Tag Archives: castillero

Photographs: Central California, Photographs: Nature

Cattails, Morning Light

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Cattails, Morning Light

Cattails, Morning Light. Calero Hills, California. August 14, 2009. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Summer cattails in morning light at Castillero Pond, Calero Hills, California.

OK, this time no alpine scene from high meadows near the crest of the Sierra – instead a cattail growing along the bank of a small pond perhaps ten miles from my home at a place where I frequently hike. This morning I decided to get up early and head out here with no particular photographic goal in mind. When I arrived at the pond I thought I might photograph some birds – in fact, I just missed photographing my local egret, which flew away just as I was getting out my camera. So, instead of photographing the birds – and instead of continuing on for a longer morning hike – I spent more than an hour here photographing the cattails and patterns of summer grasses in the morning light.

Yesterday I visited SF MOMA to see two photographic shows – the photographs of Richard Avedon in one and the photographs of Ansel Adams and paintings of Georgia O’Keeffe in the other. As I looked at the out of focuse patterns of grasses, such as those in the background of this photograph, I thought about the colors and patterns of the O’Keeffe paintings.

This photograph is not in the public domain. It may not be used on websites, blogs, or in any other media without explicit advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

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keywords: calero, hills, santa clara, county, park, morning, summer, grass, flora, pond, castillero, plant, nature, california, usa, light, blue, gold, brown, yellow, green, bokeh, stalk, seed, stock

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

Redwing Blackbird on Fence Post

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Redwing Blackbird on Fence Post

Redwing Blackbird on Fence Post. Castillero Pond, Calero Hills, California. April 28, 2009. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A male redwing blackbird perches atop a fence post on a foggy spring morning at Castillero Pond, Calero County Park.

This should be the last in the redwing blackbird series for a while – yet another photographed on a foggy morning at Castillero Pond at Calero Park. This photograph shows a male redwing though the characteristic red patch on the shoulder or top of the wing is not so easy to see in this shot is it is when the bird is engaged in display behavior.

This photograph is not in the public domain. It may not be used on websites, blogs, or in any other media without explicit advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

keywords: male, redwing, blackbird, bird, avian, perch, stand, atop, top, fence, fencepost, post, lichen, spring, season, morning, fog, cloud, grass, castillero, pond, calero, county, park, santa clara, california, usa, wildlife, nature, stock

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

Female Redwing Blackbird

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Female Redwing Blackbird

Female Redwing Blackbird. Calero Hills, California. April 18, 2009. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A female redwing blackbird perches among reeds on a foggy morning at Castillero Pond, Calero Hills, California.

At this point I almost feel like I know these birds personally. I photograph and hike at this location (Calero County Park) almost every week throughout the year, and every hike begins at a trailhead that takes me right past Castillero Pond which is often crowded with birds – the occasional egret but almost always many redwing blackbirds.

This photograph is not in the public domain. It may not be used on websites, blogs, or in any other media without explicit advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

keywords: bird, avian, redwing, blackbird, bird, female, perch, branch, reed, grass, pond, morning, fog, cloud, castillero, calero, hills, county, park, santa clara, california, usa, wildlife, nature, spring, foggy, stock

Photographs: Central California, Photographs: Nature

Winter Cattails and Grasses

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Winter Cattails and Grasses

Winter Cattails and Grasses. Calero Hills, California. February 1, 2009. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Winter cattails and grasses at Calero Hills, California.

At the start of today’s “photo hike” at Calero Park I walked to Castillero Pond. I had the 100-400 lens on my camera, anticipating that there might be some birds to photograph at the pond. When I arrived there weren’t really any interesting bird subjects, but I went ahead and used the long lens to shoot these plants alongside the pond, since the long focal length does a fine job of isolating a subject and throwing the background out of focus.

This photograph is not in the public domain. It may not be used on websites, blogs, or in any other media without explicit advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

keywords: cat, tail, cattail, grass, blade, stem, leaf, bokeh, blur, seed, fuzz, sun, light, morning, brown, golden, castillero, pond, calero, hills, county, park, santa clara, nature, foliage, landscape, winter, stock, california, usa, dry, drop, droplet