Tag Archives: print

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

Blue Hour, Point Lobos

July 31, 2014 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Evening “blue hour” light along the Pacific Ocean shoreline at Point Lobos State Reserve

I have been visiting Point Lobos for decades, beginning when I was a young child. Point Lobos was on the circuit of parks in the greater San Francisco Bay Area that my parents regularly visited, and back in those days my elementary school even took field trips there to investigate tide pools. I have continued to visit often since that time. You would think that by now I would know every nook and cranny of this place but, as is always the case, there is still more to see and to learn about it.

For example, although I’m positive I must have seen this line of rocks extending into the surf many times over the years, it wasn’t until a few years ago that I recognized it as a potential photographic subject and even then I did not immediately see its relationship to the further shoreline. On this mid-winter (my favorite time to visit Point Lobos!) day I shot many subjects before finding myself here in the evening shortly after sunset, when the world takes on a magical and rich blue tone and ocean fog was beginning to appear over the coast.

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: Nature, Photographs: Northern California, Photographs: Wildlife

Sandhill Cranes, Wetlands Marsh

July 30, 2014 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

A group of sandhill cranes stands in a San Joaquin Valley wetlands marsh

This group of sandhill cranes was part of a bigger group that came much closer to us than I am used to. Most of the time when I see cranes they are either a good distance away if they are on the ground or they are in flight and passing quickly overhead. One of my strongest memories of cranes is from a morning of very dense fog, when I could hear their creaking, croaking cries from off somewhere in the distance, but could only catch a brief, half-visible view of them as they passed directly overhead and then disappeared again into the tule fog. But this group was hanging around in a shallow pond, near the dirt access road and even near to lots of other birds.

The cranes almost seem a bit aloof to me. While the geese whirl and turn overhead, and then erupt periodically into a honking riot when something disturbs them, the cranes seem to mostly stand quietly, occasionally walking a bit in the water or, even less often, on the land. The arrangement of this group caught my attention, with all standing together but each adopting its own unique pose.

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

The Fly-In

July 29, 2014 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Ross’s Geese settle into a wetland pond during the evening fly-in

Often the most active times of day for migratory geese in California’s Central Valley are the morning fly-out and the evening fly in. (In the right conditions, it is also possible to see very active birds at other times, too — even in the middle of the day.) If you happen to be in the right place in the early evening you may see hundreds or thousands of geese descending towards you to eventually settle in for the night. (At the opposite time of day, you may catch the birds suddenly taking to the air in large numbers to depart for destinations that only they seem to know.)

These wetlands ponds in the San Joaquin Valley stretch off into the distance, broken only be a few scattered trees and some levees. Many birds pass overhead, but eventually more and more of them come in to land on the water and form into various sorts of groups.

Commentary, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Sierra Nevada, Thinking Aloud

Is It Ever Too Early To Dream of Aspen Color?

July 28, 2014 G Dan Mitchell 2 Comments

Small stands of aspens with autumn leaves stand in front of a talus slope, eastern Sierra Nevada.

Is it ever too early to dream of aspen color? In a word, no.

Every summer around this time I start to think about fall color, and for me that primarily means eastern Sierra Nevada aspen color. I’m not quite sure what triggers the thoughts. Sometimes when I’m in the Sierra — and I am not there right now — it can be some nearly imperceptible changes in the light, the atmosphere, the patterns of annual growth, or even the sound of the wind. It might also be something as simple as my now innate “tuning in” to annual cycles, something that I think we are all more able to do than we might imagine.

On hot northern California days like this one, it certainly does not feel at all like autumn. Yet, I know that the first real signs of the seasonally change will appear high in the Sierra in barely 8 weeks, and the aspen color will arrive only a few weeks after that.

G Dan Mitchell Photography

Tag Archives: print

Blue Hour, Point Lobos

Sandhill Cranes, Wetlands Marsh

The Fly-In

Is It Ever Too Early To Dream of Aspen Color?

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