Tag Archives: central

Photographs: Central California, Photographs: Nature

Water Plants

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Water Plants
Water plants reflected on the surface of a wetland pond.

Water Plants. © Copyright 2012 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Water plants reflected on the surface of a wetland pond.

In another post that I queued up recently I mentioned some aspects of the experience of photographing migratory birds, pointing out that a lot of “down time” is part of the experience — times when there isn’t a lot of action going on. The birds may be static — or missing! — and one waits. In that other post I point out that these slow times are certainly not a bad thing! The quiet stillness can grow on you eventually, and there are other things to see and photograph, too.

I’m not at all a “pure bird photographer.” When I’m in the field photographing this subject I spend a good portion of my time thinking as a landscape photographer. Even when the primary subject is a bird or birds, I often consider how that bird is part of the landscape. But I also frequently switch gears entirely and focus on the space in which the birds live… and I photograph landscapes. On this occasion I was working a wetland area and the reflections of plants in the water caught my attention.

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: Central California, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Wildlife

Central Valley Coyote

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Central Valley Coyote
A coyote pauses during an early evening hunt in California’s Central Valley.

Central Valley Coyote. © Copyright 2013 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A coyote pauses during an early evening hunt in California’s Central Valley.

We know that coyotes are about in the locations where we photograph migratory birds in the autumn and winter. We often hear their cries in the evening, and occasionally we’ll catch sight of them in the distance as they trot across the grassland toward a tasty-looking flock of birds, no doubt encountering equally tasting small mammals along the way. However, seeing one this close in the daytime is a bit less typical.

It was the last hour before sunset, as you might guess from the warm and low-angle light, when this specimen appeared not far away from my position. It was most certainly aware of my presence, but it didn’t seem overly concerned as it passed, pausing occasionally to look around and even cast a glance in our direction.

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

Photographs: Central California, Photographs: Nature

Clearing the Channel

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Clearing the Channel
Equipment poised to clear a channel in agricultural land, Central Valley.

Clearing the Channel. © Copyright 2013 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Equipment poised to clear a channel in agricultural land, Central Valley.

As I queue up this photograph for posting in the next week or two at the website, it seems oddly appropriate that I’m sharing a winter photograph on the final day before autumn begins. My photographic interests evolve seasonally, and I’m usually thinking a season or two into the future. These Central Valley landscape, along with the migratory birds that visit them each year, become my focus in the late autumn and winter.

Aside from the current — and deeply concerning — climate changes, there are variations from year to year. In the Central Valley they might be seen in the onset of the first rain, the overall humidity of a season, and whether or not there is enough rain to leave flood pools in the lowlands. There were back in this year, and I made this photograph on a very foggy morning, when I came across a piece of equipment staged to clear out one of the flooding channels in an agricultural region of the valley.

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.

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

Landing in Fog

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Landing in Fog
Geese land in morning tule fog, California Central Valley.

Landing in Fog. © Copyright 20202012G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Geese land in morning tule fog, California Central Valley.

Back when I first began photographing this subject, I tended to think of these conditions as being barely worthy of photographing. Challenges abound — it is hard to stop the motion of flying birds when using a long lens in low light, the thick fog often renders the birds invisible, and it can be cold and wet! But over time my perspective shifted and I came to hope for conditions like these at the start of a day of bird photography.

Finding the birds in these conditions can be something of a challenge. Often I’ll hear them — many thousands of them — somewhere out there in the fog. But the birds are too far away to be visible, aside from an occasional outlier that quickly appears in the mist and is gone just as fast. So we move on, hoping that we’ll eventually find a spot where the birds a close enough or that the fog will eventually thin a bit. On this morning we had traversed almost the entirety of this location before we came upon a huge flock very close to the gravel road. We stopped and watched quietly as the first came and went.

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.

Scroll down to leave a comment or question.

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