Tag Archives: grass

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

Coyote On the Hunt, San Joaquin Valley

March 16, 2013 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

A lone coyote in sunset light hunts in a winter field, San Joaquin Valley, California

If you are out and about much in my part of California, especially near the edges of the day, occasional encounters with coyotes are to be expected. I’ve had my share over the years. One of the most memorable, perhaps 15 or 20 years ago was when I was a very serious cyclist and out for a morning 50-miler south of the San Francisco Bay Area. Is I rode down a country road next to a steep hill, a coyote suddenly flew (almost literally!) down the slope and landed on the road just feet in front of me. I’m not sure who was the most surprised or panicked at this development, but my memory of the event has the coyote doing an immediate 180 degree turn and racing back up against the hill just before we collided. On other occasions I’ve seen them at a distance or I’ve been hiking along only to look up and see one very close by.

Even though I knew that they inhabit this place, where we were photographing migratory birds in the San Joaquin Valley, coyotes were pretty much the last thing on my mind when another member of my group said, more or less, “look behind you!”. I shooting over the top of my car and photographing geese in developing golden hour light, so I turned around – now using the car as a back-rest rather than as a blind! – and simply tracked the animal as it made its lazy way along the field on the other side of a drainage ditch. I made no attempt to conceal myself – it would have been pointless – and the coyote barely seemed to care as it went about its evening hunt, crossing slowly in front of me and eventually disappearing into tall brush to my right.

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

Tree, Fog, Dawn Sky

March 14, 2013 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Dawn light on a solitary tree in a foggy pasture under morning clouds, San Joaquin Valley, California

Spring seemed to arrive too soon (for me, anyway) this year in California. I like spring, but I think I like winter more, and I would be fine if spring took its time arriving. However, what started out as a wetter and colder winter than usual here, ended seeming like a very short and mostly mild season as our winter rains more or less stopped in January and February and the hoped-for “March Miracle” of late season rain never came. Instead, as I write this in mid-March, we are experiencing beautiful, sunny weather with temperatures more typical of April than of March.

Against this backdrop I decided to make at least one more trip to some of my favorite San Joaquin Valley migratory bird refuges to photograph geese, cranes, herons, ibises, white pelicans, egrets, and whatever else I could find. Arriving in the Valley very early, in the first dim light I could see that it was a clear morning. I prefer a bit of fog, but dawn light is good light in any case. But as I got closer to the refuge, I was surprised but pleased to see some fog forming over this very wet and marshy area, and before long there was some quite nice fog filling in as the sun began to light the high clouds above. The effects of early morning light in fog can be quite subtle, but a favorite sort of light is that which comes faintly through partially clearing mist, casting a bit of light on features like this tree and parting enough to reveal the sky overhead. Because this light and atmosphere were so appealing – and because it can be darned hard to photograph birds in fog! – I took a break from bird photography and spent a bit of time shooting elements in this foggy landscape.

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: The Southwest, Photographs: Utah

Striped Rock, Grass, and Sand

February 17, 2013 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

A striped rock atop grasses flattened against the sand in the bottom of a slot canyon, Grand Staircase-Escalent National Monument.

I made this photograph in the first canyon we investigated during my late-October 2012 visit to Utah with photographer friends. We drove up a long gravel road and pulled off at a wide spot to find the creek that came out of this canyon, which we followed a good distance upstream. Believe it or not, this was the first time that I had hiked such a canyon and it was exciting to move from imagining the experience to actually doing it! We started out by essentially walking up the creek bed though the flats below where it left the canyon, wading through shallow water and little sand bars. Soon we entered the canyon itself and the “path” involved walking alongside the creek, frequently crossing from one side of the stream to the other to avoid obstacles, and sometimes just walking right up the stream bed, as that often provided the clearest path.

In the location where I made this photograph, the light became very red as it reflected between the upper sandstone canyon walls, and although I was shooting in the shade I had unusually warm toned light to work with. The sand here comes from – no surprise! – sandstone, and was very red in places. This bit of sand had been smoothed by the passage of higher water which had also flattened the grasses and wrapped them around this small rock with its bright red stripe.

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.

G Dan Mitchell Photography

Tag Archives: grass

Coyote On the Hunt, San Joaquin Valley

Tree, Fog, Dawn Sky

Striped Rock, Grass, and Sand

Foggy Marsh, Dawn Light

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