Tag Archives: clearing

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

Great Blue Heron, Foggy Pasture

March 24, 2013 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

A lone great blue heron overlooks a pasture in clearing fog, San Joaquin Valley, California

I photographed this critter on my first bird photography trip of the season in the Central Valley of California, during which I visited several wildlife refuges in the Merced area. In typical Central Valley form, the day started out very foggy – tule fog hugged the valley floor and obscured the view in many places. By late morning most of the fog had dissipated, and hazy light came through the still-humid cool-season atmosphere.

When I first arrived at this refuge, the fog was so thick that it was more or less impossible to photograph the birds – though I tried! Eventually I reconsidered and did some landscape photography in the mysterious atmosphere of the thick fog. As it finally began to clear, I turned my attention back to the migratory birds. I found this solitary blue heron in a pasture at the far corner of the refuge, and I used my car as a “blind” to eventually pull almost parallel to it on the gravel access road, then stopping to make a series of telephoto shots with the foggy pasture as the backdrop.

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

Cranes and Geese, Morning Fog

January 29, 2013 G Dan Mitchell 2 Comments

Sandhill cranes and Ross’s Geese in flight through clearing morning fog, San Joaquin Valley

While I still cannot resist the challenge of trying to get a good, sharp photograph of a bird filling the frame, more and more I’m interested less in individual birds and more in their environment and their place in it, along with trying to evoke a sense of what these places are like. I think these photographs are meant more to be suggestive than descriptive, and I’m happy if not everything is quite clear to see. (I can tell you that being in these places, not everything is clear either!)

The fog was playing interesting games with us on this morning. This location often seems to be foggy, even when nearby areas are clear, probably because it is low and very wet. Compared to some mornings, it was not as foggy as it can be when we arrived, and it was possible to see some distance as we drove the gravel road that circles the marsh. We found a likely area to stop and photograph birds, including cranes, geese, pelicans, ducks, and more. Close to sunrise, it suddenly became more foggy, to the point that many nearby objects were obscured – even though the fog was so shallow that birds flying just above it were illuminated by weak dawn light. This photograph is one of a series I made as small groups of sandhill cranes came towards us from across a pond. Handholding the camera I tracked them as they approached, trying to make exposures as they moved into position against any sort of interesting background. Here that background turned out to be a few other birds – mostly geese – and some clumps of reeds barely visible in the fog.

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

Trees and Pasture, Central Valley

December 22, 2012 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Hazy light in clearing tule fog on solitary trees in California Central Valley pasture land

This is another in a series that might perhaps be called “accidental landscapes.” We were actually at a wildlife refuge not to photograph landscape subjects but to photograph migratory birds – mostly geese, herons, ibises, cranes, egrets and the like. Part of that activity involves driving around trying to find the darn critters! And sometimes during these drives my eyes wander over to something that is much more like a landscape than a bird. I have photographed this very tree in the past, most recently a matter of weeks earlier when I shot it from a slightly different angle that made it appear more isolated, and when it was full of a flock of red-winged blackbirds.

The first thing that attracted my attention this time was something small, the bit of warm side-light on the trunk of the foreground tree. Seeing that, I wondered how I might come up with a composition that made sense and included this little feature. First, I wanted this tree to fill a good portion of the frame. However that seemed a bit too straightforward, so I just moved around a bit until the more distant near-twin tree was just to the left of the foreground tree, being careful to not let them overlap. The photograph was shot handheld, with the same lens that stayed on my camera all day long, a 100-400mm zoom. We moved on and soon found lots of Ross’s geese on the far side of this pasture.

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: The Southwest, Photographs: Utah

Clearing Storm, Morning Light

November 18, 2012 G Dan Mitchell 2 Comments

Fog clearing from a Zion Canyon cliff face. — “Clearing Storm, Morning Light” — Clearing storm clouds and morning light on sandstone towers, Zion National Park

We arrived in Zion the previous day, driving through rain across lower Utah and upper Arizona, stopping to photograph here and there, including rain-soaked upper elevation areas of Zion. We arose early to catch one of the first shuttles into the canyon. The morning began with sun coming through breaks in the clearing clouds from the previous day’s rain. In my view, clouds in Zion canyon are not usually all that conducive to photography, since I tend to rely on the diffused midday light coming from open sky to light my subjects, which are often found in the shade. Clouds produce too much shade and move the color balance away from the warm tones of daylight and toward the dark, blue tones.

On the other hand, I love sunlight broken and muted by clouds, especially those that move and are a bit transparent. I love shooting in Yosemite Valley when winter storms or fog are swirling around the walls and spires, alternately revealing and hiding bits of the landscape. As we rode the shuttle into Zion Canyon, with a vague plan of heading toward the middle or upper part of the canyon, I looked up to see that same sort of effect high on the cliffs along the west side of lower Zion Canyon – early morning sun was shining through breaks in clouds that swirled around the upper cliffs, alternately revealing and concealing their form. Plans change, and we hopped off the shuttle. I put the long lens on the camera and spent a few minutes exploring this subject.

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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Tag Archives: clearing

Great Blue Heron, Foggy Pasture

Cranes and Geese, Morning Fog

Trees and Pasture, Central Valley

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