Tag Archives: nature

Photographs: Fall, Photographs: Fall Color, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Sierra Nevada

Aspens, Earth Shadow, Morning

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Aspens, Earth Shadow, Morning
“Aspens, Earth Shadow, Morning” — The earth’s shadow and predawn light on aspen groves east of the Sierra Nevada

On a cold and clear morning in mid-September earlier this year I left my camp in the Sierra and headed east, past Mono Lake and on out into the mountains east of the Sierra Nevada and east of US 395. I did not have a specific goal in mind, but I thought I would do a bit of early season aspen color reconnaissance in preparation for planned visits to photograph fall color a few weeks later. I gradually worked my way further out from the Sierra, stopping from time to time and poking around the ends of various gravel roads. Finally I found one that looked promising and took it.

I knew that I had previously seen aspens atop ridges in the general area of this road, and I had made a note to come back this way in the fall. I don’t typically expect to see much fall color by mid-September in the Sierra, but I soon found quite a bit of it — a whole mountain top was covered with small trees that were beginning to turn colors almost uniformly. I took a short spur road to an overlook and parked — from here there was an almost unobstructed view of a big section of the Sierra crest. It was cold enough to let me know that autumn wasn’t far away as I waited for the sun, beginning to photograph in that lovely predawn period of warm colors when the earth’s shadow can be seen in the darkened atmosphere just above the horizon.

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” (Heyday Books) is available directly from him.

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

Clearing Storm, Pacific Coast

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Clearing Storm, Pacific Coast
An autumn storm clears along the Northern California cost above Fort Bragg

Clearing Storm, Pacific Coast. North of Fort Bragg, California. November 19, 2016. © Copyright 2016 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

An autumn storm clears along the Northern California cost above Fort Bragg

On this November day, the light along the Pacific coast north of Fort Bragg, California was mostly spectacular and in a constant state of change. In rained, occasionally hard and more than once taking us by surprise, there was fog, the sun appeared, clouds were dark one moment and luminously bright the next.

We paused at this overlook, where the meeting of land and water is less steep. The nearly level coastal bluffs run along the water at the base of low coastal mountains, and the underwater slope is also apparently not very steep, judging from the distance from the shoreline that the waves begin to rise and break. The atmosphere was semi-opaque, filled with a combination of fog and light rain, and the glow of light on clouds was diffused and soft. To the west, sun broke through the clouds and lit the water brilliantly in patterns that curved toward the horizon. The waves broke against the seaward side of the huge sea stack — more of an island, really — that stood in front of us just off from the shoreline.

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

Pacific Ocean, Light Beams

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Pacific Ocean, Light Beams
Light beams shine through breaking storm clouds onto the surface of the Pacific Ocean, Northern California

Pacific Ocean, Light Beams. North of Fort Bragg, California. November 19, 2016. © Copyright 2016 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Light beams shine through breaking storm clouds onto the surface of the Pacific Ocean, Northern California

I remain intrigued by ocean horizons, which take on an amazing range of appearances depending on the effects of light and atmosphere. The horizon might be a distinct line, it could be (and was on this day) broken by distant swells and breakers, it fade in fog and mist to the point where it is almost invisible, or it may actually be invisible the obscured by fog or rain.

On this afternoon almost every one of those conditions appeared at one time or another. As rain squalls moved onshore, the view of the water and horizon was periodically blocked, only to be lit by brilliant bands of sunlight moments later as the clouds opened. Late in the afternoon, as the sun lowered toward the horizon, the atmosphere became back-lit and began to glow, especially in spots where the rain was still falling. At times beams of light (“God Light,” to use the common photographic description) came through the clouds, passed though slightly opaque mist and rain, and lit the surface of the water.

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: Nature, Photographs: Northern California

River Bank and Forest

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River Bank and Forest
Hillside forest along the Big River, Northern California

River Bank and Forest. Mendocino, California. November 19, 2016. © Copyright 2016 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Hillside forest along the Big River, Northern California

For Californians who have experienced the recent 4-5 years of drought and the awful effects on many of the state’s forests — particularly the Sierra Nevada, where millions of trees have reportedly been lost — a visit to the relatively lush temperate rain forest country of coastal Northern California is a treat. Here, at least to my eyes, there is now little sign of the drought, and we can wander these forests and it almost feels like nothing has changed. (The truth, unfortunately, is that profound changes are taking place in the climate and the natural world of this state and beyond — and wishful thinking will not counter that reality.)

We ended up in this spot almost by accident. I had the idea of heading down to a beach near the outlet of a river where we had watched kayaks being launched a year or so ago. I thought it was near this spot — turns out I was wrong — so we took a turn-off and ended up on the “wrong” side of the highway, upstream and away from the coastal beach. Instead we were at a small estuary just above the meeting of the Big River and the ocean, where marine mammals came upstream to lounge on small islands, where we heard but did not see geese, and where the thick forest grows right down to the water’s edge.

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.