Tag Archives: central

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Northern California

A Tree Revealed

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A Tree Revealed
The branches of a winter oak tree, with only a few autumn leaves remaining.

A Tree Revealed. © Copyright 2022 G Dan Mitchell.

The branches of a winter oak tree, with only a few autumn leaves remaining.

This tree stands alongside a trail that I’ve hiked for years, one that runs up a little valley in the oak-grassland hills south of the San Francisco Bay. I have hiked here in all seasons for decades, but I think winter is still my favorite on this route. On Christmas Eve Day, it was sunny and pleasantly cool, with haze muting the light a bit. I approached this tree from the other side, and didn’t see the color of the leaves until I looked back it after passing.

It might surprise people from other parts of the country, but quite a few trees around here still have their leaves, either because they never drop them or because, like this oak, they manage to hang onto them all the way into the new year. While this oak still has a few leaves, glowing in the sunlight, most of them have fallen, revealing the silhouette of the trees branching structure.

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: Central California, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Northern California

Winter Haze, Dormant Oak

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Winter Haze, Dormant Oak
A large oak tree backed by haze-obscured winter hills.

Winter Haze, Dormant Oak. © Copyright 2022 G Dan Mitchell.

A large oak tree backed by haze-obscured winter hills.

On a Christmas Eve when large sections of the country are freezing and dealing with blizzard conditions, it might seem almost cruel to share this Christmas Eve Day photograph from here in the San Francisco Bay Area, made on a brief hike in our local hills earlier today. In fact, I was wearing short sleeves. On the other hand, perhaps some of you would like to be distracted by a scene from a warmer, drier place?

This scene, odd as it may seem to people who aren’t from here, is typical of winter in this part of the West. The trees lose their leaves, though later than in other parts of the country, but then winter grasses begin to grow. The period from now through the next four or five months is our green season. Today the atmosphere was hazy, and the backlight made it luminous.

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: Birds, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Wildlife

Geese, Dark Sky

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Geese, Dark Sky
Geese in flight against a dark autumn sky above California’s Central Valley.

Geese, Dark Sky. © Copyright 2022 G Dan Mitchell.

Geese in flight against a dark autumn sky above California’s Central Valley.

What visit to the country of winter migratory birds would not be complete without at least one photograph simply of birds filling the sky? These are most likely Ross’s geese — though it is a little hard to say for sure at this distance. As they do numerous times each day, they lifted off en masse when something disturbed them, flew in ever-widening circles for a few minutes, found a new spot, and settle back down on the ground. During that time the sky was filled with a swirling mass of geese.

The conditions at this moment were just right for a darker sky than usual. It was a foggy morning. Earlier the fog had been thick enough to make driving dangerous and bird photography almost impossible. But now, a few hours later, the fog was lifting and opening up the visibility near the ground.

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 | Twitter | 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: Birds, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Wildlife

White Pelicans, Tule Fog

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White Pelicans, Tule Fog
A flock of white pelicans swims acroiss a webland pond blanketed by morning tule fog.

White Pelicans, Tule Fog. © Copyright 2022 G Dan Mitchell.

A flock of white pelicans swims acroiss a webland pond blanketed by morning tule fog.

When I began photographing before dawn on this late-autumn morning, the fog was extremely thick. I could hear birds all around me, but I was barely able to see them and photographing them was initially out of the question. Gradually the fog began to drift a bit, and it thinned a bit in the light from the sun rising above the fog. Before long birds began to become visible, though I was still working at the borderline of sufficient light. It was at about this point that I caught sight of this line of white pelicans swimming slowly across a pond.

Every time I encounter these birds I think back to the first time I saw them. I had seen and photographed the coastal brown pelicans for years, but somehow I did not realize that white pelicans were in California! On a morning like this one I photographed some white birds that were barely visible in the fog… and misidentified them as geese or similar. Later, looking closely at the photographs, it hit me that these were very strange-looking geese, indeed! It was only at that point that I even realized that there were white pelicans here!

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 | Twitter | 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. (Click this post’s title first if you are viewing on the home page.)

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