Tag Archives: clearing

Photographs: Death Valley, Photographs: Desert, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Southern California

Desert Mountains, Clearing Storm

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Desert Mountains, Clearing Storm
An early-spring mountain snow storm clears from desert mountains, Death Valley National Park.

Desert Mountains, Clearing Storm. © Copyright 2023 G Dan Mitchell.

An early-spring mountain snow storm clears from desert mountains, Death Valley National Park.

This photograph comes from a morning in Death Valley when the light, for the most part, was singularly uninspiring. I knew it would be cloudy from the weather forecast, and when I went out before dawn there was just enough light to confirm this. But it was the last morning in the valley, and I was determined to at least see if anything would crop up. I loaded up and walked into sand dunes… where the light remained resolutely gray, the skies overcast, and it even rained a bit. But sometimes a break in awful light can produce glorious light…

… which is precisely what happened for a few moments as the light from the rising sun found some holes in the clouds and illuminated the summit of desert mountains, where the remnants of a passing storm were still dropping snow and rain. It was a reminder that going out on the unlikely days can sometimes produce something wonderful!

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

Cloudscape With Birds

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Cloudscape With Birds
Migratory birds fill the winter sky against a backdrop of clearing storm clouds.

Cloudscape With Birds. © Copyright 2023 G Dan Mitchell.

Migratory birds fill the winter sky against a backdrop of clearing storm clouds.

Yes, it is a little bit difficult to see the birds in this photograph. (If you have the option, you may want to view it larger.) But in a way, that is kind of the point — to set the very small and very numerous birds against that grand scale of this California Central Valley winter cloudscape. When photographing birds I almost always wish I could get closer — but there’s also inevitably a moment when I am moved by the distant view a sky filled with thousands of birds.

I made this photograph on New Year’s morning, shortly after the first dawn of 2023. In order to arise before dawn I had to be in bed well before midnight. (I suppose that there was a time when I might have stayed up until midnight and gotten up before the sun!) As wonderful as it was to greet the new year in the company of thousands of migratory birds, it was even better to be in the company of a wonderful little band of photographers and friends who gather together on every New Year’s Day.

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

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Sierra Nevada

Post-Storm Clouds

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Post-Storm Clouds
“Post-Storm Clouds” — A great variety of clouds and fog as a summer storm clears over the Eastern Sierra.

No, I am still not quite finished with this spectacular evening in the Sierra backcountry. In early August our group spent a week base-camped in the wilderness, heading out each day (starting before sunrise and concluding after dark) to photograph our spectacular surroundings. We experienced challenging weather during the first 24 hours, but on the evening of the second day the storm dissipated, and just at sunset things opened up and alpenglow briefly lit up the sky.

There was no guarantee of this happening — which is often the case when chasing such subjects. Not long before this things were pretty gray, and fog drifted just overhead, obscuring trees and peaks, al though we could see that the sky was lightening up a bit. Then a bit of pink showed up on the higher clouds, gradually working its way down though the various layers left by the departing storm. I had been photographing the fog, but I quickly turned my attention to this developing scene! As the sky became more and more colorful, a bank of lighter fog enveloped the top of a ridge on the other side of the valley beyond the lake. A few minutes after this spectacular finale… the show was over.

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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” (Heyday Books) is available directly from him. Blog | Bluesky | Mastodon | Substack Notes | Flickr | Email

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Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Sierra Nevada

Trees, Drifting Fog

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Trees, Drifting Fog
Fog from a clearing storm drifts among backcountry Sierra Nevada trees growing on rocky ledges.

Trees, Drifting Fog. © Copyright 2022 G Dan Mitchell.

Fog from a clearing storm drifts among backcountry Sierra Nevada trees growing on rocky ledges.

This evening marked the end of a 24 hour bout of pretty challenging backcountry weather during our August photography trip in the Eastern Sierra. We had no more set up our tents at our base camp when the skies unleashed hours of the heaviest rain I have ever experience in the Sierra backcountry. Later that evening it decreased enough that we could come out of our tents, recover some gear that had been left out in the deluge, fix dinner, and crawl back into our tents. We thought it was over, but very early in the morning it started again, though this time not nearly as heavy, and continued on into the next day. Finally, on the second evening, the weather started to break.

On this second evening we all headed out to find suitable photographic subjects. The clouds were slowly thinning, and the surrounding peaks starting to show through. Eventually we got a bit of last-minute sunset light that created utterly beautiful cloudscapes and colorful mountains. But first, I set up on top of a rocky outcropping and watched fog drift across this rocky slope, making the trees drift in and out of sight as the clouds washed back and forth.

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.