Tag Archives: fog

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

Red Wing Blackbird, Fence Post

December 4, 2011 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

A redwing blackbird pauses atop a fence post in front of central California oak/grassland, Calero County Park.

Photographed on the same morning as another recent shot of this same type of bird, the bright red upper wings of this redwind blackbird provide a striking contrast to its jet black body. This bird was on a fence surrounding an old manmade pond at the Calero County Park south of San Jose, California – a place that I can drive to in little more than 15 minutes, and where I have hiked extensively for a number of years. These birds often flock around this small lake on winter and early spring mornings. Here it was still overcast, though the low fog from earlier in the morning was now dispersing.

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

Redwing Blackbird, Fog

December 2, 2011 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

A redwing blackbird rests on a branch on a foggy early spring morning at Calero County Park, California.

Although this photograph was made in April, it evokes the Central and Northern California winter for me. This is a time when tule fogs are common – the inland valley fogs, which are different from the coastal fog of warmer months – and when the number of birds and other wildlife seems to increase, perhaps because fewer people are out and about than in the summer.

This photograph was made at a small pond that is not too far from where I live. It is near the start of a trail that I have hiked many times, a trail that eventually rises through grass and oak covered hills to low ridges that catch the morning sun. The small ponds is only perhaps five minutes from the start of this trail, and it is a place where I can often find local and not-so-local wildlife if I arrive early and approach quietly.

Photographs: Imaginary Landscapes, Photographs: Northern California, Photographs: Ocean & Coast

Surf, Rocks, and Horizon

November 14, 2011 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

An imaginary landscape from surf, rocks and horizon at Point Lobos State Reserve, California.

I refer to photographs like this one as “imaginary landscapes” – though I suppose that this one is actually an imaginary seascape. The boundary between these photographs and my Regular Old Garden Variety Landscapes is a bit nebulous, but it relates to how far and how intentionally the interpretation of the scene departs from what might be regarded as its objective reality. In this case, some things were done at the time of exposure and some other things were done in post that make this image more obviously a subjective interpretation of the scene than might be the case with many of my other photographs. But you could see that by looking at it, right?

In any case, this is a single photographic “capture” made with a long exposure time that was extended by the use of a nine-stop neutral density filter – and this is what creates the majority of the soft quality of the image. Some additional work was done in post to further manipulate the original image – work with saturation and certain ways of diffusing portions of the image and so forth. In the end, little of that matters beyond the fact that these techniques were ways of producing the image that I had in mind, and which I intend to evoke something about the nature of the real scene upon which it is based.

Photographs: Northern California, Photographs: San Francisco

Alcatraz and Yerba Buena Islands, San Francisco Bay, Foggy Morning Light

October 13, 2011 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

San Francisco Bay morning fog over begins to break up over Alcatraz and Yerba Buena Islands and the San Francisco Oakland Bay Bridge.

I made this photograph back around the start of spring in 2009. I recall shooting from the Marin Headlands back toward the Bay as the fog began to break up, still obscuring the view but allowing beams of light to begin to come through the gloom and light up portions of the Bay. Alcatraz Island is at upper left and beyond that is the Treasure Island and Yerba Buena Island complex.

Many things intrigued me about this scene. Although it is in shadow still, Alcatraz stands out as the clearest object in the scene. The patterns on the water were amazing, created by a combination of the normal surface waves, the wakes of ships that had passed, and the mottled and mixed lighting of areas of fog and sun. Beyond the main subjects and over the East Bay shoreline around Oakland, light beams come down from the clearing fog.

This photograph is also an example of why I save and later review all of my raw files. Either because I don’t understand the image when I first make it or perhaps I move on to the next project too quickly sometimes it is not unusual when a photograph “slips through the cracks” and I end up overlooking it. This was one of those photographs… which I now find hard to understand.

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