Tag Archives: mountains

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Northern California

Klamath Basin Dawn

February 20, 2016 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Klamath Basin dawn light and clouds reflected in wetlands ponds.

Getting up early enough to drive to a location and photograph before dawn is no fun. It is not uncommon for me to have to wake up two, three, or more hours before dawn, and this is always a struggle. The alarm goes off, and I force myself out of bed quickly — otherwise there is a very real danger that my eyes will close and I’ll fall asleep before I know what happened. (I’ve done this, only to awaken so much later that my trip had to be abandoned!) In the darkness I dress for the cold, grab gear and some food, and off I go, sometimes to drive for an hour or two.

This morning’s drive was nearly but not quite an hour, but my destination was a place I had never visited before, so I was a bit concerned about finding my way around in the darkness. Arriving in the general vicinity, I soon figured out the rough lay of the land in darkness and headed off in an interesting direction as the first light appeared. And what light it was! A weather front passing to the west had scattered high clouds above the mountains to my east. The clouds turned brilliant colors well before sunrise, and the reflections of the warm tones of the sky mingled with the cool blue tones of water in the shallow ponds as I pulled up and began my wait for migratory birds. On a morning like this, standing in the cool air under a sky like this as I hear the early calls of geese and swans, I have no doubts at all about the wisdom of getting up in the darkness.

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

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Northern California, Photographs: Wildlife

Tundra Swans, Mountains, and Snow

February 18, 2016 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Tundra swans fly past snow-covered and cloud shrouded mountains, Klamath Basin

In mid-February I had the opportunity to spend some time in the Klamath Basin, a place I’ve only visited once before, and that on a pass-through to somewhere else. From that earlier visit I recall passing by Upper Klamath Lake, which I had not really known much about, and being surprised by its size and by the obvious potential for wildlife. Years passed and I occasionally thought about the place, but it wasn’t until this year that I finally made it back for a longer visit as part of my project to expand my knowledge of west coast winter migratory bird areas.

This photograph comes from my final morning in the area. I had actually packed up the vehicle and had driven out of Klamath Falls, Oregon to start my long drive home. It was a beautiful misty, rainy, cloudy morning, and as I drove along I came to a quiet lake at which the sun was just breaking through the clouds, so I stopped. Realizing that I was at the far end of a road past the Lower Klamath area (right below the California-Oregon border) I decided to head east. I soon found myself back at a wildlife area where I had spent time photographing over the past few days, mostly focusing on the passing flights of tundra swans. I saw the swans were in the air again, so I left the main road and found a spot out in the wetlands with an expansive view and, among other things, waited for the long strings of birds to pass in front of the winter landscape.

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

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

Forest, Lake, and Haze

February 6, 2016 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

A hazy late-summer day at a subalpine Sierra Nevada lake, Yosemite National Park

With all of the recent urban and street photography I have been posting — which is a bit seasonal pattern, given my travel tendencies — I’m also making an effort to go back through some older photographs from last year to find landscape photography that escaped my notice on the first pass. This always happens with photographs — for some reason certain images don’t make sense right after I make them, but when I come back to them later on with a fresh eye I see potential that I missed. Right now I’m revisiting late-summer photographs from a week-long backcountry stay at a Yosemite lake.

For me, this photograph holds many of the subtler elements of the High Sierra experience — not the spectacular grand vistas, but something deeper and ultimately perhaps more powerful. In this beautiful late-season time of year, the meadow grasses around this quiet lake have finished the wild growth phase of summer and have already turned golden-yellow in preparation for autumn and then winter. Lower angle light comes over the shoulder of the granite ridge whose base is visible beyond the trees. Widely spaced trees stand at the edges of the meadow and even trace weaknesses in the granite slabs on the higher slopes.

Photographs: Central California, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Ocean & Coast

Big Creek Bridge, Big Sur Coast

January 25, 2016 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Evening light on the Big Sur Coast and the Big Creek Bridge

I have to admit that when it comes to available photograph subjects… I am spoiled. I knew I was going to go make photographs today, but when I awoke well before dawn I had not decided for sure where I would go. I considered going north across the Golden Gate to Point Reyes National Seashore, but it sounded like a weak weather system was going to pass through that area late in the day. I thought about heading to the Central Valley where my favorite winter subject, migratory birds, can be found — but I generally prefer to go there when I think there will be at least some fog. So I headed south, beginning my morning with a few hours at the Point Lobos State Reserve and then heading further south down the Big Sur coastline.

When I arrived at Point Lobos the light was interesting and the surf was still huge. Over the next few hours the surf diminished a bit and a thin overcast drifted in overhead and began to thicken. I figured that I might get somewhat clearer light a bit further south, so off I went on the Pacific Coast Highway. On the way south I stopped at this spot and considered it as a possible subject for the sunset hour, and then I continued on down the coast. Later I checked the time, estimated I had enough to make it back to this spot before sunset, and headed back up the road, arriving here perhaps ten minutes before the good light arrived. The bridge, dwarfed by the immense landscape of coastal mountains and ocean, spans the outlet of Big Creek.

G Dan Mitchell Photography

Tag Archives: mountains

Klamath Basin Dawn

Tundra Swans, Mountains, and Snow

Forest, Lake, and Haze

Big Creek Bridge, Big Sur Coast

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