Tag Archives: mnwr

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

Tree and Marsh

December 5, 2013 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

A solitary tree in marshland in the San Joaquin Valley, California

I have a bit of history with this tree. It is at a place where I frequently photograph at this time of year out in California’s San Joaquin Valley. These ponds are in an agricultural area that supports large populations of birds in the cooler seasons, and as I make my way around this place I often end up stopping here.

The stark tree stands alone at the edge of a pond, and there are often birds in its branches. Somewhere I have a photograph in which the branches are nearly full of red-winged blackbirds, and I’ve seen larger birds there, too. I’ve encountered it in completely clear conditions and in fog so thick that it was barely visible. This morning started out with some fog, but not much by wet-season San Joaquin Valley standards, and some sun made it through within a few minutes of sunrise. The foggy atmosphere stuck around enough to soften the light and mute colors a bit, but visibility was good and it was possible to see the blue sky above, with its layers of diminishing fog near the ground, lighter clouds beyond, and the blue sky above all else.

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

Dawn Sky and Marsh

December 4, 2013 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Fog-filled dawn sky above a California Central Valley marsh

This is another photograph that sits on the interesting (to me, anyway!) boundary between wildlife/nature and landscape photography. I was here to photograph migratory birds – at least that is what I told anyone who was interested in my goal – but it is often a bit more complex than that. The sources of the complexity range from the question of just what a wildlife photo should/could be, to the relationship between wildlife and landscape in my photography, to the role of opportunism in photography… and the practical matter of what to do when the birds are not where you are!

I began this morning’s photography with some scenes with nearby bird in the foreground water and the sun rising through dense fog in the distance. Then I decided to move along through this area a bit, initially hoping to find cranes and certain other birds along a west-facing section of this wildlife reserve. The birds had their own ideas about where to be and what to do on this morning, and they apparently did not include settling in near or flying directly over my position. But as the early morning fog drifted in and out, it revealed the muted color of the dawn sky so I stopped and made a few more photographs that were (maybe) more about the landscape (and atmosphere and light and, in my mind, sounds) than about the birds themselves. If you look closely, though, you will see a trio of sandhill cranes passing over the marsh and if you look really close you might notice a lot of other smaller birds here and there, too.

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

Marsh Pond and Trees

December 2, 2013 G Dan Mitchell 2 Comments

Reflected fall colors of trees and grasses at a flooded California Central Valley marsh.

One more photograph from my late-November “wild goose chase” to California’s Central Valley. My main goal was probably to photograph migratory birds, including geese, but that never keeps me from also photographing the landscape. Although the skies were completely clear when I left home well before dark for the two-hour drive to this place, when I arrived there a thick fog was developing in this seasonal marshland… which is just what I had hoped for! The final 15 minutes of my drive were in mostly thick fog, and when I actually arrived the early morning light was almost completely muted by fog.

A bit later this morning, after my first circuit of the place, as I began a second lap around the ponds and marshes, the thick fog had given way to a soft atmospheric haze that allowed some sun to penetrate but which also muted the intensity of the autumn colors of grasses and cottonwood trees and other plants. For a few minutes I took off my wildlife photographer hat and put on my well-worn landscape photographer hat (you didn’t know I carried multiple hats, did you?!) and photographed the isolated trees along the levees between the marshes.

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

Calf, Cottonwoods, and Cranes in Flight

November 29, 2013 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

A calf grazes near a row of autumn cottonwood trees on a foggy morning and as sandhill cranes fly overhead

On this foggy morning I had begun photographing a bit earlier, just at dawn. I gradually worked my way along a gravel country road, stopping frequently – spending more time stopped than driving, actually – to photograph the foggy landscape and migratory birds. At this early hour, the sandhill cranes were my primary targets. At times, when the fog cleared a bit, it was possible to see many of them taking off for distant points as the day began. When the fog thickened, they were heard more than seen, at least until they flew close enough to momentarily appear overhead through the fog.

In a place where the road paralleled a row of cottonwood trees with golden autumn leaves I stopped to wait for the birds to fly overhead. From a distance away I had figured out that many of the cranes were headed this way as they took off, so it seemed that if I stopped and waited here quietly the birds might come to me. And they did – every few minutes another group would fly low over my position. I shared this spot with a herd of cattle, quite a few of whom found me to be the most interesting thing in their early morning world and stared quietly at me. One calf that had passed beneath a fence around the pasture was busy grazing along the lane, so I stopped and photographed it beneath the cottonwood trees as a group of sandhill cranes passed overhead.

G Dan Mitchell Photography

Tag Archives: mnwr

Tree and Marsh

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Dawn Sky and Marsh

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Marsh Pond and Trees

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Calf, Cottonwoods, and Cranes in Flight

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

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