Tag Archives: mnwr

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Wildlife

Taking Flight, Sandhill Cranes

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Taking Flight, Sandhill Cranes
A group of sandhill cranes takes to the morning sky above foggy marshland

Taking Flight, Sandhill Cranes. © Copyright 2018 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A group of sandhill cranes takes to the morning sky above foggy marshland.

This photograph continues the theme for the next week or so, leading up to the opening on February 16 of “Birdscapes,” my joint show with David Hoffman at Stellar Gallery in Oakhurst. Today’s photograph comes from rather early in the Pacific Flyway season, way back in November. At this point the earliest winter birds are just arriving and others are still in transit from their summer breeding grounds. On this morning the main show was sandhill cranes, though a few other individual birds showed up, too — egrets, perhaps a few ibises, and lots of “little brown birds.”

The more I am around birds the more I realize that they spend a lot of time doing… not much, or at least not much that seems very active. But interjected into these mostly slow periods are some very active and dynamic moments. Among them are take-offs and landings. These birds are somewhat large, and getting airborne is no simple thing — there is a lot of initial jumping and flapping and perhaps even a bit of footwork to get things moving. This group was just taking flight from a shallow bond on a morning of thin and clearing 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 and Amazon.

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Photographs: Central California, Photographs: Nature

Pond, Evening Sky

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Pond, Evening Sky
A quiet wetland pond reflects a cloud-streaked late-autumn evening sky

Pond, Evening Sky. © Copyright 2018 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A quiet wetland pond reflects a cloud-streaked late-autumn evening sky.

Often when I am photographing in places like this one I am there to find some “event” — something interesting that happens and which emerges from the background of less exotic things. If fact, on this evening I was there looking for something that I perhaps didn’t quite find — the intended subject was less present than I had hoped and the light played out differently that I expected.

On the other hand I did find something that may be equally rewarding and perhaps almost as difficult to find — a moment of deep quiet and stillness in the list minutes of daylight on this evening. The last bits of sky color faded among the linear clouds, reflected on the surface of a quiet pond, interrupted by a few plants and the ripples left from departing 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 and Amazon.

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

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

Photographs: Central California, Photographs: Fall, Photographs: Nature

Wetlands, Autumn Tree

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An isolated tree with autumn foliage and a foggy wetland morning

Wetlands, Autumn Tree. © Copyright 2018 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

An isolated tree with autumn foliage and a foggy wetland morning.

This colorful tree illustrates something I learned about California (and western states) fall color some years ago — namely that it lasts a lot longer than you might think! I can often spot a few first hints of autumn color in the Sierra Nevada high country as early as late August, when corn lily plants start to go dormant and turn yellow and then brown. Soon after that some meadows begin to turn red as bilberry changes colors and a few yellow aspen leaves turn up here and there. By late September there is plenty of color in the highest elevation areas, and it works its way down to the road-served front country by or before the start of October. The color continues to descend to valleys at the base of the eastern Sierra throughout October, and by the start of November there is a lot of color in the western Sierra foothills. This color spreads throughout the state’s lowlands through November and right on into December. A month ago, close to Christmas, I saw beautiful cottonwood color along a Southern California river.

I photographed this wetland tree (though there may be more than one on the small island) a few days into December, on a morning that was technically late-autumn but which felt more like winter. It had been foggy at sunrise, but as the morning wore on and the sun rose higher the fog began to thin. This soft light highlighted the yellow and folder colors of this quintessential California scene.

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 and Amazon.

Blog | About | Flickr | Facebook | Email

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

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

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Wildlife

White Pelicans, Clouds

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White Pelicans, Clouds
Four white pelicans in a cloud-filled California late-autumn sky

White Pelicans, Clouds. © Copyright 2018 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Four white pelicans in a cloud-filled California late-autumn sky.

My timing was fortuitous on this morning. The white pelicans usually congrats in groups that appear to contain a few dozen individuals. The often stay more or less in one place for long periods of time, but eventually they decide to move. They take off in long strings of individuals, generally flying past not too far off the ground. This happens suddenly, and if I’m not in the right spot, rather than being close enough to photograph them I watch the brief spectacle from a distance. On this day I just happened to be in the right spot at the right time.

I think of the white pelicans as being special. Perhaps most people wouldn’t, being mostly familiar with white versions of the bird. But I had a long acquaintance with the coastal brown pelicans before I ever realized that the white version was found locally. I’m sure they were around, but someone I didn’t notice — today I see them in quiet coastal waters, in inland ponds, and more. But even today, the coastal birds seem familiar and conventional to me, while these white birds still seem a bit exotic.

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 and Amazon.

Blog | About | Flickr | Facebook | Email

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

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