Tag Archives: california

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

Wetlands Birds, Dawn Fog

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“Wetlands Birds, Dawn Fog” — Black-necked stilts and other wetland birds in a quiet pond as dawn fog begins to thin.

Believe it or not, I still have more photographs from our three days of photography around New Year’s Day. To recap, a group of friends and fellow photographers assembled before dawn to greet the first sunrise of the new year. We spent the rest of the day sharing food and good times and photographing this landscape and its wildlife.

The photograph was made quite early, well before the fog began to clear. This is shallow tule fog, which can be dense enough to hamper driving, but shallow enough that you can look up and see the sky directly overhead. The fog glowed with the colors of the overhead sunrise sky as a few black-necked stilts went about their morning business in the pond.

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: Northern California

Oak Tree, Sun and Fog

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“Oak Tree, Sun and Fog” — Sunlight streams through thinning fog on a hillside behind an old oak tree.

This is the third and final photograph from my recent local “foggy morning” photography. To recap, when low fog stuck around here for hours (it usually dissipates very early) I headed out to the local rural landscape to make some photographs. This tree is in an area south of San Jose that was once destined to be a technology park. There’s a lot of history there, but the short story is that after the local government gave in to developer pressure there were no takers for the technology park. Today it remains relatively rural and is increasingly protected. I’d call that a victory!

The tree is on private land, from what I can tell, though clearly visible from a nearby roadway. The hills in the background form a low ridge that roughly parallels the edge of the valley for miles. At the moment I made the photograph the tree was out of the fog, but it was just thinning in the hills, and beautiful slanted columns of light formed between the shadows of trees.

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 | Instagram | Flickr | Facebook | Threads | BlueSky | Email

Links: Articles, Sales and Licensing, my Sierra Nevada Fall Color book, Contact Info.

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Photographs: Central California, Photographs: Nature

Wetland Plants, Tule Fog

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“Wetland Plants, Tule Fog” — Tule fog clears over wetlands plants at dawn.

We arrived here well before sunrise, paused long enough to assemble our photography gear, and then started on a slow drive along narrow gravel levee roads through a landscape of wetlands and scattered trees. Tule fog was still drifting about, but it was thinning and the clouds overhead in the colorful sky were visible. Before long we arrived at a spot along the west side of the ponds, where we had a view to the east and the light of dawn.

In the winter this is a slow and quiet place… except for the many thousands of migratory birds who arrive here every fall and leave right before spring. Most of them were off in distant parts of the landscape when I stopped here, so this became a pure landscape photograph featuring the colors of the predawn sky and the thinning fog drifting across the ponds.

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 | Instagram | Flickr | Facebook | Threads | BlueSky | Email

Links: Articles, Sales and Licensing, my Sierra Nevada Fall Color book, Contact Info.

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Photographs: Central California, Photographs: Nature

The Blackbird Tree

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“The Blackbird Tree” — Redwing blackbirds perch momentarily on the branches of an old tree above wetland ponds.

This tree and I have a long history. I have photographed at this location for a years, certainly longer than a decade. It is one of my favorite places to photograph in the winter, when migratory birds arrive in California. This normally involves driving very slowly along rural roads in wetlands while watching for photographic opportunities. Way back when I started I used to stop frequently at this tree at the corner of a large pond. One winter, I was disappointed when the top half of the tree broke off, leaving a pretty ugly little snag.

But fast forward a number of years and the broken snag has sprouted brand new branches which now almost mirror the shape of the original tree. It seems to be a favorite hangout for small blackbirds, especially the redwing and tricolor blackbirds that are so common in this area — birds that sing perhaps the most exuberant bird song I know of.

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 | Instagram | Flickr | Facebook | Threads | BlueSky | Email

Links: Articles, Sales and Licensing, my Sierra Nevada Fall Color book, Contact Info.

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