Tag Archives: country

Photographs: Central California, Photographs: Flight, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Northern California, Photographs: Wildlife

White-Fronted Geese

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White-Fronted Geese
White-Fronted Geese

White-Fronted Geese. San Joaquin Valley, California. January 16, 2015. © Copyright 2015 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A flock of white-fronted geese in flight about the San Joaquin Valley

I have probably mentioned previously that I am not by nature a “birder” type. In fact, my infatuation with photographing birds is a relatively new thing — I’ve photographed landscapes for years, but only became so interested in birds a few years ago. Because of this I’m having the wonderful experience of learning about a completely new world even though I’ve been photographing for decades! When I first went to California’s Central Valley to find and photograph birds, I didn’t quite know what I would see, but my attention was understandably attracted to the big groups of sandhill cranes and white (most Ross’s) geese.

Eventually, as I returned to these places and got to know them better, I have begun to pay more attention to critters that I either didn’t notice before or that I dismissed as not being special. The white-fronted geese (which, oddly, are mostly dark in color) fit into this group. When I was entirely focused on the white Ross’s geese, I regarded these darker birds as a sort of unwelcome intrusion — nothing special about them! Then I began to notice them more, settled in on the ground in fields, or providing a dark contrast to the white masses of Ross’s geese — and eventually I stopped ignoring them and began to include them in my photography.

G Dan Mitchell is a California photographer and visual opportunist whose subjects include the Pacific coast, redwood forests, central California oak/grasslands, the Sierra Nevada, California deserts, urban landscapes, night photography, and more.
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Text, photographs, and other media are © Copyright G Dan Mitchell (or others when indicated) and are not in the public domain and may not be used on websites, blogs, or in other media without advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Sierra Nevada

Morning Snow, Eastern Sierra

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Morning Snow, Eastern Sierra
Morning Snow, Eastern Sierra

Morning Snow, Eastern Sierra. October 4, 2010. © Copyright 2015 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Sunrise snow along the eastern escarpment of the Sierra Nevada

This is a part of California that probably impresses newcomers as being more of a desert than anything else, with rugged high elevation sagebrush country standing in front of the rocky and even more rugged eastern escarpment of the Sierra, where the creeks and lakes and forest glades of the range’s intimate landscape are too far away to be visible. I first loved the Sierra for its alpine wilderness, and back then I was not interested in places like this, but today I find them as much part of the Sierra experience as any alpine lake.

As I do every year at about this time, I was on the “east side” for the fall aspen color. And, as happens at least once every year, I was so distracted by some other element of the terrain that I forgot about aspens for a moment and went off to photograph something else. This “something else” was a combination of things. A light morning snow storm was clearing away from the highest peaks in the early morning light of this autumn day. This light was soft on the thinning clouds and snow flurries was stronger, direct, and more stark on the foreground of sage-covered desert hills

G Dan Mitchell is a California photographer and visual opportunist whose subjects include the Pacific coast, redwood forests, central California oak/grasslands, the Sierra Nevada, California deserts, urban landscapes, night photography, and more.
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Text, photographs, and other media are © Copyright G Dan Mitchell (or others when indicated) and are not in the public domain and may not be used on websites, blogs, or in other media without advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Sierra Nevada

Mount Humphreys, Dawn

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Mount Humphreys, Dawn
Cloud banners blow from the summit pf snow-dusted Mount Humpreys in autumn dawn light

Mount Humphreys, Dawn. Eastern Sierra Nevada, California. October 10, 2013. © Copyright 2013 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Cloud banners blow from the summit pf snow-dusted Mount Humpreys in autumn dawn light

This photograph is from a spectacular landscape in the easter Sierra above the town of Bishop, in what is sometimes called Buttermilk Country, or just plain “the Buttermilks.” Here the land rises gradually and steadily from the Owens Valley lowlands near the town, first gradually, then building into the eroded and rounded rocky hills like those catching the sun in the center of this photograph, and finally culminating in the alpine peaks of the Sierra Nevada Crest. The tallest peak in the photograph is Mount Humphreys.

As is typical at this autumn time of year, I was in the eastern Sierra to photograph fall color — which mostly means aspen trees. My recollection is that we started up toward the mountains from Bishop very early in the morning, before sunrise, and then decided that the dawn light on the eastern face of the Sierra offered more possibilities than yet more aspen photographs — besides, the aspens would still be there after this sunrise light was gone! We left the main road and followed gravel tracks that I know from previous visits and arrived at this spot with its view of foreground hills and crest peaks just as the dawn light show began.

G Dan Mitchell is a California photographer and visual opportunist whose subjects include the Pacific coast, redwood forests, central California oak/grasslands, the Sierra Nevada, California deserts, urban landscapes, night photography, and more.
Blog | About | Flickr | Twitter | Facebook | Google+ | 500px.com | LinkedIn | Email

Text, photographs, and other media are © Copyright G Dan Mitchell (or others when indicated) and are not in the public domain and may not be used on websites, blogs, or in other media without advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Sierra Nevada

Basin Mountain, Mount Humphreys, Dawn

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Dawn light on a stormy morning above Basin Mountain, Mount Humphreys and the Sierra Nevada crest

Basin Mountain, Mount Humphreys, Dawn. Eastern Sierra Nevada, California. October 3, 2009. © Copyright 2009 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Dawn light on a stormy morning above Basin Mountain, Mount Humphreys and the Sierra Nevada crest

Let’s welcome the New Year with a sunrise photograph! Happy New Year 2015! I made the photograph a bit more than five years ago, during a fall trip to the Eastern Sierra to photograph autumn colors. I made a series of similar photographs on this morning, at least one of which I have shared in the past. However, as I worked my way though a decade’s worth of old raw files during the past few weeks, I came on this one and felt that it could work will in the panoramic presentation seen here.

As I recall, on that morning I had awakened at my camp higher up in the mountains, planning to head further up the canyon before daybreak to photograph high elevation aspen trees. However, the light did not look promising, as it was quite overcast. I realized that it was one of those mornings when there was a chance for a special lighting condition that occurs when it is clear far to the east, and right at sunrise a narrow band of light breaks under the clouds and sends a line of light across the eastern face of the Sierra, light that works its way down from top to bottom as the sun comes up. So I quickly changed plans and headed the opposite direction and out into the “Buttermilk Country” below the Sierra, arriving just in time to find this beautiful light.

G Dan Mitchell is a California photographer and visual opportunist whose subjects include the Pacific coast, redwood forests, central California oak/grasslands, the Sierra Nevada, California deserts, urban landscapes, night photography, and more.
Blog | About | Flickr | Twitter | Facebook | LinkedIn | Email

Text, photographs, and other media are © Copyright G Dan Mitchell (or others when indicated) and are not in the public domain and may not be used on websites, blogs, or in other media without advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.