Tag Archives: clouds

Photographs: Arizona, Photographs: Desert, Photographs: The Southwest

Storm, Monument Valley

December 12, 2012 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Black and white photograph of incoming storm clouds looming over Monument Valley, Arizona

As we moved on into and through the Monument Valley area, the weather and light conditions were constantly changing. One moment we would be in the midst of a heavy downpour, then we would emerge into the bright sunlight, made brighter by the contrast with the nearby gloom of a passing shower. We were traveling west, and even when the sun was out it seemed like there was a big cloud ahead, ready to drop more rain on us. The wind howled continuously, whether we were in sun or rain.

When I took this photograph we were momentarily in the sun – though that wind hardly allowed it to become warm. Looking around our locations I could see pouring rain, bright sunshine, and more incoming clouds. Despite the bright sunshine on the butte at lower left and the slightly obscured sunlight on the rocky hills beyond, in the distance there was a very large and very ominous cloud, pouring rain onto the desert. However, in virtually every way, I preferred this wild weather – even with the wind – to the alternative of boring blue skies!

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Photographs: Central California, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Northern California, Photographs: Ocean & Coast

Coastal Bluffs in Sunset Light

December 11, 2012 G Dan Mitchell 5 Comments

Sunset light momentarily illuminates coastal bluffs near Davenport, California

This photograph or one very much equivalent to it might have been made in any of perhaps thousands of locations along the California coastline, given the right time of year, the right atmospheric conditions, and the right light. With just a bit of looking around, these views from promontory bluffs, looking down the coastline past a series of other rugged bluffs are characteristic of the area. This spot happens to be near the small coastal town of Davenport, California just north of Santa Cruz.

The photograph illustrates one thing about my orientation to photographing the coast line and also illustrates something about light. About the coastline… my favorite times of the year on the coast are not the typical peak tourist season times, but instead are during the late fall through early spring period. Not only is coastal fog much less likely – though still possible! – but the ocean is more interesting and variable under the influence of winter weather, the potential for interesting skies is greater, and the generally lower-angle light creates all sorts of interesting possibilities. The clouds in this photograph, which glow just a bit in the momentary sunset light, are from a weak weather front that passed over during this afternoon along the coast. That weather front leads to my second point about light, which I’ll get to by way of telling part of the story of this afternoon’s photography. When I arrived at this location near the middle of the day, the light seemed very, very unpromising. It wasn’t just the usual nature of midday light, but there was a sort of bland haze in the air, and a shield of approaching clouds was coming down from the north – and as the afternoon wore on it became clear that those thick clouds were going to end up in front of the sun in the late afternoon.

However, sometimes the easiest and most predictable light is the least interesting to shoot in, and the least predictable and sometimes least-promising light can occasionally produce momentary wonders if you watch and are ready for them – or just have enough dumb luck to arrive at the right instant! (On the other hand, you can also watch and wait and, in the end, get… nothing. It goes with the territory!) In this case, I thought about two things. First, I thought about how I could photograph this “boring” light. The way I look at it, I’m there because the place, the circumstances, and the time are interesting – in which case there must be some way to produce a photograph in those conditions that reflect that. But that’s not my point with this particular photograph. The point that this one so nicely illustrates has to do with that possibility of momentary light on a day that seems unpromising. I ran into a couple of other photographers on the bluff during the “blah light” period. I wasn’t making photographs at that point, instead mostly just looking around. We talked briefly about the currently uninspiring light, but I pointed out that I thought I could see an edge to the cloud shield far off-shore, and if I was right there just might be a brief moment of special light as the sun passed below that edge and before it reached the horizon. Sure enough, with just a few minutes left before sunset, the sun dropped below the clouds and an intense band of extremely warm light began to suffuse the coastline against the backdrop of gray higher clouds. It lasted for only a minute or two, but that light was worth the wait.

Photographs: Flight, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Pacific Northwest, Photographs: Wildlife

Trumpeter Swans, Trees

December 4, 2012 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Two trumpeter swans fly thorugh trees along the edge of the Skagit River, Washington

I was in the Seattle area over the past few day, taking care of some business, but I unexpectedly found myself with a free day on Monday – planned activities were cancelled, flight didn’t leave until Monday night. Fortunately, there is no shortage of things to see and do in that part of the Pacific Northwest, at least if you don’t mind clouds and rain – and I don’t. So I headed up to Skagit Valley, which I had visited once previously, when I spent a day photographing migratory birds there last winter.

I figured I might again see trumpeter swans and snow geese, and I was not disappointed. There were fewer geese this year – though one spectacular flock – but more trumpeter swans. Since this trip had not been primarily about photography, I did not bring the gear I would usually use for photographing these birds, and the longest lens I had was a 70-200mm zoom. This meant that I could not photograph the birds from any appreciable distance, though I was on the lookout for large flocks that might let me do this. (That didn’t quite happen.) So I had to adopt a different approach. As I watched the swans, I figured out that hardly more than a few minutes would go by before one or two or perhaps a few more would make their long, shallow take-off and then fly at a low elevation to another likely spot. So I moved into some likely spots and shot from inside the car so as to make myself a bit less visible. Eventually a few of the birds flew almost directly over the car, or at least passed near by. These two were flying along a row of trees on the bank of the Skagit River.

Photographs: Arizona, Photographs: Desert, Photographs: Nature

Approaching Storm, Monument Valley

November 30, 2012 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

A storm front approaches the iconic towers of Monument Valley Navajo Tribal Park

Considering that we only passed through Monument Valley on a drive between two other locations and that we happened to arrive when a storm front was passing through, I have to consider myself lucky to have made any photographs of the location at all on this visit. We were on the long drive between Moab and Springdale, so we unfortunately could not afford to hang around long waiting for idea conditions – so I went ahead and shot in the “weather.”

Quite a few of the photographs were made in actual rain – as in, it was raining where I was shooting, or I was shooting into or through curtains for rain. However, the nature of this storm was that a line of weather would come through, there would be a bit of clearing, and then the next squall line would arrive. So between the bouts of rain there were some moments of sunshine, and the sunshine not only dried things out a bit but it also made the clouds more visible Here a very large cell was building over some of the iconic Monument Valley formations. I chose the vertical format and only included a bit of the solid ground so as to emphasize the size and height of the clouds.

G Dan Mitchell Photography

Tag Archives: clouds

Storm, Monument Valley

Coastal Bluffs in Sunset Light

Trumpeter Swans, Trees

Approaching Storm, Monument Valley

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