Tag Archives: reflection

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

Winter Pond, Birds and Fog

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Winter Pond, Birds and Fog
Thick tule fog obscures the view of a winter pond, a small island, and birds in flight.

Winter Pond, Birds and Fog. © Copyright 2023 G Dan Mitchell.

Thick tule fog obscures the view of a winter pond, a small island, and birds in flight.

From time to time I make the point that there is always an element of serendipity in nature photography — no matter how much we calculate and plan, in the end there are always things that we cannot control. This photograph is a fine example. I “knew” there would be no fog when I traveled to this location last week. And when I arrived there was none — the sky was almost completely clear in the hours after sunrise. Then, to my astonishment, tule fog spontaneously developed, and within a half hour the area was socked in.

But that’s not the only unanticipated good luck in this photograph. The active flock of red-winged blackbirds just happened to show up on a small island of reeds where I was, at just the right distance to let the fog mute their forms but not render them invisible. They remained just long enough for me to make a few exposures before they departed.

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

Sunrise, Wetlands

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Sunrise, Wetlands
Winter sun rising through morning clouds is reflected in a Central Valley wetlands pond.

Sunrise, Wetlands. © Copyright 2023 G Dan Mitchell.

Winter sun rising through morning clouds is reflected in a Central Valley wetlands pond.

This is a photograph from the same morning that produced another sunrise photograph I recently shared — one with the sun a bit lower and cranes flying above. Usually I might be disappointed to find morning clouds above the distant Sierra Nevada, but this time they were just thick/thin enough to be an advantage. The muted the intensity of the direct sun. I made this photograph just as the sun moved above a thicker band of clouds.

The foreground expanse of water obviously reflects the sunrise light and colors, but the closest portions reflect other clouds higher in the sky and less colorful. In the middle a large group of sandhill cranes stands in the shallow 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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All media © Copyright G Dan Mitchell and others as indicated. Any use requires advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

Photographs: Central California, Photographs: Nature

Before Sunrise, Central Valley

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Before Sunrise, Central Valley
Winter pre-sunrise sky and clouds above wetlands and trees, Central Valley, California.

Before Sunrise, Central Valley. © Copyright 2023 G Dan Mitchell.

Winter pre-sunrise sky and clouds above wetlands and trees, Central Valley, California.

Yes, I know. That color is too saturated to be real, right? But this is actually what we saw on the winter morning in California’s Central Valley. (I’ll share another photograph of the scene in a few days that will include some regular old blue sky for reference.) It just happened that the conditions were precisely right to create an unbelievably colorful pre-sunrise sky above the Sierra for a short time.

While the possibility of something like this wasn’t entirely unforeseeable, when we headed out a half hour earlier in near-darkness it certainly did not look likely. After the previous cloudy day, it looked like the sky was still covered, and it was almost a half hour later when we reached the edge of those clouds and found the sky more open to the east that we started to see hints of this light. It was like this for a short period before sunrise, and with the rising sun the intensity of the colors quickly diminished.

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 | Twitter | Flickr | Facebook | Email

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

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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

Wetlands Pond, Winter Sky

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Wetlands Pond, Winter Sky
Winter dawn clouds reflected in a California Central Valley wetlands pond.

Wetlands Pond, Winter Sky. © Copyright 2023 G Dan Mitchell.

Winter dawn clouds reflected in a California Central Valley wetlands pond.

We were not sure quite what we would find this morning. We had been photographing in this area over the past couple of day, mostly in less-than-spectacular conditions. The first day was marked by the passage of an exceptional weather system, and the second was “pleasant” but less than striking. Hey, it happens! We know that another from was due in as we headed out before dawn, so we were excited to see colorful sky develop as the first light appeared.

Arriving at our destination, the pre-dawn sky was perhaps the most intensely red that I’ve seen in this location. I made a few photographs of that, but it was actually a bit difficult to see how to make a useful photograph of it. (Stay tuned, though…) A bit later, just as the sun was about to break the line of the horizon, the sky overhead had lost the most intense color, thus providing a bit more color variation as I photographed across a Central Valley wetlands pond.

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 | Twitter | Flickr | Facebook | Email

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

Scroll down to leave a comment or question. (Click this post’s title first if you are viewing on the home page.)

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