Tag Archives: early

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

Sunrise Dunes, Desert Mountains

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Sunrise Dunes, Desert Mountains
Sunrise light highlights sand dunes against a backdrop of desert mountains.

Sunrise Dunes, Desert Mountains. © Copyright 2023 G Dan Mitchell.

Sunrise light highlights sand dunes against a backdrop of desert mountains.

Some of my recent Death Valley dunes photographs have featured a wild wind and sand storm — a very dramatic scene that was not easy to photograph. Here I switch to the opposite mood in the dunes, the quiet moment when the first sunrise light arrives. The light changes with incredible speed at this time of day, going from the soft blue tones of pre-sunrise to bright and harsh daytime colors in moments. I made this photograph during the first direct light, when distant mountains were still in shadows.

It is hard to convey the experience of the dunes at this moment. The landscape is immense and silent. Sometimes it feels like there is a dissonance between the profound quiet and stillness and the rapidity of the visual changes. We continued to photograph a bit longer, then the magical early light was gone.

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: Birds, Photographs: Central California, Photographs: Nature

Geese, Morning Clouds

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Geese, Morning Clouds
Early morning clouds and migratory geese above California’s Central Valley.

Geese, Morning Clouds. © Copyright 2023 G Dan Mitchell.

Early morning clouds and migratory geese above California’s Central Valley.

The range of sky colors and the nature of their transitions never cease to amaze me. The previous photograph that I shared featured an intense, blood-red, pre-sunrise sky that is almost too saturated to be believable. This photograph comes from the same morning, only minutes later, and with the camera pointed in a different direction. Some of the reddish tones are still present here, but they are far more muted and balanced by the blue (and resultant purple) shades. Conveniently, a long line of geese flew across the scene at just the right moment.

This morning’s light continued to transition after I made this photograph. As I recall, when we arrived before sunrise and saw the wildly colorful sky, we quickly texted friends in the area to alert them. A few minutes later, at about the time I made this photograph, I started to feel badly that they were not going to see that earlier light. And by the time that the last of them got there… it had turned into a rather gray morning, under the influence of haze and incoming clouds.

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

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

Photographs: Central California, Photographs: Nature

New Year’s Morning

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New Year's Morning
Early morning clouds and flocks of geese fill the sky above the California Central Valley on New Year’s Day morning, 2023.

New Year’s Morning. © Copyright 2023 G Dan Mitchell.

Early morning clouds and flocks of geese fill the sky above the California Central Valley on New Year’s Day morning, 2023.

We spent New Year’s Day in a wild place with friends, sharing food and stories, and photographing birds and the landscape in which they live. I can’t think of a better way to greet a new year, which is why we’ve been doing it for perhaps a decade now. The specific location doesn’t matter all that much — it could be almost anywhere — but the tradition definitely does matter!

Photographically-speaking, the day was sometimes challenging. The weather was transitory, between one gigantic departing storm and another storm that would arrive the next day. While we had a lot of wind (not great for bird photography!) and clouds, there were moments of beautiful light. I made this photograph not long after sunrise, when the light on the high clouds was still a bit colorful and thousands of geese filled the sky.

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.

Blog | About | Twitter | Flickr | Facebook | Email

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

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

Photographs: Central California, Photographs: Nature

Pond, Fog, and Sun

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Early morning sun muted by tule fog, illuminates a late-autumn pond.

Pond, Fog, and Sun. © Copyright 2022 G Dan Mitchell.

Early morning sun muted by tule fog, illuminates a late-autumn pond.

Continuing with the fog theme, here is another photograph from this week’s visit to the California Central Valley. Even though I scheduled this visit because I knew there was a good chance of thick fog, I was a bit surprised by how much of it I encountered. I ran into serious fog before leaving Santa Clara County to cross to the Great Valley, and it was a more or less constant companion on my two-hour drive. When I arrived at my destination before sunrise the fog was extremely thick, and there was hardly enough light for photography at first.

On these days the fog determines what the landscape looks like: what is the condition of the light? How transitory are the conditions? How far can we see? Is the fog dim and gray or does light in the sky above add color and make it luminous. While it started out on the dim and gray side on this morning, the thick fog wasn’t deep enough to block the light from the rising sun.

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.

Blog | About | Twitter | Flickr | Facebook | Email

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

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