Tag Archives: mist

Photographs: Central California, Photographs: Nature

Wetland Fog, Dawn

April 1, 2014 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

First dawn light glows faintly through winter fog above a San Joaquin Valley wetland marsh

This was definitely shot during the morning blue hour, the pre-dawn light was here tinged with pink color from first sunlight striking high clouds far above the ground-hugging layer of thick fog. This is another photograph from my favorite Central Valley haunt, where I often go to photograph birds during the cool months of late-fall through very early spring.

The fog was thick but not deep, and as we drove to this area we were able to look up through it and see the predawn sky even though the murk was thick enough at ground level to force us to drive very slowly. Arriving at our destination, it was foggy and still, but as the first light of morning began to arrive, the pink color of high clouds illuminated the fog and created a glow of a somewhat unusual color. I had a few minutes along the edge of a pond to photograph in this fleeting light. The first photographs, like this one, were a combination of blue and faint pink/purple. A moment later the pink became even more intense, and then as the light increased the color faded and the fog became more transparent, allowing a view upwards through it to those higher clouds.

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

Wetland Sunrise, Fog

March 26, 2014 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Winter sun rises through high clouds above foggy wetland landscape, San Joaquin Valley

I photographed this Central Valley sunrise on a cold and damp mid-February morning earlier this year. I had travelled out here to photograph birds, but that is always a bit of an excuse to photograph landscapes, too. The San Joaquin Valley, especially on winter days when varying amounts of fog come into play, can be a beautiful place to make photographs—which may surprise people who mostly think of it as the location of California’s agribusinesses and a place to drive through quickly on hot summer days.

Many things come together in a place like this at a time like this. High, thin clouds were spread over the Sierra Nevada far to the east, and the sun had to rise above them before it appeared out here in the valley. (The sun had earlier colored the landscape as it struck high clouds over the valley, but it was not visible yet itself.) Many of the birds here only visit in the winter, arriving from and then departing for places far north of here. The marshes in this area mark the location of the San Joaquin River drainage, though today there is almost nothing left of the original water flow. And on a morning like this the experience is only partially visual. The air is cold, damp, and still, yet filled with the astonishing and raucous sounds of tens of thousands of birds.

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Northern California, Photographs: Sierra Nevada, Photographs: Yosemite

Forest, Fog

March 16, 2014 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Fog drifts among the trees of a Yosemite Valley forest on a winter morning

A winter morning is almost always a good time to seek out fog in the meadows of Yosemite Valley, but things did not look too promising on this particular morning. We were up very early—well before dawn—and out and about. Since we had photographed from a higher spot with expansive views the previous morning, today it seemed like a good idea to look for more intimate scenes, so we began to check out a few of the centrally located meadows where the fog often forms. However, first looks revealed perfectly clear air. We wandered a bit more and eventually ended up near Curry Village where there was one fog-filled meadow. As far as we could tell, Stoneman Meadow was the only place in the Valley with the conditions we were looking for.

In much the same way that valley-filling fog can move back and forth, thicken and thin, rise and fall, the fog in this meadow was constantly changing. At first the rapid changes made it seem that the fog might be dissipating, so I began shooting fairly quickly, hoping to get something before it was gone. But soon there was a surprising resurgence of the fog, which drifted across the meadow into surrounding trees, rose higher, and hid the view. As it again began to thin I turned my attention to a bit of nearby dense forest and photographed the trees, late and small, as the fog gradually faded away.

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Northern California, Photographs: Sierra Nevada, Photographs: Yosemite

Forest and Valley Fog

March 14, 2014 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Thick winter fog drifts among Yosemite Valley trees

Yes. Another foggy photograph. And perhaps not the last from this visit to Yosemite Valley at the beginning of March, though perhaps the final one from this particular vantage point. No guarantees, though. ;-)

At the risk of repetition, this fog drifting among the forest trees on the floor of Yosemite Valley and occasionally sloshing back and forth and rising up in front of cliffs, waterfalls, and domes was in continuous motion. While the big scene changed more slowly, the smaller vignettes within it changed very quickly. At times I would spot a potentially interesting bit of foggy landscape, swing my camera in that direction and frame up a composition… only to find that it had disappeared as quickly as it had arrived. While some landscape photographs may be carefully and slowly and thoughtfully composed, this moody subject seems to require a lot of quick, instinctive shooting. Here I quickly rotated the camera to a vertical position so that I could include near and far trees, adjusted the focal length to keep an interesting combination of trees and fog in the frame… and keep some other extraneous elements out. I often wonder how people see an image of a scene at which I was present, and how different their impressions and interpretations might be. Mine were related to the dampness in the air, the muted light, the overall quite and stillness of the scene, and the nearby presence of several friends who were also shooting here on this morning.

G Dan Mitchell Photography

Tag Archives: mist

Wetland Fog, Dawn

Wetland Sunrise, Fog

Forest, Fog

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