Tag Archives: fog

Photographs: Central California, Photographs: Fall, Photographs: Fall Color, Photographs: Nature

Autumn Tree, In The Light

Image Leave a comment
Autumn Tree, In The Light
An autumn tree emerges from fog and haze in morning light

Autumn Tree, In The Light. © Copyright 2018 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

An autumn tree emerges from fog and haze in morning light.

I found this tree, still with full late-season fall color, standing in the middle of a pasture. (If you look very closely you just might be able to spot some cattle.) It was a very foggy morning — mostly quite gray and colorless — until the fog finally began to thin and filtered light started to break through.

It is easy to pass through California’s Great Central Valley and miss its beauty. It is true that the air can become stagnant and that freeway driving isn’t conducive to seeing beyond the traffic in front of you. But get off the main roads, drive a bit more slowly, start very early and stay out until the sun sets, and there is a lot to see.

Links to Articles, Sales and Licensing, my Sierra Nevada Fall Color book, Contact Information.

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 and Amazon.
Blog | About | Flickr | Facebook | Email

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

Photographs: Central California, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Ocean & Coast

Sea Stacks, Big Sur Coast

Image Leave a comment

Sea Stacks, Big Sur Coast
A rugged landscape of coastal sea stacks along the Big Sur coast

Sea Stacks, Big Sur Coast. © Copyright 2018 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A rugged landscape of coastal sea stacks along the Big Sur coast

This photograph comes from an early November transition season day along the Big Sur coast of California when I took a morning and half of the afternoon to drive down and make some photographs. The conditions here can vary widely on a seasonal and daily weather basis. Many summer days start with thick coastal fog, but it can also be crystal clear and even warm. Pacific storm fronts pass through during the winter, bringing rain, spectacular post front clouds, and then an atmosphere cleared of haze.

On this day the sun was trying to take command, but there was a lot of coastal fog haze in the air, and the fog banks were stubbornly persisting over the coastal hills in places. There was enough surf to throw up some additional moisture into the atmosphere right along the shoreline. Here I photographed across a near seascape filled with rocky bluffs and sea stacks, looking toward a more distant shoreline partially obscured by fog and haze.

See top of this page for Articles, Sales and Licensing, my Sierra Nevada Fall Color book, Contact Information and more.

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 and Amazon.
Blog | About | Flickr | Facebook | Email

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

Photographs: Central California, Photographs: Fall, Photographs: Nature

Coots, Pond, Autumn Sky

Image Leave a comment
Coots, Pond, Autumn Sky
A flock of coots and autumn morning sky reflected in a wetland pond.

Coots, Pond, Autumn Sky. © Copyright 2018 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A flock of coots and autumn morning sky reflected in a wetland pond.

Autumn and winter are my favorite seasons, especially but not exclusively for photography. In my part of the world these are the seasons for the most compelling light, the most interesting skies, and transitions of all sorts — the color transition of autumn, the shortening (and subsequent lengthening) of daylight hours, the quicker transitions between rain and sun and fog and wind.  Rather than waiting for those occasional special days, as one often does in the summer, I can just head out and be almost certain of finding something.

This morning was full of surprises. I was up and on the road hours before dawn, expecting to end up in a place full of thick tule fog, where I would photograph a sunrise obscured by this fog and then continue to photograph as it lightened and then cleared. But none of that happened. The weather forecasts were off, and instead it was almost completely clear of fog, opening expansive views to the morning sky. This sky was filled with the early clouds of an incoming Pacific weather front, with only a thin band of clear sky in the distance beyond the edge of the clouds. Shortly after the moment of sunrise, the still-low sun sent its light across the bottom of the cloud deck and the light caught the curving textures of the clouds, here reflected in the water of a pond.

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 and Amazon.

See top of this page for Articles, Sales and Licensing, my Sierra Nevada Fall Color book, Contact Information and more.

Blog | About | Flickr | Facebook | Email

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

Photographs: Flight, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Wildlife

Cranes, Sunrise

Image Leave a comment

Cranes, Sunrise
Cranes fly above sun rising though fog and haze

Cranes, Sunrise. © Copyright 2018 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Cranes fly above sun rising though fog and haze

The past few weeks have not been kind to California, with yet another very dry fall leading to some extraordinarily serious late-season wildfires. In particular, the historic and tragic toll of the “Camp Fire” is on our minds. In addition to those in the area directly affected by the fire, many Californians who live elsewhere in the state have friends who lost their homes and worse. And all across the state unhealthy levels of smoke have affected millions of Californians. (As I write this, we are finally getting our first real weather front of the season and the smoke levels are diminishing a bit.)

I have long pondered how to deal with these conditions photographically. Some years ago I realized that managed fires are a good thing for our environment (and even help reduce the likelihood of first like we recently experienced), but it has still been a challenge to find ways to make “beautiful” photographs of such things. I recently made this photograph on a morning when the air was still thick with this smoke, combined with fog, almost completely muting the light of the rising sun.

See top of this page for Articles, Sales and Licensing, my Sierra Nevada Fall Color book, Contact Information and more.

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 and Amazon.
Blog | About | Flickr | Facebook | Email

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