Tag Archives: dawn

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

Marsh Grasses and Fog, Dawn

November 26, 2013 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Golden dawn light illuminates autumn fog drifting above marshland grasses in California’s Central Valley.

I went to this place to photograph birds – at least that was my excuse. In the past few years I have become quite passionate about photographing the migratory birds that may be found all over the Great Central Valley of California between late fall and early spring – geese, cranes, herons, ibises, and more. I think that once you hear the cries of these birds as thousands of them flock together on the ground or in water or, better yet, as they fly overhead, they get in your blood. In the fall I anticipate their return and watch for early signs. A few weeks ago we managed to find cranes further up the valley, and I knew that the geese wouldn’t be far behind – so this trip was, literally, a “wild goose chase.”

But the truth is a bit more involved. As much as I love the birds, I think that I’m at least as attracted to landscapes where they are found at this time of year, and to the weather conditions of this season. You might think that a bird photographer would want clear skies and bright light, but I look forward more to fog, clouds, and mist and other kinds of interesting atmosphere. In fact, at times it occurs to me that the birds may at least partially be my excuse for being in this landscape. On this morning I was expecting that it might be clear, so I was happy (strange photographer!) when I drove into thick fog a few miles from my destination. I arrived just before dawn as the sky was somewhere in that color range between blue and purple and pink, but just barely visible though the murk. I made a few true sunrise photographs that included a barely visible sun behind fog and clouds, then moved on along a gravel road to see if I could see the cranes that I could hear. As I came to a right angle turn on this road, the fog stretched beyond the nearby grasses and straight toward the low sun in front of me, thick enough that all details in the distance disappeared (with the exception of a few barely visible birds) into a luminous glow that was too bright to look at.

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Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Sierra Nevada

Dawn Light, Wheeler Crest

October 31, 2013 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Dawn light on rugged Wheeler crest following an autumn Sierra Nevada snow storm.

It had snowed all day the previous day, and I knew that the eastern escarpment of the Sierra would be covered in new snow at dawn. The dawn weather conditions were a bit of an unknown, but it seemed to be worthwhile to get up very early and be in position with a view of the crest at sunrise, so we headed up into the hills above Bishop and below the mountains to see what would happen.

There were clouds. This can be a good thing or a bad thing in this situation. Without clouds the light can be less special, but if there are too many, especially to the east, they may completely block the sunrise light – and that light on the eastern face of the range is what we were there for. There was some clear sky overhead, and it seemed that the clouds to the east over the White Mountains were at least somewhat broken. These conditions bring the possibility – but not the certainty – that the dawn sun may find its way through gaps in the clouds, spotlighting areas of the mountains as the light works its way across and down their east faces. In fact, it worked out this way. We first photographed the range straight on, mostly centering compositions around Mt. Humphreys. After shooting that subject I looked around a bit more and saw bands of light starting to sweep across the face of the cloud-topped and rugged Wheeler Crest.

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Sierra Nevada

Autumn Snow Squall, Sierra Crest

October 22, 2013 G Dan Mitchell 1 Comment

An early autumn dawn snow squall along the crest of the Sierra Nevada above Long Valley

On the last morning of our October aspen chasing (mostly) trip to the eastern Sierra we were surprised to wake up to snow that had not been in the weather forecast. It seemed that a local squall was centered more or less over Mammoth Lakes, where we were staying. We had a vague plan to do a loop far out to the east of town and then head north toward Mono Lake by back-roads, so we quickly loaded up the vehicle and headed out of town, first going south on highway 395 and then turning off to the east.

As we drove down the hill from Mammoth Lakes there was enough light for us to see a substantial squall to the east and a lot of cloudiness elsewhere along the eastern edge of the Sierra. We were headed right toward the squall, and we stopped as we got in line with it… as it more or less vaporized and blew away. But now we were able to look back toward Mammoth and the Sierra in the pre-dawn light, so we set up here and decided to wait and see what the sunrise light might reveal. The little storm above Mammoth continued to drop a mixture of rain and snow, and it gradually spread south along the crest as the first dawn light arrived.

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Sierra Nevada

Peak and Tarn, Sunrise

September 24, 2013 G Dan Mitchell 1 Comment

The first dawn light touches Sierra Nevada peaks and is reflected in a rock-studded sub-alpine tarn

This month a group of us spent nine days in the Sierra Nevada back-country in Kings Canyon National Park, remaining in a single location for six nights. For a photographer, this is a special opportunity to really begin to “get inside” a small area, with time to wander thoughtfully among the features of the landscape at all hours of the day and in a range of conditions, returning more than once to revisit subjects in varying conditions. Up each morning before dawn, we would wander off in different directions to pursue whatever interested us and to find whatever we could find, return to camp during midday hours, and then wander off again in the late afternoon, usually not returning until dark. So often when we visit such places we either look from a distance or hurry through trying “not to miss anything” – but on this visit we had time to get to know individual lakes, rocks, trees, ledges, you name it.

Perhaps 10 minutes away from our camp was a broad valley filled with lakes and tarns and rocky meadows. I think I visited here at least four times, morning and evening. I had already explored the area a bit on an earlier evening when I arrived on this morning before the first light hit the peaks on the divide between the 60 Lakes Basin and Gardiner Basin, so I knew that there were many opportunities to juxtapose the waters of the quiet, cold, rock-filled tarns with the high peaks and first light.

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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Tag Archives: dawn

Marsh Grasses and Fog, Dawn

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Dawn Light, Wheeler Crest

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Autumn Snow Squall, Sierra Crest

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Peak and Tarn, Sunrise

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

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