Tag Archives: reflection

Breaking Wave, Reflected Sun

Breaking Wave, Reflected Sun
“Breaking Wave, Reflected Sun” — Winter sunlight reflects on the water beyond a breaking wave during a Pacific storm.

Between Christmas and New Year’s Day, California had several days of extraordinarily high surf, produced by storms far out in the Pacific Ocean. Media reports consistently warned citizens to “stay away from coastal areas.” Consequently, many of us high-tailed it straight to the nearest coastal areas to watch the show! (In all seriousness, this kind of surf really is dangerous. If you go, please observe from a very safe distance.) We visited the section between Santa Cruz and Half Moon Bay, and the surf was as big as I’ve ever seen it.

It was cloudy most of the time, but occasionally the sun managed to break through a bit, creating beautiful reflections on the waves and the distant ocean. This photograph is one of a series I made from a high (and safe) observation point on a peninsula that juts out into the ocean. From here I could watch the waveS break and continue on toward the shore to my left.


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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Pier 57, Crane Barge

Pier 57, Crane Barge
A crane barge docked next to Pier 57, Manhattan.

Pier 57, Crane Barge. © Copyright 2023 G Dan Mitchell.

A crane barge docked next to Pier 57, Manhattan.

Manhattan’s Hudson River waterfront fascinates me. It is a busy place with lots of vehicle traffic, but many facilities along the shore have been and are being transformed. Old piers fall into ruin, others are converted to new purposes. New structures extend the city over the water. I made this photograph at one of those new places, the “Little Island.” It seems to grow organically from the water, and it houses a busy little park with enough elevation to provide good views of the surroundings.

This photograph looks up the shoreline to Pier 57, a renovated structure that is now a commercial space and which includes its own park. The relationship between the building’s green paint and the red-orange color of the crane caught my attention, as did the colorful reflection in the water just beyond the old pilings.


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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Sandhill Cranes, Morning Light

Sandhill Cranes, Morning Light
A small flock of lesser sandhill cranes reflected in a wetlands pond.

Sandhill Cranes, Morning Light. © Copyright 2023 G Dan Mitchell.

A small flock of lesser sandhill cranes reflected in a wetlands pond.

It was a relatively slow day of bird photography on my first foray to the Central Valley of the season. Not that this was a surprise — it was still early for the arrival of the big flocks of geese that I look forward to a bit later in the season. So sandhill cranes were my primary subject s— flying overhead or standing in shallow ponds like this one.

While the scene lookS tranquil, I knew that it would not last. Typically, at some point around sunrise or just a bit later, the cranes lift off from the ponds where they spend the night. This does not happen all at once, as it often does with geese. Instead, small groups suddenly take to the air, sometimes leaving their compatriots behind. I stopped to photograph this group because of the reflection, but also because I knew that they would soon fly out.


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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The Lake, Autumn

The Lake, Autumn
Manhattan skyline reflected in the Lake on a hazy November day, Central Park.

The Lake, Autumn. © Copyright 2023 G Dan Mitchell.

Manhattan skyline reflected in the Lake on a hazy November day, Central Park.

We went for a walk in Central Park on the first morning of our November visit to Manhattan. We planned to meet up with family later in the day, but we had free time and the park was only a couple of blocks away. Our New-York-resident (grown) “kids” have occasionally wondered why in the world we always visit the city in the dead of (freezing) winter or the (wilting heat and humidity of) summer — they have suggested a spring or fall visit. And they were right. The weather was pleasant and the fall colors were spectacular.

The body of water is “The Lake” — perhaps not the most creative name, but a lovely place just the same. It is surrounded by paths beneath hardwood trees, and those trees were in full autumn color. I made the photograph from a small bridge, placing a few of the towers of Manhattan between the trees so that they would reflect in the surface of the water.


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

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