Tag Archives: reeds

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

Morning Dance, Sandhill Cranes

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Morning Dance, Sandhill Cranes
A quartet of sandhill cranes dances in foggy morning light.

Morning Dance, Sandhill Cranes. © Copyright 2020 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A quartet of sandhill cranes dances in foggy morning light.

About a week ago I made my first visit of the season to areas of California’s Central Valley where I like to photograph migratory birds in the late autumn and winter. Many birds have already arrived, but a month or so from now there will be all sorts of them (migratory and year-round residents) up and down the Great Valley: geese, cranes, ibises, herons, pelicans, egrets, and more.

This first visit was a brief one — I arrived early but left at midday. I had been thinking of making the trip for a week or so, but had not seen the weather I was hoping for. Then I heard that there might be a bit of tule fog — that’s my kind of weather! — so I quickly decided to get up hours before dawn the next morning and drive over there in darkness. It was still too early in the season to find the vast flocks of birds that will arrive later, but I did spot some large groups of sandhill cranes. This quartet was holding forth near a larger group, and at this moment had begun a vigorous performance of the crane dance.

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

Pond And Early Morning Autumn Sky

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Pond And Early Morning Autumn Sky
A marshland pond reflects cloudy early morning autumn sky

Pond And Early Morning Autumn Sky. © Copyright 2018 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A marshland pond reflects cloudy early morning autumn sky.

I regard this as a sort of “almost winter” landscape, since I made the photograph in mid-December, about a week before the winter solstice. By this time of year California is solidly into the wet-season regime — the polar opposite of the state’s summer. Pacific weather fronts from the Gulf of Alaska sweep across the state periodically, and when the weather behaves somewhat normally the states wetland areas come back to life. And, yes, by California it is definitely the “cold season” by mid-September!

Scenes similar to this one may be found all over the state. All you need is a source of water and some expanse of relatively flat terrain where the water can pool. This one is located in an agricultural plain in the central part of the state, but I’ve seen similar pools across the entire state from south to north and east to west. You can even find them at times in the desert areas. This morning brought skies filled with clouds portending the arrival of one of those winter weather systems. After an initial burst of sunrise light the sun moved behind clouds and the colors softened. I photographed past some remnant shallow water plants, now gone to winter brown, and toward the early morning sky to the north.

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: Central California, Photographs: Nature

Wetland Dawn Clouds

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Wetland Dawn Clouds
A cloud-filled dawn sky reflected in the waters of a wetland pond

Wetland Dawn Clouds. © Copyright 2018 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Somehow it seems appropriate to make a sunrise photograph the subject of the first post of a new year. In fact, I and a few friends have started a new tradition over the past few years — we meet every New Year’s Day before dawn to greet the literal dawn of the new year together. We make photographs, tell stories, share food and champagne, consider what the coming year may bring, enjoy the camaraderie, and perhaps even consider the fact that yet another year has passed. (Perhaps the only downside — or maybe it is an upside? — is that in order to make it to our meeting place before dawn we all have to get up so early than partying until midnight the evening before is pretty much out of the question.)

So, here’s my Happy New Year wish to you. I hope you have a great year, that you start it and end it among friends, that you visit interesting places, make new discoveries, and enjoy familiar wonders, too. If you are photographer, best wishes for finding a crop of new subjects and for making beautiful, compelling photographs of the new and the familiar. And to all, thanks for following my daily posts and my photography.

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.

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Dawn Clouds, Reflection

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Dawn Clouds, Reflection
Dawn light on clouds, reflected in a wetland pond

Dawn Clouds, Reflection. © Copyright 2018 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Dawn light on clouds, reflected in a wetland pond

Sometimes the morning world surprises you. This was one of those times. I went to this place hoping that I might be ahead of an incoming weather front that was approaching from the northwest, but as the first light began to glow it was clear that I was going to be under the clouds. They covered almost the entire sky and promised to produce pretty gray conditions.

However, I did notice a very thin opening far to the east, between a mountain range and the far edge of the cloud shield. This is a condition which can, somewhat ironically, produce a brief burst of spectacular color right at sunrise (or sunset, if the break is in the west) that can be truly stunning. Basically, against a backdrop of largely dark conditions, the light will briefly shine upwards onto the clouds just as the sun reaches the horizon, sometimes producing some of the most intense light you’ll see — though the effect typically lasts only a few minutes and then the “lights go out” again quite quickly. On this morning I was next to a shallow body of water, so the show was twice as good — the colorful sky was reflected on the surface of that post.

Links to Articles, Sales and Licensing, my Sierra Nevada Fall Color book, Contact Information.

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.