Tag Archives: pond

Photographs: Birds, Photographs: Central California, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Wildlife

Sandhill Cranes, Wetland Pond

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Sandhill Cranes, Wetland Pond
“Sandhill Cranes, Wetland Pond” — A small group of lesser sandhill cranes stands in the shallow water of a wetland pond.

Sandhill cranes were the main reason that I went to the Central Valley on this winter morning. My plan was to be there before dawn — and I was! — so that I could photograph them taking flight in luminous fog at sunrise. But the fog over-achieved, and was so thick at sunrise that the birds weren’t visible at all. At that point the fog itself become my dawn subject.

As the morning wore on the fog thinned, and eventually the cranes and other birds became visible. I found a large group in a shallow pond where they had spent the night. One of the challenges of photographing groups of these birds is that much of the time their heads are down as they groom themselves or reach for the water. So I watch and wait, hoping for that instant when a few —or all! — of them raise their heads at once.

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, Amazon, and directly from G Dan Mitchell.

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Photographs: Central California, Photographs: Nature

Tule Fog and Reflection

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Tule Fog and Reflection
“Tule Fog and Reflection” — Morning sunlight reflects on the surface of a wetland pond covered by winter tule fog.

After starting the morning in fog so thick that I could not see (or photograph), I stopped here along a levee road as the fog began to thin. I still couldn’t see much more than perhaps fifty yards along the ground, but the tule fog was shallow enough that light penetrated it and I could see the sky. As the sun rose above the Sierra it broke free of clouds and its light reflected on the surface of this pond.

Color in foggy conditions is a tricky thing. Looking into the foggy void, everything seems essentially gray. But the atmosphere picks up all sorts of colorations — the warm tones of sunrise light, the blue of the sky, and sometimes combinations of these things. Here the light took on a slightly pink quality that didn’t completely wash out the blue from the 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, Amazon, and directly from G Dan Mitchell.

Blog | About | Instagram | Flickr | Facebook | Threads | Post | Email

Links: Articles, Sales and Licensing, my Sierra Nevada Fall Color book, Contact Info.

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Photographs: Central California, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Sky

Reflection, Winter Sky

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Reflection, Winter Sky
“Reflection, Winter Sky” — Winter morning sky reflected on the surface of a foggy wetland pond, California Central Valley.

Part of what I like about this photograph of the reflection of winter sky in a wetland pond is that there is almost nothing solid in it — aside from some scattered plants in the pond it is entirely sky, clouds, water, and reflections. There is almost a horizon out there somewhere, but it is hard to detect since it is obscured by tule fog.

Although there’s little in the photograph to rule out other options, the location happens to be in Central Valley wetlands. In good years, rainfall fills these ponds in the winter through early spring, and areas of solid summer ground become lakes, some quite large. They are more than a visual marvel — winter birds and, later, spring plants rely on their annual formation.

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, Amazon, and directly from G Dan Mitchell.

Blog | About | Instagram | Flickr | Facebook | Threads | Post | Email

Links: Articles, Sales and Licensing, my Sierra Nevada Fall Color book, Contact Info.

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Photographs: Central California, Photographs: Nature

Wetlands, Dawn Fog

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Wetlands, Dawn Fog
“Wetlands, Dawn Fog” — Dawn fog obscures the view of a wetlands pond in California’s Central Valley.

Have I mentioned how much I like photographing fog? Why, yes, I have! Fog can make almost any subject mysterious and moody. Even a banal urban or natural scene can become magical under its influence. This is especially true in places like this, an agricultural landscape that otherwise includes utilitarian elements — cattle barns, power lines, buildings with lights, roads. But fog mutes those distractions and leaves us with just atmosphere, light, color, and bits of solid reality. The landscape becomes less literal, and we fill in our own stories.

It was initially too foggy (and too dark!) to photograph here, so I just headed out to potential locations and watched to see what would happen. Tule fog is often shallow, and I could see high clouds as the sunrise colors suffused the fog as it began to thin. The density of fog adds up across distance, and here makes it impossible to tell where the land and water end and the sky begins.

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, Amazon, and directly from G Dan Mitchell.

Blog | About | Instagram | Flickr | Facebook | Threads | Post | Email

Links: Articles, Sales and Licensing, my Sierra Nevada Fall Color book, Contact Info.

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