Tag Archives: Cloud

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Northern California

Winter Branches and Sky

February 1, 2011 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Bare branches of dormant trees against a cloud-dappled winter sky over the Central Valley of California.

This was a bit of a “grab shot,” made almost as an afterthought once I finished with another photograph and was taking down the tripod and putting gear away – hence it is a hand held photograph. I was somewhat aware of these clouds, since I had been photographing the sky (and other things) in a different direction, though those photographs included more distant subjects and a lot of intervening haze and clearing fog. Here, as is often the case during foggy conditions in the Central Valley, the shallow tule fog was in the process of clearing and leaving a very clear view of the sky straight overhead, even while a horizontal views were still obstructed by remaining haze.

The trees are from a more or less random grouping that happened to be next to the road where I had stopped. I cannot say what kind of trees they are. It was my good luck that these wispy (mares tail?) clouds happened to float over at the moment when I was here and looking up. After making this photograph, I got concluded my photography for the day and headed home.

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Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Northern California, Photographs: Structures and Objects

Flooded Field and Farm Structures

January 29, 2011 G Dan Mitchell 6 Comments

Agricultural facilities and Central Valley sky reflected in the surface of a flooded field.

This area turned out to be fun place to shoot. It is along a fairly nondescript road that branches off from Interstate 5 midway between Stockton and Sacramento and eventually dead-ends against a levee lining the Cosumnes River. I had been told that it is a good place to look for migratory birds – and, indeed, it is. Although it was hard to see them due to the very thick tule fog when I first arrived shortly after dawn, when I came back in the early afternoon the sky had cleared and the many fields, vineyards, and ponds along the road were filled with waterfowl.

I first saw this set of “structures” (silos? Being a “city boy,” I’m not certain of the right way to describe cylindrical storage facilities like this) as I drove out from Interstate 5 towards the river. They make for quite a striking sight – they are quite large, they are tall and the tower above is even taller, the brick colored roofs stand out against the other colors, and they are reflected in the still water of surrounding ponds. It was on my way back past them that I saw the view over this pond. I had just stopped to make another photograph of the ponds and I thought I was finished for the day – my thoughts were getting back to the highway and heading home. But I decided to walk down to a levee that let me place the structures and their reflections across the water and surround the image of the building and the thin horizon line with sky above and below.

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Northern California

Flooded Farmland, Winter

January 24, 2011 G Dan Mitchell 8 Comments

Sky is reflected in the water of flooded winter farmland, Central Valley, California.

A few days ago I didn’t know that this spot existed. However, I happened to run into a colleague while getting a cup of coffee last week, and as we talked she mentioned that she had just visited the Cosumnes River Wildlife Preserve. We talked more, it sounded interesting, and she sent me some information about how to find the place, along with the description of how to get to the place where I made this photograph.

I started at this location very early in the morning, but it was so foggy that photography was almost impossible – at least the kind of photography that I had in mind. Although I was able to hear the birds that congregate out here, I was barely able to see them at all. So after driving to the end of this road where it runs into the Cosumnes River, I turned around and headed up the Central Valley a few more miles to find the Consumnes River Wildlife Preserve.

A few hours later the sun was beginning to shine through the fog at the Preserve and I felt that my work there was done. I checked the time, at it seemed like I might have just enough time to detour back out on this road and see if the prospects were any better now that the fog was thinning. Again I drove to the end of the road, but along the way I noticed these flooded fields and made a mental note to take a look at them on my return drive. So, on the way back I pulled over and noticed that the faint high clouds were reflecting in the surface of the shallow water, and shortly after I framed my photograph a couple of birds flew across the scene.

Photographs: Northern California, Photographs: San Francisco

Alcatraz Island, San Francisco Bay Fog

December 26, 2010 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Alcatraz Island is almost completely obscured by San Francisco Bay fog drifting beneath blue sky.

This is another of what I sort of think of as my “barely there” photographs, in which I work with subjects that are almost completely obscured by fog, mist, rain, or clouds. Some of my Yosemite Valley photographs from a rainy weekend near the end of this past October are in the same category.

You can experience an astonishing range of atmospheric conditions in and around San Francisco Bay. The patterns at this time of year (the very end of fall, and more like winter conditions) are quite different from summer. As often as not, the fog in the winter comes from inland rather than drifting in through the Golden Gate, and it is more related to the tule fog that can sit in the Central Valley during the winter, sometimes for weeks. On the other hand, after the passage of a winter storm (which brings its own impressive conditions) the winter air over the Bay can be crystal clear. And frequently the conditions can change rapidly, as was the case on this morning. When I arrived in the Marin Headlands above the north end of the Golden Gate Bridge before dawn, I was initially a bit disappointed that the conditions were too clear! Except for a bank of clouds right above San Francisco (the subject of some other recently posted photographs) the rest of the Bay was almost completely clear. But then, at first imperceptibly and then very quickly, fog began to condense out of the air above the bay. In a short period of time subjects that had been clearly visible were completely obscured. Within moments after making this photograph, Alcatraz was not longer visible.

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

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