Tag Archives: reflection

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

Geese, Sunset Sky

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Geese, Sunset Sky
Geese settle in for the evening as dusk sky comes to the San Joaquin Valley

Geese, Sunset Sky. San Joaquin Valley, California. December 3, 2016. © Copyright 2016 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Geese settle in for the evening as dusk sky comes to the San Joaquin Valley

The approach of winter in California’s Great Central Valley reminds me of a number of great seasonal cycles — the days shorten, temperatures drop, mornings are again often foggy, and the monumental migration of birds brings geese and cranes and more back to the state. This area, which can be less than compelling in the visual sense during the summer (though it has its attractions then, too) becomes one of the most special places in California if you know when and where to look. Yesterday I made this season’s first trip back to this landscape.

We can make some predictions about things like the birds and the weather in this place, but there will still be many surprises. Yesterday’s visit brought two such wonderful surprises. I had been watching weather forecast, hoping for tule fog, but had been consistently disappointed to see nothing but predictions of clear weather. But as I left the last small town before my destination the fog appeared, and by the time I arrived it was so thick that driving was a challenge and the rising sun was invisible. Then, late in the day, I felt that my photographic opportunities were ending, and I stopped at an out-of-the-way corner to just watch the sky after sunset. Suddenly a huge flock of geese rose noisily into the air far across the ponds, circled for a moment… and then suddenly landed directly in front of me in the fading light!

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: Mono Lake, Photographs: Nature

Wildfire Smoke, Morning Light

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Wildfire Smoke, Morning Light
Morning light reflects on the surface of Mono Lake, partially obscured by drifting wildfire smoke

Wildfire Smoke, Morning Light. Mono Lake, California. September 18, 2016. © Copyright 2016 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Morning light reflects on the surface of Mono Lake, partially obscured by drifting wildfire smoke

The night before I made this photograph I had driven back to my Lee Vining Canyon camp from a backcountry hike in the Tioga Pass area, leaving the park and descending the steep route after dark. As I crossed the upper end of Lee Vining Canyon, where there is a relatively clear view to the east, I saw the pall of smoke from a developing wildfire and the glow from the flames lighting it from below. Given California’s drought, the late point in the dry season, and the number of other fires in this area, I was quite concerned about what might be happening.

I got up well before dawn the next morning and as I headed down canyon toward Mono Lake there was just a bit of smoke in the air. As I came around the final bend before the junction with US 395, however, I could see that there was a very dark cloud to the southeast and that layers of smoke were starting to drift across the surface of Mono Lake in the pre-dawn light. My first though was a bit of disappointment that the smoke was likely to interfere with my photography plans, but this was quickly replaced by the realization that I was starting to see some very special and unusual conditions as the dawn approached. I found a high place and went to work photographing abstract and soft patterns composed of the reflecting surface of Mono Lake, the drifting smoke bands, and the partially obscured distant mountains.

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: Death Valley, Photographs: Desert, Photographs: Nature

Desert Spring

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Desert Spring
Pools of desert water reflect sunrise light on distant mountains, Death Valley National Park

Desert Spring. Death Valley National Park, California. March 31, 2015. © Copyright 2015 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Pools of desert water reflect sunrise light on distant mountains, Death Valley National Park

Although it is dawn in this photograph, I had already been up and photographing for some time before I took a break to walk along an observation area and next to the highway at this popular location. The pools of water have their source underground at the base of the tall mountains standing behind my camera position.

Beyond the water are salt flats, some in the “classic” flat white style, and others in the inhospitable and rugged “Devil’s Golf Course” style. The foreground water reflects the morning blue sky, and further out it reflects the ridge of the Panamint Mountains on the far side of the Valley.

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.

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

Night Heron, Reflection

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Night Heron, Reflection
A solitary night heron perches on a snag above a reflecting pool

Night Heron, Reflection. Sacramento Valley, California. January 8, 2016. © Copyright 2016 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A solitary night heron perches on a snag above a reflecting pool

I have mentioned before that I came late to an interest in photographing birds — it only began a few years ago when I took a serendipitous trip to a California Central Valley refuge where I saw huge numbers of birds. Despite being a virtually life-long Californian living within a short drive of such areas, I barely knew they existed. (I had one prior hint on a drive to the Pacific Northwest some years ago, when I passed through the upper Sacramento Valley on a late-November evening and say many birds in the sky.)

That all changed during recent years. At first I “discovered” geese and egrets, the latter which I had seen before and occasionally photographed in the San Francisco Bay Area. Then I caught on to some of the other birds out in the Central Valley — ibises, cranes, herons, white pelicans. But the night herons continued to be a bit of a mystery, and frankly they still remain so to an extent. They are found at the location where I most often photograph, but typically off at some distance. That distance, along with their habit of roosting in thick grasses and plants, makes them hard to see and photograph. On this visit to a different location up in the Sacramento Valley I found a huge group of them in brush just across a canal, and I was able to photograph them from a closer distance, including this one that was atypically out of the brush and standing on a log.

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.