Tag Archives: reflection

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Northern California, Photographs: Structures and Objects

Flooded Field and Farm Structures

January 29, 2011 G Dan Mitchell 6 Comments

Agricultural facilities and Central Valley sky reflected in the surface of a flooded field.

This area turned out to be fun place to shoot. It is along a fairly nondescript road that branches off from Interstate 5 midway between Stockton and Sacramento and eventually dead-ends against a levee lining the Cosumnes River. I had been told that it is a good place to look for migratory birds – and, indeed, it is. Although it was hard to see them due to the very thick tule fog when I first arrived shortly after dawn, when I came back in the early afternoon the sky had cleared and the many fields, vineyards, and ponds along the road were filled with waterfowl.

I first saw this set of “structures” (silos? Being a “city boy,” I’m not certain of the right way to describe cylindrical storage facilities like this) as I drove out from Interstate 5 towards the river. They make for quite a striking sight – they are quite large, they are tall and the tower above is even taller, the brick colored roofs stand out against the other colors, and they are reflected in the still water of surrounding ponds. It was on my way back past them that I saw the view over this pond. I had just stopped to make another photograph of the ponds and I thought I was finished for the day – my thoughts were getting back to the highway and heading home. But I decided to walk down to a levee that let me place the structures and their reflections across the water and surround the image of the building and the thin horizon line with sky above and below.

G Dan Mitchell Photography | Flickr | Twitter | Facebook | Email
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: Nature, Photographs: Northern California

Flooded Farmland, Winter

January 24, 2011 G Dan Mitchell 8 Comments

Sky is reflected in the water of flooded winter farmland, Central Valley, California.

A few days ago I didn’t know that this spot existed. However, I happened to run into a colleague while getting a cup of coffee last week, and as we talked she mentioned that she had just visited the Cosumnes River Wildlife Preserve. We talked more, it sounded interesting, and she sent me some information about how to find the place, along with the description of how to get to the place where I made this photograph.

I started at this location very early in the morning, but it was so foggy that photography was almost impossible – at least the kind of photography that I had in mind. Although I was able to hear the birds that congregate out here, I was barely able to see them at all. So after driving to the end of this road where it runs into the Cosumnes River, I turned around and headed up the Central Valley a few more miles to find the Consumnes River Wildlife Preserve.

A few hours later the sun was beginning to shine through the fog at the Preserve and I felt that my work there was done. I checked the time, at it seemed like I might have just enough time to detour back out on this road and see if the prospects were any better now that the fog was thinning. Again I drove to the end of the road, but along the way I noticed these flooded fields and made a mental note to take a look at them on my return drive. So, on the way back I pulled over and noticed that the faint high clouds were reflecting in the surface of the shallow water, and shortly after I framed my photograph a couple of birds flew across the scene.

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

Forest and Pond, Winter

January 21, 2011 G Dan Mitchell 1 Comment

Trees grow out of a small winter melt-water pool in Yosemite Valley, California.

As I drove down the Valley I spotted this very quiet seasonal pool that was reflecting the forms of the forest trees in the soft late-afternoon light. As the temperature dropped there was just the slightest hint of shallow fog starting to form above the surface of the water.

If you are the type who reads the “technical data” accompanying the photos you perhaps notice the unusual choice of lens for this photograph. You might also be surprised at just how often I use a long lens, even this 100-400 zoom, for landscape subjects. Besides getting me “closer” to subjects that would otherwise be out of reach – that was the case here where there was water between me and the trees – the longer lenses also compress the contents of the scene and can also help eliminate elements that would otherwise distract from the main scene.

This photograph is not in the public domain and may not be used on websites, blogs, or in other media without advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

G Dan Mitchell Photography
Flickr | Twitter (follow me) | Facebook (“Like” my page) | LinkedIn | Email

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: Ocean & Coast

Twilight Surf

January 12, 2011 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Many times the most interesting late-day light comes after the sun set, and I have learned to stick around as long as I can in these situations. The colors can become more intense as the details become softer, especially when the low light allows me to use longer exposure times with moving subjects in the very low light. By the time I made this photograph my exposure time was up to four seconds. (Shortly after this it was too dark to continue shooting – I could hardly see my camera any more!)

This image falls into my “minimalist seascape” category, without any particular central subject – though there are some points in the scene that do, I think, draw a bit more attention. There is a certain element of chance in these photographs since, obviously, I cannot control the waves. However, by watching their patterns and thinking about how their sharply defined shapes might form more diffused shapes over the longer exposures, I can make some reasonable guesses about when to trip the shutter release. Besides the sky, there are three things in the water portion of this scene that “worked” for me: the single darker wave just below the horizon, the row of three parallel waves in the middle of the frame, and the blurred and reflective area closest to the shore.

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” (Heyday Books) is available directly from him.

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