Tag Archives: dramatic

Photographs: Birds, Photographs: Central California, Photographs: Fall, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Wildlife

Geese, Autumn Sky

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Geese, Autumn Sky
Geese return to Central Valley wetlands under dramatic autumn sky.

Geese, Autumn Sky. © Copyright 2020 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Geese return to Central Valley wetlands under dramatic autumn sky.

This has been a strange autumn in California in a host of ways. The state has been contending with the effects of warmer and drier conditions and declining precipitation for at least a decade now, and late-autumn is now part of the wildfire season, a time that used to terminate with the first late-October rains. In my part of California, where the rains usually get going in November and December is one of the three core rainy months., we have had almost no precipitation at all. You’ll pardon us if we spend a lot of time watching the sky and hoping for real weather to arrive.

A week ago I spent some time in the Great Central Valley making photographs. I had been putting off my visits because I prefer “interesting weather,” and there really wasn’t any. I finally went there because there was the tiniest chance of a little bit of fog and because, well, it looked like that would be the best we’d see for a while. The morning was nice — the true fog did not materials, but there was a beautiful softness in the atmosphere anyway. But late in the day it just became… gray… as a cloud shield from a weather front came in from the west. I almost left, and I had actually mostly packed up, when I decided that I might as well stick around a bit longer since I was there. It turned out to be the right decision. One development was something familiar to me from past evenings — as the light moved to the west the hazy atmosphere became more transparent and, like a stage scene illuminated behind a scrim, the shapes of the western clouds became clearer as geese arrived to settle into a nearby pond.

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, Amazon, and directly from G Dan Mitchell.

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

Clouds, Sand Storm, Desert Mountains

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Clouds, Sand Storm, Desert Mountains
Clouds from a weather front above sand storm in dessert mountains

Clouds, Sand Storm, Desert Mountains. © Copyright 2019 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Clouds from a weather front above sand storm in dessert mountains.

At times during our early-April visit to Death Valley National Park we had some remarkable atmospheric conditions to work with. That was certainly the case on this evening, when we had a combination of low-angle sunlight (which became quite colorful right at sunset), a building sand storm that was filling the air above the Amargosa Range with thick dust, and a passing weather front that darkened the sky and dropped some light rain.

In this interpretation of the scene I chose to go with a black and white rendition. One reason is that, in some ways, monochrome interpretations actually allow more subjective flexibility with the scene. I think that black and white allows us to comfortably step a bit further away from the objective reality of the scene, since we start with something that is, by its monochromatic nature, emphatically not what we see in the real world. In this photograph I wanted to emphasize the powerful and monumental quality of the storm clouds above the masses of dust and sand covering the mountains.

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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Links to Articles, Sales and Licensing, my Sierra Nevada Fall Color book, Contact Information.

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

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

Sand Storm, Virga, And Mountains

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Sand Storm, Virga, And Mountains
Sand storm and evening virga over Death Valley mountains

Sand Storm, Virga, And Mountains. © Copyright 2019 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Sand storm and evening virga over Death Valley mountains.

Here is( yet another) photograph from an astounding early-April afternoon and evening of wind and sand storms, a passing weather front, desert landscape, and transforming light. We were south of this location in the middle of the day and had heard a forecast for high winds and blowing sand. Sure enough, the wind began to rise, and when I looked far to the north I could see the dust rising. We quickly headed that way.

There was a somewhat unusual conjunction of conditions. (I write “somewhat” because I have been lucky enough to experience it once before.) The high winds were whipping up sand and dust and sending it high into the air and far up into desert mountains to the northeast. At the same time the remnants of a passing weather front were building clouds above the dust and sand, and virga was falling from some of the clouds. Just before sunset I began to photograph this scene, and I kept photographing as the colors and light transitioned to sunset and then dusk.

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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Links to Articles, Sales and Licensing, my Sierra Nevada Fall Color book, Contact Information.

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: Ocean & Coast

Pacific Vortex

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Pacific Vortex
Cloud patterns above California’s Pacific coastline

Pacific Vortex. © Copyright 2019 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Cloud patterns above California’s Pacific coastline.

Almost every time I photograph in this location at some point I turn my camera towards these sky and ocean-scapes that are almost abstract in form. While this photograph was made along the Big Sur Coastline of California, from beside the famous US Highway One, given the lack of definite landmarks it could be almost anywhere that ocean and sky meet.

The light and atmosphere were both fascinating and difficult on this visit. A Pacific winter weather system was approaching, and this can do all sorts of things to the atmosphere. In this case a cloud shield was forming overhead, thick enough to darken the landscape but still allowing some directional light. Below there was a lot of moisture in the air, with dissipating fog banks along coastal hills and offshore haze blurring the line of the horizon.

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 | Facebook | Email

Links to Articles, Sales and Licensing, my Sierra Nevada Fall Color book, Contact Information.

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