Tag Archives: country

Photographs: Central California, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Northern California

Oaks, Trail, Spring

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Oaks, Trail, Spring
Old oak trees along a Northern California trail through spring grasslands

Oaks, Trail, Spring. Calero Hills, California. March 12, 2017. © Copyright 2017 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Old oak trees along a Northern California trail through spring grasslands

When people think of the landscape of California, many think of impressive and famous subjects: the redwoods, the Pacific Ocean coast, the High Sierra, perhaps the deserts. But those of us who live here know that one of the most characteristics is that of the oak grasslands. The sprawl along the low hills found all over the state and manage to climb up into mountains in many places — on both sides of the Central Valley, along the coastal hills, and more.

This tree and I go back perhaps twenty years, to when I first “discovered” this park just south of the main population centers of the San Francisco Bay Area. The specific location isn’t really important to anyone else, since you can find similar landscapes in many other places. But this tree is special to me. It sits along a trail that I have hiked many times, a steep but short one that takes me to the top of a bare hill and then down into a valley from which more distant trails branch out. I’ve photographed this sprawling oak throughout the year — summer, fall, winter and spring, in rain and fog and heat. This time I photographed on a late-winter California day that, as they sometimes do, felt more like spring.

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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Photographs: Nature, Photographs: The Southwest, Photographs: Utah

Weathered Sandstone Wall

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Weathered Sandstone Wall
A weathered and cracked sandstone wall in Utah canyon country

Weathered Sandstone Wall. Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument, Utah. October 28, 2012. © Copyright 2012 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A weathered and cracked sandstone wall in Utah canyon country

It has been about four-and-a-half years since I visited this spot and made this photograph, but I remember it distinctly. We had followed the twisting course of a small stream down a canyon as it wound back and forth between the tall sandstone walls. Eventually we perhaps began to think it was time to turn around, but it was hard to resist finding out what was around “one more bend” — until we had passed through quite a few more of them! I remember three things about this particular wall. It was huge — a monumental expanse of nearly solid granite broken in a few spots where giant flakes of rock had fallen. The stream passed right along the base of the wall. And there were odd circular patterns inscribed into its surface — so regular in shape that I first thought they must have been made by humans.

This spot is in Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument, a place that we might have believed to be safely protected for future generations. But these days, when America has been turned upside-down, things we took for granted are now threatened. And, yes, there are forces in the state of Utah that are working to take land out of this incredible monument and turn it over to extractive industries to dig it up and take out shale oil, uranium, and whatever else they can get their hands on. There are many things we can do about this. One very important step is to get the attention of the people of the state of Utah and remind them that one of their greatest assets is the beautiful system of parks, monuments, national forests, and other lands that draws visitors from all over the world — visitors who support a thriving tourism and recreation economy in the state. Since their legislators don’t seem to respond to reason or shame, perhaps they will respond to economic pressure. This week a consortium of outdoor manufacturers announced that they are moving their annual convention out of Utah. Lots of us are vowing to not visit the state until they stop trying to destroy it — and we won’t be staying in their motels, eating in their restaurants, buying gas there, or anything else.

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

Near-Shore Islands, Clearing Storm

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Near-Shore Islands, Clearing Storm
An autumn storm clears above the Pacific Ocean and a group of near-shore islands

Near-Shore Islands, Clearing Storm. North Coast, California. November 19, 2016. © Copyright 2016 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

An autumn storm clears above the Pacific Ocean and a group of near-shore islands

We were up on the Northern California coast for a few days this past weekend, to celebrate Patty’s big birthday. This meant that the main goals involved drinking wine and enjoying some excellent dinners, and even allowed for more than a bit of sleeping-in, something that landscape photographers typically don’t do.

On this birthday morning we got up late and headed down to the town of Mendocino, perhaps considering a leisurely breakfast, but with no other specific plans in mind. But looking across the bay to the south we saw gigantic surf, clouds, fog, spray, and intense light — and photography distracted us. We traveled out to the edge of the headlands where there is a group of what must have once been coastal bluffs but which are now off-shore islands. The surf roared as the moving clouds cast alternating light and shadow across the seascape and dramatic clouds, some still dropping rain, passed by to the west.

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

Western Meadowlark

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Western Meadowlark
Western Meadowlark perched in San Joaquin Valley branches

Western Meadowlark. San Joaquin Valley, California. February 15, 2016. © Copyright 2016 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Western Meadowlark perched in San Joaquin Valley branches

I’m going to indulge my bird photograph collection interest and share what is really just a photograph of another little bird! This beautiful little bird was a side attraction I found during a recent visit to the California Central Valley to mainly photograph geese and cranes, plus the odd heron and egret.

Photographing the larger birds is an experience that often vacillates between moments of wildly photographing as birds fly above, or as huge flocks take to the sky, and then long periods of not doing much at all — waiting for birds, trying to figure out where the birds are, moving to another location to find birds, and so forth. But I’ve found that when I keep my eyes open I find interesting things that aren’t what I was initially looking for. That was the case with this yellow western meadowlark, which was standing in some brush alongside a perimeter road at a wildlife refuge and which I just happened to spot while passing by.

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.