Tag Archives: county

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

Oaks, Spring

March 13, 2017 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Spring green comes to the oak-covered hills of Northern California

After all of these years, I’m still amazed by the arrival of California’s season of “impossible green,” when in late winter the grasses that are so dry and brown for much of the year erupt into a lush green that blankets the hills. When summer visitors express surprise at California’s dry summers, I always want to say, “Come back in March!”

I headed out on this morning for several reasons. First and foremost, I wanted to hike a bit. But I also wanted to do a bit of wildflower reconnaissance. (The quick report: In the place I visited the biggest wildflower show is yet to come.) In addition, I wanted to see what this year’s rainy winter has done to a landscape that has been very, very dry for half of a decade. For the first time in years, there was water everywhere. Water was flowing out of every little valley and alluvial hillsides were sponge-full of water that is leaking out the bottom. After so many dry springs, I think I actually enjoyed having to work my way around ponds of muddy water and occasionally slog right through the mud!

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

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Wildlife

Red-Tailed Hawk

December 13, 2016 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

A red-tailed hawk perches on the top of a fence post.

Birds like this one are everyone in the west once you start looking for them, though they are not often easy to approach. In a place like this, where there are many thousands of other birds, these raptors are always there but in much smaller numbers. I frequently see them perched high in large trees or flying past, sometimes provoking reactions from the other birds.

This one teased me a bit. The first time I saw it, much earlier in the day, it was standing on this same fence post and watching a nearby field. Every so often it would take off and, I presume, hunt for something to eat before returning a few minutes later. I never was able to get close to it, so I stayed at a distance and watched. I returned much later in the day, when warm early sunset light was shining on the bird and starting to turn the sky pink. As I drove past on the gravel road it didn’t budge, so I stopped and rolled down a window and photographed it perching on “its” fence post.

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: Northern California, Photographs: Wildlife

Sandhill Cranes, Island, Fog

December 7, 2016 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

A group of sandhill cranes stands on a small wetland island on a foggy morning

I love the Central Valley tule fog during this part of the year — perhaps not for driving, but when it comes to creating moody and interesting atmosphere, the fog produces. In fact, quite often I’ll check the weather forecast before heading that way during gate late-fall through early spring period, and if the weather looks too nice I won’t go. But if the weather calls for fog, I’m on my way! This visit started out to be an exception to that rule, since the weather forecast did not mention fog at all. But when I checked the current conditions before departing there was an indication that some fog had developed in a few areas.

My drive, 100 miles done entirely in pre-dawn darkness, did not suggest fog… until I left the final town before arriving at my slightly remote location. I immediately encountered a surprise fog bank, and it only got thicker as I turned off the main highway onto narrow country roads. I arrived at my destination in freezing temperatures and light fog which continued to thicken for the next hour. These lesser sandhill cranes were hanging out in a spot where I can reliably find them early in the morning, though they were a pretty good distance off across a network of wetland ponds. This group was assembled on a small island, and they must have been comfortable there, as they were the last group to finally take to the air and fly off.

Photographs: Mono Lake Basin, Photographs: Nature

Morning, Wildfire Smoke

December 1, 2016 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Wildfire smoke layer drift, above Mono Lake at sunrise

The subject of this photograph comes about as close to being insubstantial as possible. When I began photographing before dawn on this September morning, Mono Lake was still mostly visible, though a large cloud of wildfire smoke was gathering to the southeast and beginning to drift toward the lake. First, layers of smoke began to stretch individually across the lake as sunrise approached. As more of them arrived they began to completely obscure the more distant landscape and to mute the colors and details of objects that were even closer. If you look at this photograph for a moment you can begin to see what remains — a bit of a peninsula with some tufa formations along the right margin, and in the lower center and stretching toward the left some soft reflections of morning light on the surface of the lake.

For a moment when I first saw the smoke I was disappointed that it might interfere with my photography, but it only took a moment to realize that these were special and beautiful conditions not likely to occur that often. The smoke and the morning backlight rendered details almost invisible, only seen faintly through gaps in the smoke. The smoke itself, dividing into layers and taking on subtle colors from the morning back-light, filled the scene with nearly abstract shapes. But before long smoke filled in even more, and soon it was too opaque to photograph at all.

G Dan Mitchell Photography

Tag Archives: county

Oaks, Spring

Red-Tailed Hawk

Morning, Wildfire Smoke

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