Tag Archives: clouds

Photographs: Central California, Photographs: Nature

Tree, Clearing Fog, Dawn

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“Tree, Clearing Fog, Dawn” — An old winter tree sillouetted against the dawn sky as tule fog clears.

Certain subjects keep drawing me back. I don’t mean just general types of subjects, but very specific things, places, objects, and so forth. This tree, at this time of day, in these conditions, is one of those subjects. It is at a place where I frequently photograph in the winter months, and I usually try to be there on mornings when the fog will clear at or after dawn — a morning just like this one.

There is something to be said for seeking out new and unusual subjects. But I think there is also great value in returning to the same subjects and getting to know them more deeply. Beyond that, there is a wonderful sense of being “grounded” in a familiar landscape, one that you know from long acquaintance, to the point that the surprises happen against a backdrop of deep familiarity.

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: Mono Lake Basin, Photographs: Nature

Mono Lake, Morning

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Mono Lake, Morning
“Mono Lake, Morning” — Pahoa and Negit islands silhouetted against early morning lake reflections with desert mountains in the distance.

I have shared a few other Mono Lake photos made at this elevated location some distance from the lake. This camera position gives a different and broader sense of the lake and its surroundings. It is a huge body of water — there’s far more water on the far side of the islands than between them and the near shore. The desert mountains are many miles beyond the far edge of the lake. All in all, Mono Basin is a place of immense space and great distances.

I photographed very early in the morning. I had gone to this location to photograph something else, but by turning my camera 180 degrees the lake was in the frame. It was a generally clear morning with some high clouds, but the great distances still turned the atmosphere a bit blue with haze, and that haze mutes the details of the distant basin and mountains.

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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Links: Articles, Sales and Licensing, my Sierra Nevada Fall Color book, Contact Info.

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Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Sierra Nevada

Meadow, Storm Clouds

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Meadow, Storm Clouds
“Meadow, Storm Clouds” — Sunlight in a meadow as storm clouds build near the Sierra Nevada crest, Hoover Wilderness

After an absence from the Sierra during some 2023 international travel, I was anxious to get back up there again. Shortly after our return I headed to the mountains for a few days of high country camping and photography. By then it was late in the season and the first hints of cold-season weather fronts were arriving — there was “interesting weather” during much of my visit.

I made this photograph as I headed up a drainage in the Eastern Sierra along the western edge of Yosemite National Park. (The distant peaks mark the park’s boundary.) Clouds shrouded the peaks, and some light snow had fallen. The wind was blowing and cloud shadows moved rapidly across the landscape. I set up and waited, and made this photograph as light hit the meadows just in front of me and illuminated the distant ridge.

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 | Instagram | Flickr | Facebook | Threads | Post | Email

Links: Articles, Sales and Licensing, my Sierra Nevada Fall Color book, Contact Info.

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Photographs: Central California, Photographs: Nature

Wetlands, Winter Sky

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“Wetlands, Winter Sky” — Pre-dawn light colors the sky and clouds above Central Valley wetlands on a winter morning.

Happy holidays on this Christmas morning! This is an older photograph, made on a winter morning a few years ago. I had arrived at this location well before sunrise to photograph migratory birds with a group of fellow photographers. Soon light started to come to the sky, and high, thin clouds started to pick up color in the brilliant early sky. The clouds and colors were reflected in a nearby wetlands pond as birds flew overhead.

I mentioned that I was there to photograph migratory birds, but sometimes I must admit that the birds may be, in part, an excuse to photograph the winter landscape. I certainly do photograph the birds out here — a lot — but I often photograph them in the landscape rather than as individuals. In fact, we’ve coined a term for these photographs of the landscapes of the birds: “birdscapes.”

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 | Instagram | Flickr | Facebook | Threads | Post | Email

Links: Articles, Sales and Licensing, my Sierra Nevada Fall Color book, Contact Info.

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