Tag Archives: california

Photographs: Central California, Photographs: Nature

Pond, Clearing Fog, Morning Light

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Pond, Clearing Fog, Morning Light
Water plants and clearing fog in morning light over a wetland pond

Pond, Clearing Fog, Morning Light. © Copyright 2018 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Water plants and clearing fog in morning light over a wetland pond.

Luckily for me, I live in a part of the world with lots of opportunities to find watery landscapes that may be affected by fog, mist, clouds, rain, and even a brilliant sunrise or sunset. I live less than an hour from the California coast, and only a few hours from spectacular places such as the Big Sur Coast and Point Reyes National Monument. There are many other places not far away that feature this things — water, light, and atmosphere — and if I visit at the right times I get the bonus of quiet and stillness.

I made this photograph on one of those foggy mornings near water. The sun had come up already and the spectacular dawn and immediate post-dawn light was gone. But as the sun rises it also warms the air, and the fog begins to thin and dissipate. When I came upon these interesting water plants, going to brown at the end of their season, the air had cleared enough to begin to reveal more distant details under the soft but directional light.

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: Nature, Photographs: Wildlife, Shows

Snow Geese in Twilight Flight

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A flock of snow geese in flight at twilight

Snow Geese in Twilight Flight. © Copyright 2018 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A flock of snow geese in flight at twilight,

This post is partially about this photograph, partially about birds, and partially about an upcoming event. Stick with me for a moment, and I’ll explain. I came a bit late to photographing birds, having photographed landscapes and other subjects for many years before thinking to approach this subject. For a long time I didn’t regard myself as a “birder” type, but I had a few bird encounters that started me steering in this direction roughly a decade ago. Two of them involved the Pacific Northwest. Back then I did the long drive from the San Francisco Bay Area up to Seattle over two days, starting in the afternoon and passing through the upper Sacramento Valley around dusk. I was amazed to see tens or thousands of birds in the beautiful evening sky, and my interest was piqued. On another visit to Seattle I found myself with a free day and I headed up to the Skagit Valley, not really knowing what I’d see. Soon after arriving I pulled over at a bend in the road near the crossing of the river, and to my astonishment tens of thousands of snow geese descended into the field next to where I had parked.

Since that time photographing birds has become important to me. I’ve come to think of it largely as “birdscape” photography, more about the place of the birds in their landscape and generally not so much about individual birds. I often (though not exclusively) photograph them in flocks, and I work to position them as part of their environment.

And, there is a show coming up! My friend David Hoffman and I are doing a joint exhibit at Stellar Gallery — in Oakhurst at the southern entrance to Yosemite National Park. The opening reception will be on February 16 at the Gallery — I’ll share more information soon, and I hope to see you there!

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

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

Photographs: Central California, Photographs: Nature

Pond And Early Morning Autumn Sky

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Pond And Early Morning Autumn Sky
A marshland pond reflects cloudy early morning autumn sky

Pond And Early Morning Autumn Sky. © Copyright 2018 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A marshland pond reflects cloudy early morning autumn sky.

I regard this as a sort of “almost winter” landscape, since I made the photograph in mid-December, about a week before the winter solstice. By this time of year California is solidly into the wet-season regime — the polar opposite of the state’s summer. Pacific weather fronts from the Gulf of Alaska sweep across the state periodically, and when the weather behaves somewhat normally the states wetland areas come back to life. And, yes, by California it is definitely the “cold season” by mid-September!

Scenes similar to this one may be found all over the state. All you need is a source of water and some expanse of relatively flat terrain where the water can pool. This one is located in an agricultural plain in the central part of the state, but I’ve seen similar pools across the entire state from south to north and east to west. You can even find them at times in the desert areas. This morning brought skies filled with clouds portending the arrival of one of those winter weather systems. After an initial burst of sunrise light the sun moved behind clouds and the colors softened. I photographed past some remnant shallow water plants, now gone to winter brown, and toward the early morning sky to the north.

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

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: Ocean & Coast

Big Sur Coast, Evening Haze

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Big Sur Coast, Evening Haze
Evening winter haze and mist at sunset along the rugged Big Sur coastline

Big Sur Coast, Evening Haze. © Copyright 2018 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Evening winter haze and mist at sunset along the rugged Big Sur coastline

This is perhaps a fairly “typical” winter view of this coastline — if such a landscape can ever by described using that term. We were on the return leg of a visit to the Los Angles Basin, and we decided to take the long route back, following US 1 up the Big Sur coast. (There is an inverse relationship between speed and rewards when traveling between northern and southern California. Racing up and down I-5 in the Central Valley has its place, but you miss a lot. US 101 is slower but more interesting, and US 1 is a lot slower and a lot more interesting!)

By the time we got out of the LA Basin — which took three hours even on a post-holiday morning — it was clear that the winter sunset would occur when we were somewhere north of Ragged Point and south of the town of Big Sur. We did not know precisely where, but along this coast it is usually possible, when you realize that the day is ending, to find a good spot fairly quickly. I picked this one perhaps 10-15 minutes before sunset, mainly by intuition as we came around a headland and saw the foreground bay, the layered headlands, and the long view to the north. I quickly got out and set up to photograph in the warm, sunset light… and then watched it “gray out” as the sun dropped behind low haze sitting on the horizon!

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 | Facebook | Email

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

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