Tag Archives: fog

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

Ross’s Geese, Golden Hour Fly-Out

January 11, 2013 G Dan Mitchell 1 Comment

Ross’s geese take wing during the sunset fly-out, San Joaquin Valley, California

As happens often enough to make things interesting, the light at the end of this day of less-than-phenomenal light momentarily made up for some of the earlier “blah” light. It had been a good day of goose (and crane) chasing, but with few moments of sublime light so far. That’s not necessarily a bad thing, since even when the light is not at its most astonishing out here, the air and the sound of the birds still makes it worthwhile, especially when a large flock of geese suddenly lifts off in unison or when the sound of cranes floats down as they coast overhead.

But still, we want that light! Just before sunset, as the hazy sky was already starting to dim, the last sun slanted in from the west at a low angle just as this flock of geese was beginning to fly out for the night. I made this photograph just a moment after the foreground group had taken to the air, but while other groups that had lifted off earlier were still visible beyond them as they departed over the grove of trees to the north.

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Photographs: Central California, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Northern California

Foggy Marsh, Dawn Light

January 6, 2013 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Dawn light begins to illuminate high clouds above the fog over a California Central Valley marsh

Have I mentioned how much I love fog and pre-dawn and post-sunset light? I guess I have… :-) I made this photograph on New Years Day 2013, shortly after arriving at the San Joaquin location in near darkness to meet a group of friends and fellow “wild goose chasers.” I can hardly imagine a better way to greet the new year than to join like-minded friends in such a place!

This was a day of surprises of various sorts. A painter showed up to join our photography-centric little band! We took a midday break to go see a movie. Although they were too far away to see clearly in the early morning haze, huge numbers of cranes arrived just after sunset. A solitary flock of white pelicans surprised us with an unexpected fly-over at one point. And the light and atmosphere were about impossible to predict. It was cold and seemed very clear on the way to our location, but as we arrived I could see hints of fog forming above this wet and cold area. Just before dawn it was quite hazy and gray, providing neither perfectly clear air nor the evocative and mysterious atmosphere of thick tule fog. But as sometimes happened, as the sky became lighter at sunrise, the brighter clouds and sky above the low elevation murk began to reveal itself, much as a hidden theatrical set may become visible behind a scrim. We stopped at the spot where I made this photograph because we could barely see a very large flock of (hundreds or, more likely, thousands) of sandhill cranes across the pond near the levee next to the trees. We stood around waiting for the birds to fly our direction, which they mostly did not do. But as we waited I began to see a bit of color and definition come to the higher clouds far above the low fog.

Photographs: Central California, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Northern California

Dawn, New Years Day 2013

January 5, 2013 G Dan Mitchell 3 Comments

Dawn light above a San Joaquin Valley marsh on New Years Day, 2013

I didn’t manage to post a real New Years Day photo on New Years Day this year… since I was out and about well before dawn on that morning, thinking that it would be even more fun to greet the new year in the field than to just share a post about it! We were staying in the Sierra foothills and had enjoyed a wonderful New Years eve with friends in the area the evening before. Although we had planned to “call it a night” soon enough to turn in early in anticipation for a pre-5:00 a.m. wake-up call, it was after midnight when we finally got to bed.

We were up at 4:45 – yes, on New Years Day! – and out the door shortly after 5:15, and on our way out into the San Joaquin Valley, where a small group of us assembled at about 6:30 in the darkness. After sleepy “Happy New Year!” wishes we headed off into the first pre-dawn light to look for geese and cranes and other critters. Within a few minutes I stopped along the levee road by these trees to make my first real photograph of the new year as the first light began to turn high clouds over the Sierra a beautiful shade of pink.

Photographs: Central California, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Northern California

Trees and Pasture, Central Valley

December 22, 2012 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Hazy light in clearing tule fog on solitary trees in California Central Valley pasture land

This is another in a series that might perhaps be called “accidental landscapes.” We were actually at a wildlife refuge not to photograph landscape subjects but to photograph migratory birds – mostly geese, herons, ibises, cranes, egrets and the like. Part of that activity involves driving around trying to find the darn critters! And sometimes during these drives my eyes wander over to something that is much more like a landscape than a bird. I have photographed this very tree in the past, most recently a matter of weeks earlier when I shot it from a slightly different angle that made it appear more isolated, and when it was full of a flock of red-winged blackbirds.

The first thing that attracted my attention this time was something small, the bit of warm side-light on the trunk of the foreground tree. Seeing that, I wondered how I might come up with a composition that made sense and included this little feature. First, I wanted this tree to fill a good portion of the frame. However that seemed a bit too straightforward, so I just moved around a bit until the more distant near-twin tree was just to the left of the foreground tree, being careful to not let them overlap. The photograph was shot handheld, with the same lens that stayed on my camera all day long, a 100-400mm zoom. We moved on and soon found lots of Ross’s geese on the far side of this pasture.

G Dan Mitchell Photography

Tag Archives: fog

Ross’s Geese, Golden Hour Fly-Out

Foggy Marsh, Dawn Light

Dawn, New Years Day 2013

Trees and Pasture, Central Valley

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