Tag Archives: field

Photographs: Central California, Photographs: Flight, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Northern California, Photographs: Wildlife

Great Blue Heron Taking Flight

November 27, 2012 G Dan Mitchell 1 Comment

A great blue heron takes flight from a foggy field at the Merced National Wildlife Refuge California

To retell a story I’ve shared before, I’m a bit embarrassed to admit that despite living in California for decades I had barely been aware of the astonishing winter migratory bird population of the state’s Central Valley until a chance encounter with a colleague led to a “wild goose chase” trip into an area south of Sacramento not so long ago. Now I’m now officially hooked! I’m certainly no expert on these birds – geese, herons, egrets, and more – but I’ve become very interested in seeing and photographing them.

While returning from another trip last month I saw a flock of geese over the Central Valley, and was reminded that this seasonal migration is again underway. I resolved to try to get out there earlier this year, and I made my first trip a few days after Thanksgiving. I drove over Pacheco Pass through Los Banos, entered the valley fog, and headed out to the Merced National Wildlife Refuge, a place I’m starting to know rather well. The fog was even thicker when I arrived at the refuge, and I could hear a lot more birds than I could really see, though I did catch a faint view of a flock of white Ross’s geese through the murk at one point. Eventually the fog began to thin a bit, and here and there muted sunlight began to shine through. As I circled the refuge I saw this lone great blue heron standing in a field in this transitional light. Using my car as a blind, I stopped a ways back and used my longest lens to make several photographs as the bird mostly stood there. Bit by bit, I was able to edge the car forward and continue to shoot from the driver’s seat, eventually being roughly parallel with the bird. I stopped and shut off the engine and continued to watch and make more photographs. Eventually, the heron apparently got bored with me and lifted off to find more interesting company, and I was able to get a couple of shots as this impressive bird took to the still-foggy air.

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Photographs: Events, Photographs: Flight, Photographs: Northern California

Dawn, Waiting for Endeavour

October 20, 2012 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Early crowds at dawn, lining up to view the space shuttle Endeavour fly over the NASA/Ames Moffett Field facility

I’ve posted enough photographs of the space shuttle Endeavour on its flyover of the NASA Ames Moffett Field – here is a photograph of some of the people who showed up to see the event. The place opened its gates at 6:00 a.m., which is well before sunrise in California at this time of year. I left home at about that time and took public transit, arriving just about the time of sunrise. I joined the growing throng arriving at Moffett. Quite a few came by car, but many also came on foot, walking from the nearby light rail stations or from their cars that they had parked in nearby Mountain View.

Once on the base the decisions were pretty straightforward – to stop of breakfast, coffee and souvenirs or to head straight out to the edge of the runway to take up a position hours in advance of the flyover. I made a quick stop for coffee, but decided to forego souvenirs and the available food-truck breakfasts (as good as they looked), and headed straight out onto the runway. There was a crowd already near the entrance area, but much of the runway was still open, especially further down toward the old Hangar One, where I found a position right along the barricades next to the runway. For the next few hours, people mostly hung out – talking, making photographs, checking cell phones, and so on – as the sun rose and the anticipate built. The photograph shows a small portion of the crowd right near sunrise, when the shadows were still long and most people had not yet arrived. The skeleton of the historic Hangar One is at the far left.

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Sierra Nevada

Fall Color, Parker Bench and Parker Canyon

October 10, 2012 G Dan Mitchell 1 Comment

Fall color from aspens, brush, and lowland trees on Parker Bench below Parker Canyon, eastern Sierra Nevada.

Parker Bench is an area above the northern portion of the June Lakes Loop, lying below Parker Lake and the canyon topping out at Parker Pass. The area is visible from highway 395, though driving up closer reveals a lot more details. The canyon itself appears to be very rugged, and I’m not even certain that a trail climbs it to the pass. I do know that the main route over the pass does not descend the canyon, instead turning south and climbing higher after it crosses the pass to exit Yosemite National Park. I’ve hiked to the pass quite a few times, and explored the country on the Yosemite side of the pass extensively.

This can be a good area to view almost the full transition of aspen color as it moves gradually downward from the highest elevations and out into Owens Valley and similar sage brush country areas. In this photograph extensive groves of aspens in full seasonal color are visible on the slopes to the right of the creek draining the canyon, and in a location that is not far from Parker Lake. When this photograph was made in mid-October of 2011, the color had worked its way down below the forest and out into the relatively low areas along the creeks descending from the higher peaks. Right in front of the camera there are bright colors from brush and a few aspens. Also note the unusually heavy snow up near the pass. October 2011 was an unusual month in that it started with a series of three relatively strong winter-type storms sweeping across the Sierra, closing a number of passes and dropping a foot or more of snow in places.

Photographs: Architecture, Photographs: Events, Photographs: Northern California, Photographs: Structures and Objects

Hangar One, Control Tower, Water Tank

October 9, 2012 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

An abandoned control tower and a checkerboard-painted water tank stand near the historic Hangar One, stripped of its outer skin, at the NASA/Ames Research Center Moffett Airfield

This is almost certainly the final photograph from my September 21, 2012 visit to the NASA Ames Moffett Field for the flyover of space shuttle Endeavour on its flight to its new home in Los Angeles. As I have written earlier, since I (and thousands of others) arrived here hours before the main event, there was plenty of time to see things and make photographs. I found a position at the edge of the runway with the huge historic Hangar One located right behind me. Hangar One was originally built to support and house lighter-than-air craft, and it has long been a visual icon on the San Francisco Peninsula.

After the Navy gave the base over to NASA it was discovered that the hangar was polluting the nearby waters of San Francisco Bay – as I understand it, largely due to the use of lead paint on this gigantic structure. (It is so large that 6 football fields could fit inside.) This led to a decision to remove the outer steel skin of the structure, leaving only the skeletal steel structure beneath. While there is talk of replacing the outer covering, for now the hangar remains in this incomplete state. I was intrigued by the huge open structure and its juxtaposition with the very old and weathered control tower in front and the colorful water tank behind.

G Dan Mitchell Photography

Tag Archives: field

Great Blue Heron Taking Flight

Dawn, Waiting for Endeavour

Hangar One, Control Tower, Water Tank

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