Tag Archives: mnwr

Photographs: Central California, Photographs: Nature

Winter Trees and Grass

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Winter Trees and Grass
Winter grass beneath a thicket of dormant trees on a foggy morning in the Central Valley.

Winter Trees and Grass. © Copyright 2022 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Winter grass beneath a thicket of dormant trees on a foggy morning in the Central Valley.

This photograph comes from a particular moment of transition on a winter tule fog day in California’s Central Valley, the point when the nearly impenetrable gray blanket of the fog begins to thin, the view opens a bit, and the light becomes warmer and slightly directional. A half hour earlier this scene would have been almost devoid of color, and many of the trees would have been nearly obscured by fog. (An hour later the scene might be overly bright and harshly lit.)

This spot holds several things that characterize the the Valley at this time of year: the fog-to-sunlight transition, of course, but also the dormant trees along the edge of farmland and the very green newly sprouted winter grass. That grass is a distinctly California thing that often surprises visitors from colder climates, where the seasonal cycle is almost reversed. A spot like this will be dry and brown in summer and fall, but winter rains trigger our”impossible green” season as the plants respond to the moisture.

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

Winter Trees, Levee Road, Fog

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Tule fog softens the light on a Central Valley levee road winding among winter trees.

Winter Trees, Levee Road, Fog. © Copyright 2022 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Tule fog softens the light on a Central Valley levee road winding among winter trees.

My usual inclination when photographing a place like this is to focus on the natural and to exclude the signs of the human presence. It is perhaps ironic that I embrace the human world in my street photography but often obscure it in my other work. I think this comes from the desire to imagine a “natural” work without, well, us. There are fine reasons to do this, but there are also some reasons to not imagine that we are not part of the natural world. (This subject likely deserves and article, a book, a small library — not a two-paragraph post!)

During the winter months I often photograph in California’s Central Valley, attracted by the tule fog and by the migratory birds. And I mostly photograph these subjects as examples of nature. But the Central Valley is anything but a natural wilderness! It is crisscrossed by roads large and small, increasingly filled by towns and cities, and dominated by the agriculture industry. The good news is that those things are interesting photographic subjects, too. This road more or less winds along a levee at the edge of a large pond. I paused here to look back and the way I had come, photographing the road winding through a gentle landscape of tule fog and winter trees.

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 to Articles, Sales and Licensing, my Sierra Nevada Fall Color book, Contact Information.

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Photographs: Central California, Photographs: Nature

Snags, Late Winter Fog

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Snags, Late Winter Fog
A group of dead trees next to a riparian meadow on a foggy Central Valley winter day.

Snags, Late Winter Fog. © Copyright 2022 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A group of dead trees next to a riparian meadow on a foggy Central Valley winter day.

Like several other photographs I have recently shared, this one comes from the Central Valley of California and was also made in the winter. However, this one is from a few years ago and in a slightly different location than my usual haunts in the valley. I made the photograph late in the migratory bird photography season, actually just after the main flock of geese had departed and when the place seemed downright lonely without them! That feeling was amplified on this particular visit, as it was right after the initial March 2020 lockdown, when so much about the trajectory of the pandemic was still unknown. We didn’t yet understand how it was spread or even how serious it was. At that time we were still paranoid of any contact with others, and I recall seeking out the most isolated gasoline station I could find on my way home.

The specific location is of a sort that fascinates me. Much of this valley is no longer exactly natural, being given over to huge agricultural areas. While the sense of vast space remains, what lies beneath it is largely affected by humans. However, in a few places the landscape is not so conducive to agriculture, and the land feels wilder. This is such a place, a shallow depression following the path of a creek which may be dry in summer but can flow rather powerfully in wet winters. I paused on a levee next to the area and photographed across a few old snags and into sun-lit fog.

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 to Articles, Sales and Licensing, my Sierra Nevada Fall Color book, Contact Information.

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

Photographs: Birds, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Wildlife

Egret on the Hunt

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Egret on the Hunt
A great egret on the hunt, Pacific Flyway.

Egret on the Hunt. © Copyright 2022 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A great egret on the hunt, Pacific Flyway.

Egrets were somewhat mystical and magical birds for me when I was younger. I first became aware of them in college, when the science professor teaching one of my classes became very enthusiastic about snowy egrets. I don’t recall ever actually seeing one (not until many years later), but the stories stuck in my mind. It wasn’t long after this that I became aware of the presence of great egrets. I recall seeing them on my long bicycle commutes early in the morning. My route took my past a few creeks, and every so often I would see one of the striking white birds in the creek or, more rarely, flying near one.

They still get my attention, though I confess that other birds perhaps now fascinate me more. While I’ll almost always stop and comment when I see an egret, I’ve now seen and photographed so many that the novelty has worn off a bit. Encounters usually seem to fall into several common patterns. On occasion in winter I’ll see a group of them, perhaps in a field. Occasionally I’m fortunate enough to see one in flight. But more often they are alone, usually near water, and almost always on the hunt. They are careful and patient hunters, focusing intently on their prey as then sneak up and then, with a sudden stab of the beak, make the catch. This one was so intent on hunting that it barely noticed me as I drove by at a close distance — about as close as I have gotten to one of these birds.

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 | Flickr | Facebook | Email

Links to Articles, Sales and Licensing, my Sierra Nevada Fall Color book, Contact Information.

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