Tag Archives: reflection

Photographs: Central California, Photographs: Nature

Wetland Pond, Reflected Sky

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Wetland Pond, Reflected Sky
Late afternoon light on a pond reflecting the winter sky

Wetland Pond, Reflected Sky. Central Valley, California. January 1, 2017. © Copyright 2017 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Late afternoon light on a pond reflecting the winter sky

I made this photograph during our annual New Year’s Day visit to the migratory birds of California’s Central Valley, something that has become more or less a tradition during the past few years. The idea is to join a few like-minded friends to greet the literal dawn of the new year, and to then spend the day photographing. The only problem with this as a New Year’s Day celebration is that we have to get up at about 3:30 AM, making it somewhat difficult (or at least unwise!) to stay up until midnight the night before.

This time we arrived, as always, very early, and spent the morning working our way around the vicinity trying to figure out where the best locations would be for photographing the birds. The usual schedule has us photographing for a few hours into the late morning, then taking a sort of time out in the middle of the day — often including a nap to compensate for that early wake-up call — and then resuming the wild goose chase at some point in the afternoon. Late in the day we were still trying to decide where we wanted to be for sunset, so we drove a gravel road that took us past this pond on our way to a likely goose roosting spot — and I saw this beautiful reflection of the winter sky along the way.

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

Winter Wetlands and Sky

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Winter Wetlands and Sky
Ross’s geese flock on California Central Valley winter wetlands

Winter Wetlands and Sky. Central Valley, California. January 1, 2017. © Copyright 2017 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Ross’s geese flock on California Central Valley winter wetlands

To simplify, there are two common conditions in California’s Central Valley in winter: dense tule fog that reduces the visibility to mere feet, and immense open skies above the flatlands that reveal the distant snow-covered mountains. Sometimes both condiments — and, to be fair, some other possibilities — reveal themselves on the same day, as happened on this New Year’s Day visit.

We headed out to the Great Valley before dawn, arriving to a combination of scattered tule fog that continued to fill in as the morning went on, eventually turning the day rather gray. We spent the morning photographing this landscape and the tens of thousands of migratory birds that occupy it this time of year. By mid afternoon the sky began to clear as winds blew away most of the fog to reveal a clouded-studded blue sky above the expansive wetlands. Here that sky is reflected in a wetland pond — and a bit further out from the camera position you may be able to make out the flock of many thousands of Ross’s and snow geese on 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 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: Fall, Photographs: Fall Color, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Sierra Nevada

Lake Shore, Autumn Morning

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Lake Shore, Autumn Morning
Morning light strikes grass on the shoreline of a Sierra lake reflecting autumn aspen color

Lake Shore, Autumn Morning. Eastern Sierra Nevada, California. September 30, 2016. © Copyright 2016 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Morning light strikes grass on the shoreline of a Sierra lake reflecting autumn aspen color

Some photographs have to age for a while before I go back and figure out how to “see” them. This is one of those. I made the photograph a few months ago on a lovely autumn morning high in the Eastern Sierra, at a corner of a well-known location from which people frequently photograph a rather different view. I had begun the morning near this lake, looking for ways to see the landscape in this location in ways that weren’t quite as familiar to me, partly with photographic intent and partly out of not wanting to be part of the assembled crowd!

A bit later, once the expected light show had ended and those who came only for that had departed, I wandered down along the shore of the lake. Where there had been dozens a bit earlier, there were now only two, myself and one other photographer. I’ve been intrigued by these grassy areas along the edge of this lake, but I had not thought to photograph the scene from quite this direction before — and my timing was either perfect or, more likely, lucky in that the first beams of morning light to find their way through surrounding trees were just beginning to strike the patch of grass.

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, Photographs: Northern California, Photographs: Wildlife

Arrival of Geese, Dusk

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Arrival of Geese, Dusk
Geese land in a wetland pond at dusk

Arrival of Geese, Dusk. San Joaquin Valley, California. December 3, 2016. © Copyright 2016 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Geese land in a wetland pond at dusk

In an earlier post I alluded to my occasional good fortune in being the recipient of unanticipated events while out photographing, in this case the unexpected arrival of a dusk flock of geese right in front of the spot where I was standing and quietly watching the dusk light fade, thinking that I had finished my photography for the day. In that last moment, a flock took to the air a good distance away across wetland ponds, expanded the circle of its flight, and without warning began to land in the pond next to my position.

The relationships between luck and skill and preparation are complex, but there is no denying that luck plays a role in photographing the natural world. While I could tell that the sky was becoming beautiful, and while I am prepared to make technical and esthetic decision about how to photograph things as they happen, the fact that this flock took off in the dusk light and then landed perhaps fifty feet from my position is certainly nothing for which I can take credit. It does pay to be prepared, to have done this enough times to have a good chance of making the right decisions quickly when the opportunity arrives and, perhaps most of all, to be out there in the field as much as possible. One moment like this one makes it worthwhile.

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 | Twitter | Facebook | Google+ | LinkedIn | Email

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