Tag Archives: first

Photographs: Mono Lake Basin, Photographs: Nature

First Light, Mono Lake

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First Light, Mono Lake
“First Light, Mono Lake” — Colorful dawn light over Mono Lake just before the rising sun clears the mountains.

Arising for dawn is a challenge for many people. I understand, but I think the rewards earned by getting up early are worth it — though I do have to remind myself or this sometimes as I contemplate my alarm going off a few hours before sunrise. But once I’m up and on my way, I actually enjoy the entire experience — the pre-dawn travel in darkness, the first glow in the eastern sky, the anticipation as the light builds, the first direct light on peaks, and eventually the sun itself. If you can’t imagine getting up that early, just try it a few times. I suspect you might get hooked.

I was in the Eastern Sierra to photograph fall colors, camped up some high valley on the east side of the range near the entrance to Yosemite National Park. On this morning I ended up at Mono Lake, where I set up and watched as the sky filled with intense color and the first rays of the sun peeked over the distant desert mountains beyond the 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, Amazon, and directly from G Dan Mitchell.

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Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Northern California, Photographs: Sierra Nevada, Photographs: Yosemite

First View

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First View
Morning view of Yosemite Valley’s El Capitan and Ribbon Fall on a spring morning.

First View. © Copyright 2023 G Dan Mitchell.

Morning view of Yosemite Valley’s El Capitan and Ribbon Fall on a spring morning.

There are several stories about how I came to this spot earlier this week. One starts decades ago, but I’ll begin with a shorter one. Up at 2:50AM and on the road minutes later, I began the drive from the San Francisco Bay Area to Yosemite Valley in darkness. I had considered a sunrise arrival, but that would have meant being on the road around 1:00AM — which wasn’t going to happen. So the sky began to lighten out in the Great Valley, and the sun rose while I was in Merced Canyon. This scene was in front of me when I finally stopped, shortly after turning onto Southside Drive in the Valley.

Of course, the full story of “how I got here” is much, much longer. It started decades ago when I was five years old and my parents relocated to California from the Midwest. Soon after our arrival we went to Yosemite — I don’t know the exact year, but it must have been not long after my fifth birthday. I’ve been to this place many times over those years, and I expanded my experience to the greater Sierra. On this visit I thought a lot about how my relationship to this Valley has changed, and I hope to write a bit more about that in the next few weeks.

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, Photographs: Wildlife

Cranes, First Light

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Cranes, First Light
The first morning sunlight on a flock of sandhill cranes standing in a wetlands pond.

Cranes, First Light. © Copyright 2022 G Dan Mitchell.

The first morning sunlight on a flock of sandhill cranes standing in a wetlands pond.

The light and atmosphere were a bit unusual on this morning. There was just a bit of ground fog, along with some general haze. As the sun came up, a thin layer of clouds to the east over the Sierra Nevada blocked the direct sunlight. These factors combined to produce a very muted and subdued quality as I photographed groups of sandhill cranes in ponds at this wetlands location, standing in groups and occasionally flying off.

As I photographed in this subtle light I knew that eventually the sun would rise about that eastern cloud deck, and that this would produce a few moments of very warm-colored light that was still softened by the haze and fog. I made this photograph of the cranes just as that first direct sunlight arrived.

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 | 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: Birds, Photographs: Central California, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Wildlife

Cranes, Dawn Light

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Cranes, Dawn Light
A flock of lesser sandhill cranes in dawn light, reflected in a wetland pool on a late-winter morning.

Cranes, Dawn Light. © Copyright 2022.G Dan Mitchell.

A flock of lesser sandhill cranes in dawn light, reflected in a wetland pool on a late-winter morning.

By the time most of you see this photograph, there is a very good chance that these birds will have departed for the season. Every autumn, all sorts of wonderful migratory birds arrive in California from points north. Among my favorites are the geese, especially Ross’s and snow geese, and the sandhill cranes. They come to many places around the state, in particular in locations in California’s Great Central Valley. But, like typical tourists, they don’t stay all year, and before spring arrives they depart for locations as distant as the arctic shoreline.

I photographed these cranes on a late-February morning just as the first sunlight arrived. The sky was still red with dawn light, and for a few moments that color infused the entire landscape. A bit of valley fog softened the light just a bit. The birds stood in the shallow wetland pond for a bit and soon began flying out in small groups.

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 | 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.