Tag Archives: ducks

Islands, Clearing Fog

“Islands, Clearing Fog” — Morning sun on reed-covered islands and wetland pond.

Sometimes landscape photography is slow and contemplative — the landscape stands almost still and there is time to pause and consider. But sometimes the landscape changes as quickly as any other subject, and transient conditions only last a moment. This was one of the latter moments. Thick tule fog had blanketed my position, but it quickly cleared above this pond, and brilliant light struck the little grass-covered islands.

Fog can fundamentally alter a landscape. Sometimes it simply mutes more distant subjects and allows foreground elements to stand out. It can also lend a sense of quiet mystery to otherwise mundane scenes. It may just sit there, changing little for long periods of time. And then, suddenly, the sunlight begins to break through and all kinds of beautiful effects of light may appear.


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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Wetlands Pond, Morning Light

“Wetlands Pond, Morning Light” — Morning sun on a wetlands pond as winter tule fog clears.

The experience of photographing these Central Valley winter landscapes is full of magical instants — combinations of scene, atmosphere, and light that appear and disappear so quickly that they are easily missed. In one direction thick fog might obliterate the view, while in another direction the sunlight may be emerging and bathing the scene in warm light. This was one of those moments — a distant fog bank almost obscures trees, while the reed-covered islands are bathed in direct morning sunlight.

From what I hear, the residents of California’s Great Central Valley are not exactly thrilled by tule fog. When the conditions are right it can last for days or even weeks, holding temperatures to the 30s and 40s and remaining gray and damp. But I love those conditions for photography, and a forecast of fog is often enough to persuade me to drive four hours round-trip to be there.


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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Links: Articles, Sales and Licensing, my Sierra Nevada Fall Color book, Contact Info.

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Sierra Silhouette, Wetlands Winter Sunrise

On a recent early morning visit to the Central Valley I was lucky to run into a couple of friends who were also there to see the wintry landscape and photograph migratory birds. We conversed casually during slow moments when we found ourselves in the same spots. One of them noted that a lot of my recent photographs have relied on pastels. True! I’ve been focusing those colors recently, and they are common in the winter landscape. This is not one of those photographs.

Indeed, these colors are almost lurid. I photographed just before the sun came up, when the pre-dawn light is at its most saturated. I used a long lens to focus on the brightly-lit clouds and their reflection, and to eliminate much of the surrounding darker landscape. Wild displays of color like this — and sky filled with migratory birds — are among the reasons that I’m willing to get up at “oh-dark-thirty” and drive for hours in the darkness.


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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Winter Wetland Trees

Winter Wetland Trees
A copse of winter wetland trees along the Pacific Flyway, New Year’s Day 2022.

Winter Wetland Trees. © Copyright 2022 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A copse of winter wetland trees along the Pacific Flyway, New Year’s Day 2022.

This photograph is another one from our New Year’s Day adventure with friends under the skies of the Pacific Skyway. We joined up for New Year’s Eve and then New Year’s Day morning to celebrate the arrival of the new year along with a few tens of thousands of our bird friends, something that has become a tradition among this group of friends and (mostly) photographers.

I think that most of us would agree that it is the combination of birds and fog that primarily attracts us to these places in the winter. The attraction of fog might seem strange to those who live in it and have to drive in it and sometimes tolerate weeks of damp and gray. But its presence lends mystery to this landscape and creates an unending variety of conditions of mystery and light. On the morning I made this photograph, the skies were mostly clear, though a combination of high clouds and very thin fog near the ground softened the light on this group of trees.


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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