Tag Archives: island

Photographs: Mono Lake Basin, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Sky

Mono Lake, Dissipating Storm

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Mono Lake, Dissipating Storm
“Mono Lake, Dissipating Storm” — An evening thunderstorm dissipates above Mono Lake on an autumn evening.

It is well understood that some of the most interesting landscape photography light comes at the edges of the day, around sunrise or sunset. When things work out just right, Sierra Nevada weather conditions amplify this light. During the summer months afternoon thunderstorms are not uncommon, and they often break up around sunset, allowing light from the west to dramatically illuminate and color the clouds.

I had been photographing in mixed light during the afternoon — sometimes it was clear, but at other times is was overcast. As the day moved toward sunset, I was passing along the west shore of Mono Lake as clouds dissipated and that western light turned the thinning storm clouds into a fiery cloudscape above the lake.

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, Amazon, and directly from G Dan Mitchell.

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

Headlands and Fog

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Headlands and Fog
“Headlands and Fog” — Morning fog obscures te Pacific Ocean beyond Point Lobos headlands.

Point Lobos can be a place of wildly diverse conditions — from powerful winter storms that cast driftwood onto the shoreline to quiet warm-season days of sunshine. But more often things lie between the extremes… and typically involve fog. Summer visitors to “sunny California” are often surprised to discover that the sun’s appearance can be quite a bit less frequent along the coast, even when it is sunny inland. This Point Lobos visit was on a day of particularly persistent fog that stuck anround into the mid-afternoon.

This headlands terrain is found in several locations at Point Lobos, but especially along the northern portion of the park. Here the cliffs are taller and steeper and the land is open to the swell from the northwest, producing a rugged and dramatic shoreline. In this scene Monterey cypress trees survive on the rocky terrain just above the surf, and the small island on the left is populated by resting (and perhaps nesting?) cormorants.

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, Amazon, and directly from G Dan Mitchell.

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Links: Articles, Sales and Licensing, my Sierra Nevada Fall Color book, Contact Info.

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Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Scotland, Photographs: Travel

Sailboats, Oban

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Sailboats, Oban
“Sailboats, Oban” — Sailboats on the water at Oban, Scotland.

Oban is a lovely Scottish town — a picturesque spot on the waterfront, with hills and islands all around, fine seafood, good people… and the Oban Whisky Distillery! (Yes, we did the tour, and we bought a bottle as soon as we got back to the states.) There is almost constant boat traffic in the bay in front of the town as fishing boats, small tour boats, sailboats, and ferries come and go.

I made this photograph from McCaig’s Tower, the very old stone structure that sits on a hilltop above the town and offers a remarkable panorama of the surrounding landscape. Shortly after we arrived at the top of the hill a large group of sailboats crossed the bay in front of us, stretching out in a line against the darker land and water.

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, Amazon, and directly from G Dan Mitchell.

Blog | About | Instagram | Flickr | Facebook | Threads | Post | Email

Links: Articles, Sales and Licensing, my Sierra Nevada Fall Color book, Contact Info.

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

Winter Geese, Winter Pond

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Winter Geese, Winter Pond
“Winter Geese, Winter Pond” — Migratory geese (including Rosss, snow, and cackling geese) settle in a California Central Valley pond as a weather front approaches.

On the best winter days, migratory birds gather by the hundreds of thousands (millions?) up and down California’s Central Valley, especially where the winter wetland ponds form. I first became vaguely aware of this decades ago on a winter drive up the Sacramento Valley on my way to Washington, when for the first time I saw multitudes of birds in the winter sky. Later a chance comment by a friend led me to a location in the delta where birds gather by thousands. Since then, I’ve been addicted to experiencing and photographing this annual wonder.

I made this photograph on a cloudy morning. The cloud shield overhead extended to the edge of the Sierra, which meant we had a brief but brilliant sunrise above the mountains. Then everything went mostly gray and hazy, and the light turned soft. These geese — largely a mixture of Ross’s, snow, and white-fronted — settled into a pond where I paused.

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, Amazon, and directly from G Dan Mitchell.

Blog | About | Instagram | Flickr | Facebook | Threads | Post | Email

Links: Articles, Sales and Licensing, my Sierra Nevada Fall Color book, Contact Info.

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