Tag Archives: landscape

Photographs: Fall, Photographs: Fall Color, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: The Southwest, Photographs: Utah

Aspen Forest

February 21, 2017 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Tall autumn aspen trees stretch across mountain landscape of Dixie National Forest

Generally speaking, aspen trees don’t grow like this much in my home state of California. On a two-week visit to Southern Utah’s beautiful wild and protect lands back in 2012 we entered the state from the west and drove up into the mountains around Brian Head and Cedar Breaks National Monument, where we spent a few early October days poking around, exploring, and discovering autumn color. (Utah aspen color comes a bit earlier than Sierra Nevada aspen color, and it was reaching the end of its run when we arrived.) One afternoon we simply decided, for no particular reason that I can recall, to investigate a gravel road that headed of to the south from a main route, and before long we ended up among the tall, straight trees of this beautiful aspen forest.

For all of its beauty, much of which has been preserved in national parks, monuments, and forests, there are political forces in Utah that want to destroy these beautiful places that belong to all Americans. Rather than saving and protecting the beauties of their state, they want to give the resources away for the short-term benefit of special interests who will use up the land and walk away. (Take a look at the legacy of the Uranium mining around Moab if you need example of a precedent.) There are many ways to fight back and work to protect these lands. One group doing good work on behalf of the Utah wild land resources is the Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance. They could use your support right about now.

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

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

Weathered Sandstone Wall

February 17, 2017 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

A weathered and cracked sandstone wall in Utah canyon country

It has been about four-and-a-half years since I visited this spot and made this photograph, but I remember it distinctly. We had followed the twisting course of a small stream down a canyon as it wound back and forth between the tall sandstone walls. Eventually we perhaps began to think it was time to turn around, but it was hard to resist finding out what was around “one more bend” — until we had passed through quite a few more of them! I remember three things about this particular wall. It was huge — a monumental expanse of nearly solid granite broken in a few spots where giant flakes of rock had fallen. The stream passed right along the base of the wall. And there were odd circular patterns inscribed into its surface — so regular in shape that I first thought they must have been made by humans.

This spot is in Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument, a place that we might have believed to be safely protected for future generations. But these days, when America has been turned upside-down, things we took for granted are now threatened. And, yes, there are forces in the state of Utah that are working to take land out of this incredible monument and turn it over to extractive industries to dig it up and take out shale oil, uranium, and whatever else they can get their hands on. There are many things we can do about this. One very important step is to get the attention of the people of the state of Utah and remind them that one of their greatest assets is the beautiful system of parks, monuments, national forests, and other lands that draws visitors from all over the world — visitors who support a thriving tourism and recreation economy in the state. Since their legislators don’t seem to respond to reason or shame, perhaps they will respond to economic pressure. This week a consortium of outdoor manufacturers announced that they are moving their annual convention out of Utah. Lots of us are vowing to not visit the state until they stop trying to destroy it — and we won’t be staying in their motels, eating in their restaurants, buying gas there, or anything else.

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: Wildlife

Geese, Fog, Dawn

February 15, 2017 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Geese take flight in dawn Central Valley tule fog

The sensory experience of arriving at a place like this is remarkable. To understand you need to consider how it begins — a wake-up call at 3:00 or 3:30, a very quick cup of coffee, gear tossed into my vehicle, and departure for a two-hour drive in darkness out into California’s Great Central Valley. Most of the drive is on high-speed roads, at least until I get close to my destination, where I frequently encounter very thick winter tule fog — treacherous driving conditions that may force me to drop my speed to 20 mph or slower as I stare into the foggy darkness. Finally I arrive, pass through an entrance gate, and drive to a parking area and turn off the engine.

I open the door. The air is cold and damp. It is still and it would be silent… but for the wild calls of thousands of geese and cranes and other birds, often concealed behind the fog. In an instant I switch from my high-speed world cocooned in my heated vehicle to an entirely different world of fog, cold air, and the birds. Often I can’t help by smile when I hear the wild calls of those birds, and sometimes I almost laugh out loud. On this morning the fog thinned just a bit when I arrived, and it was possible to make out flocks of geese rising from ponds not far away as the first color came to the morning sky.

Photographs: Central California, Photographs: Nature

Distant Sierra, Wetlands Dawn

February 13, 2017 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Seen from foggy Central Valley wetlands, dawn comes to the sky above the Sierra Nevada

Driving toward this spot in the pre-dawn hours I encountered the usual winter tule fog as soon as I left the main highway for the narrow back roads that criss-cross the agricultural lands. I figured that it would be a foggy morning out in the wetland with the birds once I got to my destination, but instead the fog thinned as I arrived and, to my surprise, I could see the pre-dawn sky. I stopped, quickly set up my camera for bird photography… and immediately began photographing landscapes!

A bit of thin fogged hugged the ground a ways off in the distance. (And later it would glide back in and cover this area to the point that visibility was near zero.) Above the fog, the ponds, and the scattered trees the silhouette of the Sierra crest stretched from north to south. When I looked closely, I could pick out familiar peaks along the distant skyline. A few birds — geese and cranes — began to fly over, and I made this photograph as the sky lit up just before sunrise.

G Dan Mitchell Photography

Tag Archives: landscape

Aspen Forest

Weathered Sandstone Wall

Geese, Fog, Dawn

Distant Sierra, Wetlands Dawn

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