Tag Archives: in

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

Geese, Sunset Clouds

September 5, 2016 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

A line of Ross’s geese fly in front of sunset clouds, San Joaquin Valley

It is summer… and I miss winter! I used to think that it was more of the case that I simply look forward to whatever season it isn’t, but I have come to realize that summer just isn’t my favorite time of year — at least not for photography. (Don’t take this the wrong way, though. There is plenty to photograph all year long, and I make a lot of photographs during the summer, too.) Over the past few years I have come to love the winter Central Valley, especially when I can photograph migratory birds, fog, and the immense skyscape.

This late-February day was special for photography. Surprisingly, it began in Yosemite Valley, where we had been for several days for the opening on the Yosemite Renaissance exhibit. Up early, we photographed in the Valley until midday, and then we began a lazy westward drive though the foothills that would take us to San Joaquin Valley wetlands to photograph birds at the end of the day. In the evening there was a tremendous fly-in of geese and cranes, and large flocks passed in front of beautiful clouds. Here a flock of Ross’s geese is backlit by the light from the west.

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

Photographs: Italy

Vineyards Below Radda

August 25, 2016 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Evening light and shadows on vineyards below Radda in Chianti

We have now visited this small town several times. The first time we passed through on our way to another place, barely giving it a glance. (I know, that is hard to believe.) Then on the return drive we came back through it and noticed the remarkable location atop a mountain ridge, with buildings alongside the narrow road and stretching off in either direction. Then we returned for dinner, arriving early enough to take a bit of time exploring the village, which turned out to be a bit larger than we had imagined.

On this dinner visit we came into town a little before 7:00 PM, and since dinner wasn’t scheduled until 7:30 we had some time to wander. After walking up and down some of the narrow streets — barely wide enough for a single small car in many places and few cars go there — I found a walk along the edge of the ridge overlooking the valley to the west and facing into the beautiful evening light. Far in the distance (and not seen in this photograph) were tree-covered hills stretching off toward very distant mountains. Below were vineyards and olive orchards, with the gentle gold-hour light passing from left to right and beginning to darken the shadows.

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

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Wildlife

Bald Eagle in Flight

August 13, 2016 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

A bald eagle flies past above the Sacramento Valley

This past winter was my initiation into photograph bald eagles. Generally speaking, photographing birds is relatively new passion for me, something I’ve now been doing seriously for only few seasons. It began with an accidental encounter with a friend who is a bird watcher of the classic sort — we ran into one another in a line at a coffee stand and she happened to mention a place she visits and for almost no particular reason I decided to go there a few days later. Despite living in California for decades I did not know (I’m now somewhat embarrassed to admit) about the astounding presences of huge numbers of migratory birds in the state every winter. I was hooked, and this has become a focus for my photography every season.

While photographing my favorite geese, herons, cranes, ibises, and so forth, my photography friends would often say things about eagles. When a flock of geese took off all at once, they might say, “an eagle must have scared them.” To be honest, I never saw the eagles, with exception of a few far off glimpses of birds that didn’t look quite like hawks. Then, this past winter, I headed further north, photographing in the Sacramento Valley and all the way up into southern Oregon. In these places I began to encounter bald eagles on a regular basis and I began to learn how to photograph them, a process that continues.

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

Dawn Arrival

May 21, 2016 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Winter geese fly in to a Central Valley wetlands pond at dawn

Near the end of May I revisited some photographs from the past year, including a set that I made on an annual New Year’s Day visit to California’s Central Valley. For several years now a group of friends, photographers, artists, and more have greeted the dawn of the new year by going together before dawn to celebrate the new year and the annual spectacle of the winter bird migration into the valley. So, during the first week when the temperatures here in California rose into the nineties, I enjoyed recalling a foggy morning when they sat near freezing.

We arrived a half hour before dawn to find patchy, thinning fog. We set out trying to determine, in the half-light, where the birds might be, and soon some were spotted settling in on a nearby pond. We headed that way, and I lined up a view across the pond, past quiet foreground birds and past a row of trees toward the eastern sky, which was gradually beginning to brighten. I made this photograph as another small group of birds was flying in to join those already on the pond

G Dan Mitchell Photography

Tag Archives: in

Geese, Sunset Clouds

Vineyards Below Radda

Bald Eagle in Flight

Dawn Arrival

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