Tag Archives: pink

Photographs: Birds, Photographs: Nature

Flock of Cranes Taking Flight

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Flock of Cranes Taking Flight
A flock of cranes takes to the air early on a hazy winter morning.

Flock of Cranes Taking Flight. © Copyright 2020 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A flock of cranes takes to the air early on a hazy winter morning.

Most of the migratory geese have now left their California winter homes and are on their way back to the arctic shores for the summer. I was fortunate to be able to make a few trips out to see them before we were all locked down by the coronavirus pandemic. On the final visit, several weeks ago now, most of them had already departed.

I made this photograph near the beginning of March. (Remember those innocent days when we were just beginning to think about how our lives might change, but not yet registering the full impact?) This morning featured thin fog — enough of it to mute the light and the features of the landscape, nor to block that glow of dawn light on the bird as they took off toward the rising sun.

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: Sierra Nevada

Peaks And Sunset Clouds

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Peaks And Sunset Clouds
Colorful sunset clouds above the crest of the Sierra Nevada

Peaks And Sunset Clouds. © Copyright 2019 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Colorful sunset clouds above the crest of the Sierra Nevada.

The High Sierra can be a place of remarkable and striking light… but more often the conditions revolve around successive days of perfectly blue, cloud-free skies. That is probably among the reason the place is called the “range of light,” but it also can be challenging for photographers hoping for special, unusual, and striking conditions. Yes, we complain about “perfect, blue-sky conditions!

But eventually, even in this gentle range, the conditions do change. Most often in the summertime Sierra the change comes from periodic intrusions of monsoonal moisture that bring a few days of thunderstorms. On our recent trip we got a bit of that on our hike in… and then, a week later, on our hike out. For the rest of our stay was almost under those “perfect” conditions… except for our last evening, when the Sierra presented us with these beautiful sunset clouds, producing a beautiful luminous benediction to our visit.

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: Sierra Nevada

Last Light And Sunset Clouds

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Last Light And Sunset Clouds
Colorful sunset clouds as the last light touches the summits of the Sierra Nevada crest

Last Light And Sunset Clouds. © Copyright 2019 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Colorful sunset clouds as the last light touches the summits of the Sierra Nevada crest.

I think of this as the “night of miracle light.” Sierra Nevada folks know that the predominant condition in the summer months is clear, blue skies… which many people regard as a virtue but which photographers often lament. It probably seems very strange to non-photographers to hear us exclaim things like, “Darn! I had seven days of boring perfect blue skies!” We want some clouds! The come from time to time, but they are the exception rather than the rule.

During our weeklong stay in the Eastern Sierra high country we also had mostly blue sky weather. We did get a bit of rain on the day we hiked in and, surprisingly, again on the day we hiked out. But in between, with one notable exception, the weather was what normal people might call “perfect.” But then, there was this evening, the final one of the trip. Very late in the day, we began to see lovely, puffy clouds starting to assemble above our valley and especially above the higher peaks the surrounded the upper end at the Sierra crest. At sunset the clouds became spectacularly beautiful as they were illuminated by sunset light coming from below and to the west. All of us stopped what we were doing and assembled in a group near our camp to watch this lovely luminous benediction to our trip.

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 | Facebook | Email

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: Nature, Photographs: Sierra Nevada

Clouds, Evening Sky

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Clouds, Evening Sky
Sunset clouds above the Sierra Nevada crest, John Muir Wilderness

Clouds, Evening Sky. © Copyright 2019 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Sunset clouds above the Sierra Nevada crest, John Muir Wilderness.

Sierra skies will please or distress you, depending upon your relationship to them and to light. Many visitors absolutely love the days-long stretches of perfect blue skies that occur here, frequently uninterrupted by any clouds at all. (These conditions are among those that give rise to the “Range of Light” designation for these mountains.) On the other hand, photographs often find these “perfect” conditions to be boring, and you might be surprised to hear us complain about too much blue sky!

Our late-August arrival at this location was accompanied by rain during the afternoon on the day we hiked in — no downpours, but enough to gently soak everything and persuade us to put on parkas and set up tents. On the second day we had a few more clouds… but that was pretty much it. The rest of our stay (with the exception of our walk back out, when it did rain again) featured — you guessed it — one of those “days-long stretches of perfect blue skies.” So, after days of such aggravatingly perfect weather, we were absolutely thrilled when these lovely sunset clouds drifted over our valley in the evening on our last full day, glowing with gentle color against the deepening blue of the evening 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.

Blog | About | Flickr | Facebook | Email

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.