Tag Archives: california

Photographs: Central California, Photographs: Nature

Wetlands, Fog, Dawn Sky

January 31, 2017 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Fog blankets Central Valley wetlands beneath the winter dawn sky

For Americans, the world has recently been a wild and unpredictable place, and most everyone is feeling a great deal of angst. (This is particularly true if you belong to any of many common and large groups of America — people whose ancestors were immigrants, people who care deeply about the Constitution and America’s place in the world, people who believe in a country that is open and welcoming, and those of us who value our great public lands.) While there is a lot to do and it is not acceptable for citizens of a representative democracy to turn away from the struggle, one still must take a break at times. This morning was my break.

As I usually do, I arose very early and was on the road way before dawn, completing most of a two-hour drive before the first faint light came to the eastern sky. Turning off the main highway onto narrow country roads I soon ran into winter tule fog. I love the fog, especially for photography, so I was mildly disappointed when it thinned as I reached my destination. However, there was compensation for that feeling when I realized that it revealed the beautiful pre-dawn sky above the gentle fog above these wetlands.

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

Photographs: Architecture, Photographs: Southern California, Photographs: Urban/Street

Door, Steps, and Window

January 27, 2017 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

The front of an urban Pasadena building at twilight

Here I’ll interject an “urban landscape” into the stream of mostly natural landscape photographs that I’ve recently posted. This photograph comes from a visit to Southern California, mostly in the Pasadena area, just after the New Year’s Day Holiday. We were there for a family event, but there were plenty of opportunities to do street and similar kinds of photography in the characteristic Southern California environment.

We had been out walking in the afternoon, and as evening came on it was that time that is so magical for handheld street photography, the time just after sunset when there is still ambient light as artificial lights start to come on and take over the landscape. We continued to wander, taking a big look back into central Pasadena and past some residential areas where I found this little vignette.

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

Photographs: Flight, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Wildlife

Great Egret, Airborne

January 24, 2017 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

A great egret flies past, skimming above wetland plants

In some ways these magnificent birds are very accessible, but in other they can be hard to photograph in interesting ways. They are common at the locations where I frequently photograph birds, and when I have decent cover (shooting from a vehicle or similar) I can frequently get relatively close to them without scaring them into flight. The key is a very slow and cautious approach and sensitivity to the body language of the bird — there are often hints when egrets think that I am getting too close. From just outside that boundary the egrets are large enough to fill the frame in good conditions, and I have lots of photographs of them on the ground feeding. Perhaps too many!

That’s the problem. An egret on the ground is interesting, but not often quite as interesting as an egret in the air. (Grounded egrets can be beautiful in the right light and with the right background and so forth.) In flight they are beautiful birds, typically using slow wing motion and often gliding, and they assume impressive poses when taking off and when landing. However, the lift off is sudden and the flight path typically takes the bird away from me. But sometimes I get lucky, as I did with this specimen. I was actually unaware of its presence and, in fact, it may have been unaware of mine. I had stopped to photograph something else when the bird suddenly flew into range from my left and passed in front of me as it made a gentle turn around my position. I’ve learned to react fairly quickly and to get the camera up and tracking, but in the best of circumstances it is still a challenge. The first couple of frames are almost humorously off-target, but then I found my subject and centered it in the frame as it passed by very closely.

Photographs: Events, Photographs: People

Girls Rule

January 23, 2017 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

I have posted a collection of photographs on my gallery site from events during the weekend of the 2017 Women’s March, including “Bridge Together Golden Gate” on Friday, January 20 and the San Jose Women’s March on Saturday, January 21. The nationwide — and even international — events of the Women’s Walk were, as far as I can tell, unprecedented.

My photographs that document the event will be shared in a separate gallery that I posted earlier this weekend. Among the many remarkable things I saw at the Women’s March, was a kind of torch passing between generations, from an older generation from the era of the Vietnam War and the Civil Rights movement to their daughters and even to granddaughters. I saw groups where all three generations were represented. I photographed this mother and daughter (or so I assume) as the crowd was gathering more than an hour before a march of 25,000 people began.

G Dan Mitchell Photography

Tag Archives: california

Wetlands, Fog, Dawn Sky

Door, Steps, and Window

Great Egret, Airborne

Girls Rule

Photographer and visual opportunist. Daily photos since 2005, plus articles, reviews, news, and ideas.