but in this one the first early morning light has arrived on granite slabs just above the shoreline.

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.

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Sierra Nevada, Photographs: Yosemite

Forest, Lake, Mountains

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Forest, Lake, Mountains
Distant peaks in early evening light beyond a subalpine lake surrounded by forest, Yosemite National Park.

Forest, Lake, Mountains. © Copyright 2021 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Distant peaks in early evening light beyond a subalpine lake surrounded by forest, Yosemite National Park.

The description of the previous photograph that I shared mentioned a backcountry lake; this is that lake. Beyond the lake is a very large canyon, and the lake itself is surrounded by forest interspersed with some rocky areas and small sections of meadow. Its features are familiar to backcountry travelers who have encountered such forested lakes, and it provides a different experience than the more alpine lakes that I tend to be drawn to.

While we were there I frequently climbed up through the trees and onto a system of rocky slabs where I made this photograph. This one comes from late in the day as the light’s color is beginning to warm up. It was a year of wildfires, and their haze is muting the details and colors of the more distant mountains.

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.

Scroll down to leave a comment or question.

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