Tag Archives: grass

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

Meadow Grass and Frost

March 21, 2015 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Early morning frost on dormant winter grasses in a Yosemite Valley meadow

On a late-winter morning like this one there could be snow in Yosemite Valley, and even without new snow there is likely to be a bit of it lying around in shady areas. But not this winter. This has been the fourth of a series of very dry years in California, and this year was especially unkind to the Sierra. By the end of the season the snow pack looks to be barely 10% of what it would be in a typical year, and the situation is even more dire since this is only the latest in a string of such years. So it was not surprise to find this meadow snow free, with only a bit of frost suggesting the season.

We arose early on this morning and headed out close to sunrise looking for a meadow with the common winter low fog. We finally found a bit of it in this meadow, though it was dissipating quickly. Before it went away we headed out into the meadow to see what photographic possibilities we could find. I first focused on the frost itself and on some of the winter-dormant brush and bushes around the meadow’s edge. Then I moved back into the main part of the meadow, where these bent over and dried grasses reminded me of the patterns I might find in flowing water.

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

Cottonwood Leaf, Dry Grass, Winter

March 13, 2015 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

A single cottonwood tree lies among dry winter grasses in a Yosemite Valley meadow.

This has been and continues to be a historically dry year in California and especially in the Sierra. More concerning, it is the third such year in a row. In a more typical year — and may those return soon! — the location where I made this photograph would be very wet and perhaps even snow-covered on a day like the one when I visited.

We headed out into the Valley very early on this morning. It was the sort of day when you might hope to find some ground fog in the Valley meadows. We had no luck at the first two meadows we checked, but the third did have a very tenuous and shallow layer of fog, so we stopped. I wandered out into the dry and slightly frosty meadow, and as I did the last of the fog dissipated. As I looked for compositions among the waves of dormant grasses I began to notice that here and there were reddish-brown heart-shaped leaves left over from the autumn cottonwoods.

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

The Wetlands, Late Winter

March 7, 2015 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

San Joaquin Valley wetlands on a late winter morning

About a week ago we headed off to Yosemite Valley for a few days, primarily to attend the opening reception of the 30th annual Yosemite Renaissance Exhibit in The Valley, but also to spend some time there in what we hoped might be interesting and possibly snowy conditions. Given the way this year has gone, it shouldn’t be surprising that the hopes of snow were not met — though there was a five-minute flurry in the morning in the Valley and we found a few inches of new snow by climbing up out of the Valley. But “there is always something to see,” and there was no shortage of other things to photograph.

On our way to the Valley from the San Francisco Bay Area we made a short morning stop at a favorite migratory bird hangout. Typically we arrive here by dawn and encounter thick tule fog. This morning was different and more spring-like with sun and a few puffy clouds overhead. While it seems wrong to see this weather in what should be winter, it still was beautiful, and I made this simple photograph of a quite wetlands marsh where I more typically photograph in fog very early in the morning.

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

Tule Fog, Marsh

January 19, 2015 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Tule Fog and Marsh, with a passing bird — “Tule Fog, Marsh” — Thick tule fog obscures the view of a central California marsh

These conditions are among my favorites out in the Central California wetlands — silent except for the calls of birds, almost nothing moving, fog so thick that details quickly disappear, and a gentle glow from sun above the shallow fog layer. Mornings like this one remind me that the photography is about something deeper than getting a clear shot of another bird — it is about somehow trying for that merging of capturing and evoking the mood of such a place, and about personally experiencing the thing.

Subtle and uncontrollable things come into play. I have to slow down a lot and look for compositions in place that are not at all obvious, and the subjects from which I can select are limited to those that are very close. Some elements of the composition exist almost on the very edge of visibility — in this photograph there is a further extent of the tules that is barely visible at all. Focus isn’t easy, and I may choose to “go with the softness,” as I did here. And the bird, suddenly appearing at the lower left, turns out to be utterly unpredictable yet important to the overall effect of the image.

G Dan Mitchell Photography

Tag Archives: grass

Meadow Grass and Frost

Cottonwood Leaf, Dry Grass, Winter

The Wetlands, Late Winter

Tule Fog, Marsh

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