Tag Archives: license

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

Pond, Winter Fog

January 24, 2015 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

A wetland pond in dense winter fog

In the winter California’s Great Central Valley is often covered by tule fog. This fog is sometimes so shallow that you can look straight up and see the moon, the sun, stars, and clouds… but it may also be so dense that you can barely see a hundred feet straight ahead. People who have to drive long distances in these conditions — the east/west drive across the valley or, worse, the north/south drive along its length — dread this for, and driving in it can be both nerve-wracking and dangerous. Some of us, however, respond to the dense fog alerts in a perverse way. They are our signal to head straight to the valley to photograph in the fog!

This was one of those days. We ran into the fog as soon as we topped the pass over the mountain range along the west side of the valley well before dawn, and then we drove slowly through it for over an hour to get to our destination, where we photographed in it until it began to clear a bit close to noon. It was thick and wet on this morning, with very limited visibility and a constant drizzle. But it was also very still, very quiet, and very mysterious as we drove slowly around this wetland area where the calls of invisible cranes and geese came to us through the fog.

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: Sierra Nevada

Morning Snow, Eastern Sierra

January 23, 2015 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Sunrise snow along the eastern escarpment of the Sierra Nevada

This is a part of California that probably impresses newcomers as being more of a desert than anything else, with rugged high elevation sagebrush country standing in front of the rocky and even more rugged eastern escarpment of the Sierra, where the creeks and lakes and forest glades of the range’s intimate landscape are too far away to be visible. I first loved the Sierra for its alpine wilderness, and back then I was not interested in places like this, but today I find them as much part of the Sierra experience as any alpine lake.

As I do every year at about this time, I was on the “east side” for the fall aspen color. And, as happens at least once every year, I was so distracted by some other element of the terrain that I forgot about aspens for a moment and went off to photograph something else. This “something else” was a combination of things. A light morning snow storm was clearing away from the highest peaks in the early morning light of this autumn day. This light was soft on the thinning clouds and snow flurries was stronger, direct, and more stark on the foreground of sage-covered desert hills

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Owens Valley, Photographs: Sierra Nevada

Round Valley Cottonwood Trees

January 22, 2015 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Autumn cottonwood trees beneath the eastern escarpment of the Sierra Nevada, Round Valley

I’ve long been captivated by this area at the base of the Sierra Nevada’s eastern escarpment not far from the town of Bishop, California. As you drive south near here you descend a very long grade toward Bishop, and at the bottom of the grade the route crosses a very large valley where the eastern edge of the range seems to retreat far to the west, and a broad valley rises from the lowlands towards much higher peaks. But along the northern edge of this valley the escarpment lives up to its name and is quite sudden and steep.

The valley seems agricultural, with cattle often grazing on the grasslands among the large cottonwood trees. In the late afternoon, and especially in fall when the trees change colors, the backlight coming over the crest lights the trees from behind and from the right point of view they can stand dramatically against the shadowed eastern slopes of the range.

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

Wings of an Egret

January 21, 2015 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

An egret spreads its wings as it takes to the air above San Joaquin Valley wetlands

The great egret is an impressive and fascinating bird. They are found in many places here in California — along creeks and drainage ditches, near wetlands, along parts of the seashore. A few years ago there was one that lived at a small pond at a place where I regularly hiked and photographed, and I could count on finding it almost every time I went there. Their striking white appearance draws attention on the winter landscape, where they stand out against darker background and against California’s winter green. They are, perhaps surprisingly for such beautiful and graceful things, skillful hunters.

I first noticed them quite a few years ago in creek beds of urban areas in northern California, and eventually learned that they are found all over the place. They often stand almost completely still, though if you watch them a bit you’ll frequently figure out that they are hunting, observing and then slowly moving toward their prey. Because they seem so still, they look like they would perhaps allow a close approach, but they seem to usually have boundaries — get too close and they take off suddenly, displaying their large and beautiful wings and more than most birds they really do seem to float on the air. Photographing them on the ground isn’t too hard, though getting the in interesting poses can take some patience — but photographing them in flight is quite tricky. They take off suddenly, and I find it hard to be precisely ready for the liftoff when it comes. They tend to fly at very low heights, often flying along ditches and behind plants. And they are most often flying away from you. When I came upon this one I remained in my vehicle but got ready to photograph it if took flight, and when it did I have a tiny moment to fire of a small number of shot, one of which framed the beautiful wings fully spread and against a darker background.

G Dan Mitchell Photography

Tag Archives: license

Pond, Winter Fog

Morning Snow, Eastern Sierra

Round Valley Cottonwood Trees

Wings of an Egret

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