Tag Archives: north

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

The Wetlands, Late Winter

March 7, 2015 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

San Joaquin Valley wetlands on a late winter morning

About a week ago we headed off to Yosemite Valley for a few days, primarily to attend the opening reception of the 30th annual Yosemite Renaissance Exhibit in The Valley, but also to spend some time there in what we hoped might be interesting and possibly snowy conditions. Given the way this year has gone, it shouldn’t be surprising that the hopes of snow were not met — though there was a five-minute flurry in the morning in the Valley and we found a few inches of new snow by climbing up out of the Valley. But “there is always something to see,” and there was no shortage of other things to photograph.

On our way to the Valley from the San Francisco Bay Area we made a short morning stop at a favorite migratory bird hangout. Typically we arrive here by dawn and encounter thick tule fog. This morning was different and more spring-like with sun and a few puffy clouds overhead. While it seems wrong to see this weather in what should be winter, it still was beautiful, and I made this simple photograph of a quite wetlands marsh where I more typically photograph in fog very early in the morning.

Text, photographs, and other media are © Copyright G Dan Mitchell (or others when indicated) and are not in the public domain and may not be used on websites, blogs, or in other media without advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

Photographs: Central California, Photographs: Flight, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Northern California, Photographs: Wildlife

Ross’s Geese, Clouds

March 6, 2015 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

A flock of Ross’s geese against a clearing winter sky above the San Joaquin Valley.

On a late-winter afternoon we visited one of the places where we frequently photograph migratory birds in the San Joaquin Valley of California. We had been in Yosemite for a few days, and we arranged our departure from there so that we would have time for this stop on the way home to the San Francisco Bay Area.

Perhaps it is due to the unusual winter we are having in the West this year, but the numbers of birds had declined considerably since our previous visit a few weeks earlier. We were surprised to see almost no sandhill cranes at all. There were Ross’s geese, but in smaller number. We found one decent sized group settled in on a pond, and shortly after we arrived they began to depart in small groups like this one, passing in front of the clouds from a dissipating storm as they headed toward the west.

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

Tree and Morning Frost

March 3, 2015 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

A frost-covered Yosemite tree in morning light

It was great fun to be in Yosemite Valley this past weekend for the opening of the 30th annual Yosemite Renaissance exhibition. This is the third time that I’ve had photographs in the show. (If you are in the Valley, drop by. It is in the Visitor Center Museum through May 10, after which it moves on to a couple of Central Valley locations.) The show features a wide variety of two and three-dimensional art by artists who focus on the Sierra and the park. The entry of mine that was selected this year was atypical for me — it includes people and it is humorous! I share it again here at some point, but for now I’ll just note that it features backcountry photographers engaged in an unusual activity. The show brings lots of other fun things: a chance to photograph in the Valley, opportunities to hang out with lots of photographer and artist friends.

I made this photograph on our final morning in the park. We headed out around sunrise, thinking we might find some shallow fog in meadows. There was a bit of the fog but it was dissipating quickly and we eventually ended up in this sunny meadow. I was immediately attracted to this large elm tree, covered in frost and backlit in the morning light. I made several photographs of it — and at least one other may appear here before long — and before long the air warmed and the frost melted.

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

Black-Necked Stilt

March 1, 2015 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

A single black-necked stilt works it way across a shallow pond.

This is a fairly simply little picture with a simple story. We arrived early at this refuge on this mid-February day. It began with thick tule fog, but before long the fog began to thin and the blue of the sky reflected on the surface of this shallow wetland pond. There were quite a few birds here — the usual geese and sandhill cranes flying by overhead, night herons in the brush on the other side of the water, avocets, and a few of these wonderful black-necked stilts, with the long and strikingly red legs.

Mostly the birds worked their way among grasses and water plants, but for a moment this one moved into an area of water colored by blue reflected light from the clearing sky, leaving a wake in its path. I decided to compose the photograph with the bird near the top of the frame to suggest its distance and to let the large, uninterrupted foreground suggest that large surface area of the pond.

G Dan Mitchell Photography

Tag Archives: north

The Wetlands, Late Winter

Ross’s Geese, Clouds

Tree and Morning Frost

Black-Necked Stilt

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