Tag Archives: clouds

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

Desert Wash and Mountains, Evening

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Desert Wash and Mountains, Evening
Cloudy evening light on Mountains, Death Valley, and a desert wash

Desert Wash and Mountains, Evening. © Copyright 2018 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Cloudy evening light on Mountains, Death Valley, and a desert wash

When people ask for advice about how to photograph Death Valley, one thing I tell them is to think a lot about the relationships between the landscape and light throughout the day. Many features align along a generally north-south line, so you can figure out fairly quickly when a location may be in direct sun or produce dramatic shadows. (I also suggest heading into narrow canyons when the sun gets a bit higher in the sky — here the higher sun position may send welcome light into their depths, which can otherwise be a bit murky sometimes.

I made this photograph late in the day after emerging from one of those canyons near the top of a large wash. The wash and the nearby hill face to the west and, as you can see, receive that late afternoon light — at least until the sun dips behind the mountain range on the other side of the valley.

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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” is available from Heyday Books and Amazon.
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All media © Copyright G Dan Mitchell and others as indicated. Any use requires advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

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

Cranes in Morning Sky

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Cranes in Morning Sky
Sandhill cranes aloft in winter morning sky

Cranes in Morning Sky. © Copyright 2018 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Sandhill cranes aloft in winter morning sky

Photography of migratory birds is often done at the edges of the day, starting before dawn and continuing well into the twilight hours. The birds are often there all day, but the light isn’t. (There are exceptions — for example, day-long tule fog or spectacular clouds.) So I spend a lot of time driving too and from locations in the darkness, and I usually arrive before dawn when there is perhaps just a hint of light in the sky.

While getting up at 3:30 or 4:00 in the morning for a long drive in the dark probably doesn’t sound that appealing — and, honestly, it isn’t! — there are certain compensations. Dawn is one of them, especially dawn experienced with the sounds of perhaps tens of thousands of birds awakening and getting ready to burst into the sky. One one of those mornings a flock of sandhill cranes flew overhead and crossed from cloudy skies to clear eastern pre-dawn sky.

See top of this page for Articles, Sales and Licensing, my Sierra Nevada Fall Color book, Contact Information and more.

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

Photographs: Mono Lake Basin, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Sierra Nevada

Dawn, Mono Lake and Sierra Crest

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Dawn, Mono Lake and Sierra Crest
Dawn light on the Sierra crest at South Tufa, Mono Lake

Dawn, Mono Lake and Sierra Crest. © Copyright 2018 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Dawn light on the Sierra crest at South Tufa, Mono Lake

There is a bit of a story behind the choice to post this photograph today. And that story may help explain the posting of more than a few older photographs this month. Every December, like so many other photographers, I prepare a set of “favorite photographs” from the year that is about to conclude. (Something happened this past December and I was delayed in this process. One thing led to another and I never did post my annual set of favorites for 2017!) Part of my process for preparing the list of favorites is to go through ALL of my raw files from the year, and I often discover interesting work that I missed as I engage in this process. I didn’t do that either… so I’m now digging back into the older files to see what I missed. So expect a mixture of current and older work through August and possibly into early September.

To make things a bit more confusing, this photograph is even older! It comes from 2007. Once I get into this process of looking at old files, I never know where it will lead! I made the photograph on a lovely, quiet morning at Mono Lake, when the water was still and the first light was shining on the eastern Sierra Nevada.

See top of this page for Articles, Sales and Licensing, my Sierra Nevada Fall Color book, Contact Information and more.

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 and Amazon.
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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, Photographs: Yosemite

Slabs and Domes, Clearing Storm, Evening

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Tuolumne Meadows in evening light as afternoon storm clouds begin to clear

Slabs and Domes, Clearing Storm, Evening. © Copyright 2018 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Tuolumne Meadows in evening light as afternoon storm clouds begin to clear

This was an evening of dramatically evolving light, alternately brilliant and blah! Thunderstorm weather in the Sierra is such a tricky and transitory thing, and there are frequent swings from “meh” light to astonishing light. When the storm conditions are at their peak, the light can be very flat and “gray,” with little contrast — and it can be a challenge to find ways to make effective photographs. (Not impossible, mind you… just challenging!) But these conditions often bear the seeds of remarkable and dramatic light, especially as the storms begin to clear. Breaks in the cloud cover often send beams of light — frequently warm, saturated golden hour light — across parts of the landscape, and this light may highlight specific features against a backdrop of contrasting darker scenery and dramatic clouds.

These effects can appear (and disappear) quite quickly, and landscape photography in these conditions becomes anything but a leisurely and meditative process. In fact, it is more a matter of “photograph now or it will disappear!” In truth, things happen so quickly that they often disappear before there is time to set up a camera and make a photograph. The light on the foreground meadow and its protruding granite slabs and boulders came in at a low angle from the west, here more clearing was taking place. I was fortunate in that it not only highlighted the foreground formation but also lit up the more distant granite domes, which stand out against their darker surroundings.

See top of this page for Articles, Sales and Licensing, my Sierra Nevada Fall Color book, Contact Information and more.

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 and Amazon.
Blog | About | Flickr | Twitter | Facebook | LinkedIn | Email

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