Tag Archives: fog

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

Winter Oak and Fog

April 2, 2014 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Winter fog drifts around a dormant oak tree, Yosemite Valley

This appeared to be the one Valley meadow with fog in it on this early winter morning. Up early, we had taken a look at the conditions and figured that meadow fog might not be on the morning agenda, but on a hunch we decided to do a loop past several Yosemite Valley meadows anyway—and here at Stoneman Meadow we found ground fog gently moving back and forth across the clearing.

It was early enough and cold enough that few other people were out, so the scene was very quite and peaceful. The fog remained within the confines of the meadow, only penetrating a short distance into the surrounding forests when it drifted a bit. At first it seemed like we had arrived just in time and that the fog was going to dissipate quickly, so I set up quickly and started photographing with the expectation that I would not have long to work. But very quickly the fog began to thicken until it was perhaps 20 feet deep, and soon it obscured the views across the meadow to forest trees. As this fog, too, began to thin I waited for it to line up behind this solitary barren tree.

Text, photographs, and other media are © Copyright G Dan Mitchell (or others when indicated) and are not in the public domain and may not be used on websites, blogs, or in other media without advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

Photographs: Central California, Photographs: Nature

Wetland Fog, Dawn

April 1, 2014 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

First dawn light glows faintly through winter fog above a San Joaquin Valley wetland marsh

This was definitely shot during the morning blue hour, the pre-dawn light was here tinged with pink color from first sunlight striking high clouds far above the ground-hugging layer of thick fog. This is another photograph from my favorite Central Valley haunt, where I often go to photograph birds during the cool months of late-fall through very early spring.

The fog was thick but not deep, and as we drove to this area we were able to look up through it and see the predawn sky even though the murk was thick enough at ground level to force us to drive very slowly. Arriving at our destination, it was foggy and still, but as the first light of morning began to arrive, the pink color of high clouds illuminated the fog and created a glow of a somewhat unusual color. I had a few minutes along the edge of a pond to photograph in this fleeting light. The first photographs, like this one, were a combination of blue and faint pink/purple. A moment later the pink became even more intense, and then as the light increased the color faded and the fog became more transparent, allowing a view upwards through it to those higher clouds.

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

Dense Forest, Clearing Fog

March 28, 2014 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

The last traces of morning fog drift among forest trees of Yosemite Valley

Back at the beginning of March we were in Yosemite Valley to attend the opening reception of the Yosemite Renaissance XXIX exhibit at the Visitor Center Gallery. (This juried show includes work in a variety of media—including photography—and continues on until May 11.) We decided to take advantage of this visit to spend three days in the Valley and do some photography.

At this time of year the fog that often collects in the Valley’s meadows can provide all sorts of interesting photographic possibilities. With that possibility in mind we went out early in the morning to look around. At first it did not look too promising. The weather was relatively warm and the air seemed quite clear. On a hunch I thought we’d go look at Stoneman Meadow, and we found that it was filled with a shallow layer of fog. (I later heard that it may have been the only foggy location on this day.) The fog moved across the meadow and seemed to be thinning, but they surprised me by becoming a lot thicker and obscuring the views of the surrounding trees. This fog gradually drifted into the nearby forest as it dissipated, and this photograph includes the very last misty remnants of this fog.

Photographs: Northern California, Photographs: Ocean & Coast, Photographs: San Francisco

Departing Freighter

March 27, 2014 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

A freighter heads out of the Golden Gate and into the Pacific Ocean on a winter morning

I was on my way to a location north of the Golden Gate Bridge, having left home while it was still dark and crossing the bridge as the sky just begin to lighten. As I often do when I pass by here, I left the main highway for a short time and went up a ways into the Marin Headlands to see what sort of early morning light might appear over the San Francisco Bay and the Golden Gate Bridge. The lights of the City were still on at this early hour, so I first photographed in that direction.

There was a variety of types of clouds around the Bay—fog to the south and east, high clouds above, and a bit of general haze everywhere. As the sun came up behind the East Bay clouds and fog there was a bit of color, though the effect was subtle. A bit later this very large freighter approached the bridge as it prepared to leave the bay. It was one of the largest that I have seen pass beneath the Golden Gate Bridge. I went back to shooting other subjects, but my attention periodically went back to this ship as it moved farther off shore. Eventually a bit of muted sunlight hit the boat and some light came to the higher clouds as it headed on toward an off-shore fog bank and then, I imagine, a much longer voyage across the Pacific.

G Dan Mitchell Photography

Tag Archives: fog

Winter Oak and Fog

Wetland Fog, Dawn

Dense Forest, Clearing Fog

Departing Freighter

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