Tag Archives: field

Photographs: Agriculture, Photographs: Central California, Photographs: Nature

Winter Corn

Image Leave a comment
"Winter Corn" — Old corn left on the stalk in a winter field.
“Winter Corn” — Old corn left on the stalk in a winter field.

We don’t usually see corn on the stalk this late — by now it usually has been harvested, either for human food or animal feed. The stalks are left to decay for a while or sometimes salvaged for seasonal autumn decorations. Eventually they are knocked down — and it parts of California they get burned. It is quite unusual to find stalks with fully mature ears of corn on New Year’s Day, which is when I made this photograph.

So, why are the ears still there in this field? Not everyone understands the multiple factors driving support for wildlife refuges. Many of us are simply grateful they are there, providing safer places for migratory and other birds. But hunting and agriculture have played a big part. Here, attracting birds to places that are not someone’s field is one of the goals, and this crop provides feed for migratory birds.

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 | Instagram | Flickr | Facebook | Threads | Post | Email

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

Scroll down to share comments or questions. (Click post title first if viewing on the home page.)

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

Photographs: Agriculture, Photographs: Central California, Photographs: Nature

Orchard, Morning Fog

Image Leave a comment
Orchard, Morning Fog
Morning fog begins to form about a Central Valley orchard.

Orchard, Morning Fog. © Copyright 2023 G Dan Mitchell.

Morning fog begins to form about a Central Valley orchard.

While I think this may be just about the last photograph to emerge from this season’s trips to photograph migratory birds, there’s always a chance that I’ll return to the file archive and find another. During this early March trip to California’s Central Valley the birds were more widely dispersed than usual, and I found myself looking for other subjects late in the morning. That took me to nearby agricultural country and the Valley’s immense orchards.

I saw this orchard in the distance as I drove down a (sort of) main road, so I found a turn-off onto a beaten-up old side road that took me that direction. A fog bank was developing as I approached, and it dramatically darkened the sky beyond the trees full of white blossoms.

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.

Scroll down to leave a comment or question. (Click this post’s title first if you are viewing on the home page.)

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

Photographs: Birds, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Wildlife

Pas de Deux #2

Image Leave a comment
Pas de Deux
Two sandhill cranes in a winter field, California Central Valley.

Pas de Deux. © Copyright 2023 G Dan Mitchell.

Two sandhill cranes in a winter field, California Central Valley.

It seems to me that sandhill cranes have more “personality” than some of the other flocking birds I photograph at this time of the year. Even their manner of flight is diverse. They can fly in semi-organized fashion, but you’ll also see individuals do very odd things — dive-bombing, craning their necks in odd directions, altering the tempo of their wings and more. And then, at times, they can be graceful.

At one far end of their behavioral range there is an occasional kind of gracefulness — often in the air but in this case, on the ground as these two cranes walk, one after the other, out towards a large field that was recently plowed.

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.

Scroll down to leave a comment or question. (Click this post’s title first if you are viewing on the home page.)

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

Photographs: Birds, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Wildlife

Two Cranes, Fog

Image Leave a comment
Two Cranes, Fog
Two sandhill cranes on a foggy winter morning in a Central Valley field.

Two Cranes, Fog. © Copyright 2023 G Dan Mitchell.

Two sandhill cranes on a foggy winter morning in a Central Valley field.

Sandhill cranes have become my favorite migratory birds in California’s Central Valley and other locations in the state. Each year they arrive in the early fall and then depart around the time spring arrives. They are very large birds, and while their numbers don’t compete with those of some of the biggest geese flocks, they sometimes assemble in large groups.

I photographed this pair close to the end of the season, on a morning when surprising fog swept in after sunrise, muting the details of the landscape and softening the light. They were in a field where corn had been knocked down to provide them with food.

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.

Scroll down to leave a comment or question. (Click this post’s title first if you are viewing on the home page.)

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