Tag Archives: moon

Photographs: Central California, Photographs: Nature

Wetlands, Evening Clouds, Moon

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Wetlands, Evening Clouds, Moon
Clouds, darkening evening sky, and the moon abouve wetlands

Wetlands, Evening Clouds, Moon. © Copyright 2017 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Clouds, darkening evening sky, and the moon above wetlands.

The last hours and then moments of the day in a place like this are often magical. There’s frequently a sort of emotional crescendo as the day ends, followed by a quiet coda after the sun set. As evening approaches it is time to make decisions about where to be for the quickly moving events just before and after sunset — when the light changes quickly and the birds are often in motion. Once the golden hour light begins the scene becomes dynamic, with light passing though phases from late day, to golden hour, to post sunset, to twilight, and each has its photographic potential. This is often a period of an hour or more of fairly intense photography.

Then one realizes that the light has truly faded and that night is coming on. There is a release of tension, almost a letting go of the breath, and I become away of the fading light and the quiet. Often there are a few moments when I put the camera down and just stand quietly, taking it in. I made this photograph at the end of a New Year’s Day a couple of years ago, as clouds passed over the wetland ponds and beneath the deepening blue of the twilight sky.

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: Nature, Photographs: Sierra Nevada

Moonset, Eastern Sierra

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Moonset, Eastern Sierra
The autumn moon sets above the eastern Sierra Nevada crest as dawn light comes to the sky

Moonset, Eastern Sierra. © Copyright 2016 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

The autumn moon sets above the eastern Sierra Nevada crest as dawn light comes to the sky.

Late in the season I was between summer backpacking/camping trips and autumn color photography in the Eastern Sierra. The time was mid-September, a couple of weeks before I would typically be looking for fall color out here. I had been camping up near the crest above Lee Vining and poking around in various places looking for photographs — for example, I had spend some time around Mono Lake the previous day. I was in that mental space between summer and fall, and I was using some of my time to do a bit of reconnaissance in preparation for a return a few weeks later.

I got up very early on this morning and in the darkness I headed out to the east of the Sierra, not quite certain where I would end up. Driving along a somewhat lonely two-lane road, I spotted an interesting looking gravel side road heading toward a ridge that I had previously viewed from another angle, noting that there were some aspen trees out that way. On a hunch I turned off, engaged 4WD, and drove out on a road that eventually followed close to the ridge line. I soon came to a thick grove of short aspens and I was quite surprised to see them already (mid September!) nearing peak fall color. Eventually I took a smaller side road and soon came to an overlook, where I got out in the pre-dawn light (quickly realizing that it was really, really cold here!) and set about making some photographs of the groves of aspens and conifer forests leading toward the eastern escarpment of the Sierra with the setting full moon above.

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: Nature, Photographs: Night, Photographs: Wildlife

The Cranes Return

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The Cranes Return
Sandhill cranes fly over full moon in twilight and return San Joaquin Valley wetlands

The Cranes Return. © Copyright 2018 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Sandhill cranes fly over full moon in twilight and return to wetlands

I understand that the “Super Blue Blood Moon” or something similar occurred early this morning. I missed it. (Well, not quite. I did look out my window before sunrise, and I saw a bit of the eclipse over my neighbor’s house.) However, almost exactly 12 hours earlier I was in a position to look at and photograph that very same moon as it rose over the Sierra Nevada and climbed into the sky above California. It was a beautiful, quiet, peaceful moment at the end of a long day photographing birds.

I chose this particular day to visit the wetlands for a couple of reasons. First, I knew there would be ground fog in the morning and that fog often leaves behind a soft and hazy atmosphere. Second, I knew that the moon would rise from behind the Sierra about a half hour before actual sunset, putting it at an interesting elevation above the horizon at sunset and during the blue hour, that period when the moon seems bright but the ambient light is still sufficient to illuminate the landscape. I began watching for the rising moon at the appointed time, but it did not immediately appear, because it still had to clear the Sierra and because the atmosphere above the valley was so thick with haze. Perhaps twenty minutes later it began to emerge from the haze, and I quickly moved to a spot I had previously considered, where some trees break up the otherwise flat landscape here where a gravel road winds among them. I hoped that the cranes might appear — they often do during the moments shortly after sunset — and hoped even more that they might pass through the scene. Sometimes one does get lucky, and a long string of the birds flew just above the moon as the sky turned pink and deeper blue.

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

Photographs: Central California, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Night

San Joaquin Valley Moonrise

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San Joaquin Valley Moonrise
Winter full moon rises over San Joaquin Valley utility lines

New Year’s Moonrise. © Copyright 2018 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Winter full moon rises over California utility lines

I have to admit that one reason I made this photograph was simply because I could. Such a photograph likely could not have been made just a few years ago, and certainly not in the way I made it. The photograph is, believe it or not, handheld… using a 300mm focal length on a 100-400mm zoom lens. Because this technical capability is so wonderful, I think it is worth mentioning it in this case. The moon is relatively bright, producing about as much light as daylight on our planet. However, it does not shed much light on the landscape, yet here I was able to retain some color in the sky and even make the details of the very dark utility lines and poles visible.

The genesis of the photograph is also significant. I was not here to photograph the full moon, and I actually was unaware that it had risen. I was focused on another subject, a large flock birds assembled in twilight in front of me, when someone said, “Look over there!” I turned around and saw the moon rising through the thin clouds above the valley. I could not take time to use a tripod — I photograph the birds handheld — so I simply took a chance that I might be able to hold the camera still enough and come up with the right exposure. I grabbed a few shots, then turned my attention back to the 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.
Blog | About | Flickr | Twitter | Facebook | Google+ | LinkedIn | Email

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