Tag Archives: evening

Photographs: Death Valley, Photographs: Desert, Photographs: Nature

Tufa Hill, Twilight

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Tufa Hill, Twilight
Twilight and evening clouds above a tufa hill in the Death Valley landscape

Tufa Hill, Twilight. © Copyright 2018 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Twilight and evening clouds above a tufa hill in the Death Valley landscape

A day or two earlier than this I had been out in a location not far from this spot at the end of the day, hoping to photograph end-of-day color. Just before sunset the sky went “dead” — some haze, no color in the sky, and a generally flat-looking landscape. I was about to pack up when “someone” (thanks, Patty!) pointed out, perhaps more than once, that I really should stick around “just in case.” And, yes, within moments a dull, gray cloud began to pick up pink tones, and before long sufficient color appeared to produce an interesting photograph. I know not to “pack before it is black,” but I need reminding from time to time!

The evening when I made the photograph seen here was challenging in many ways, and it began with perhaps even less promise than that evening a few days earlier. This time the sun went behind clouds to the west as it descended, turning the light completely flat. On top of that, the wind was absolutely howling, and sand was just beginning to blow. If I hadn’t had that reminder a couple of evenings earlier, I would have been out of there! But I stuck around, switching out the long lens that I had been using for a wider lens used for this photograph, and when the post-sunset, early twilight glow and color began I was ready. (A note regarding the title of this photograph. I’ve wondered about the source of these fantastical hills on the floor of Death Valley. As near as I can tell, they were formed many thousands of years ago, at the bottom of what was then a giant prehistoric lake.)

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

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Wildlife

Avocet, Sunset Reflection

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Avocet, Sunset Reflection
An avocet feeds in shallow water reflecting sunset light

Avocet, Sunset Reflection. © Copyright 2018 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

An avocet feeds in shallow water reflecting sunset light

I remember, many years ago, taking a college class that included a section on birds in the San Francisco Bay Area. The birding gene didn’t initially take for me — that came many years later — but I remember what must have been a very effective presentation on differences among shore birds. The birds found along the edges of bodies of water vary greatly in size and shape, from very small to quite large, and their leg and bill sizes vary, too. What I recall is the obvious point, that I hadn’t thought of before, that each bird, with its long or short legs and its long or short bill, is adapted to a different niche in this environment, and even to differing depths of water.

The avocet is a striking bird in many ways. This one, like most that I’ve seen, was an almost solitary specimen. If another was nearby I did not see it. The bird has long legs, which it puts to use by wading in a few inches of water as it feeds. The long, curved beak allows it to reach down and pluck edibles out of the water. This one was feeding close to the shoreline and moving toward water that reflects the sunset sky, so I held still and waited for it to move into just the right position, where the colors of reflected sky were most strongly reflected in the water.

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

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Wildlife

Red-Wing Blackbirds, Twilight

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Red-Wing Blackbirds, Twilight
A huge flock of red-wing blackbirds wheels in the twilight sky

Red-Wing Blackbirds, Twilight. © Copyright 2018 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A huge flock of red-wing blackbirds wheels in the twilight sky

First, a confession. Although I’m almost positive that the little black spots in this photograph are individual red-wing blackbirds, I was not actually close enough to verify. I had seen quite a few of those specific birds here earlier and none (or very few) of the birds that I might mistake for them, such as tricolor blackbirds. The rediwings are ubiquitous here in California and, I suspect, many other places. Before this past year I had mostly noticed them as individuals or in very small groups, often perched on a fence or tree or similar. I also sometimes saw them in groups of perhaps a few hundred.

This was the first year that I saw these small birds collect into extremely large group of many thousands of individuals. (In at least one case, I would estimate that there might have been multiple tens of thousands. On that day I saw then in the far distance through light fog in the very early morning — too far away to photography.) These really big groups sometimes perform remarkable group aerial maneuvers, with the entire flock spontaneously changing directions, ascending, descending and forming unusual patterns in the sky. In this photograph we see a diagonal boundary between the main group and a smaller group against twilight 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 and Amazon.
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All media © Copyright G Dan Mitchell and others as indicated. Any use requires advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Sierra Nevada, Photographs: Yosemite

Meadow, Forest, Evening Light

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Meadow, Forest, Evening Light
Soft evening light and haze illuminate a meadow clearing with silhouetted trees

Meadow, Forest, Evening Light. © Copyright 2018 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Soft evening light and haze illuminate a meadow clearing with silhouetted trees

It was late on a clear winter day, and I found myself in Yosemite Valley, in an area of trees and meadows. My first objective was group of riverside trees that were catching the early evening light coming up the Valley from the west. Soon the cliffs along the north side of the Valley cast shadows across these trees, so I moved on, following the shadow-sun line to the southwest as I crossed meadows.

Ahead a row of trees cut across the meadow along the route of a trail. A management fire was burned a bit to the west — incinerating trees that died in the drought of the past few years — and the smoke drifted, producing a gentle haze in the evening light. I found a break in the trees, with a meadow and back-lit trees on the far side, and above more trees fading into the haze toward faint cliff silhouettes. I made a quick series of exposures, and then then 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 and Amazon.
Blog | About | Flickr | Twitter | Facebook | Google+ | LinkedIn | Email

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