Tag Archives: refuge

Photographs: Central California, Photographs: Fall, Photographs: Nature

Blue Hour, Wetlands

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Blue Hour, Wetlands
Late autumn evening clouds reflected in wetlands of the San Joaquin Valley.

Blue Hour, Wetlands. San Joaquin Valley, California. December 6, 2015. © Copyright 2015 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Late autumn evening clouds reflected in wetlands of the San Joaquin Valley.

I have become a passionate photographer of winter migratory birds in California’s Great Central Valley, and I spend as much time as possible out there between late fall and the start of spring. For most of my life I was almost completely unaware of the great migration that takes place just a couple of hours east of my home and midway between there and “my” Sierra Nevada. For a few months this valley that seems primarily like farmland (at least to us coastal folks) for the rest of the year becomes a wildlife haven.

But it isn’t just about the birds. The birds may be the main draw, but they are certainly not the whole show, and the landscape itself fascinates me, especially with its surprising and varied effects of atmosphere and light. The ubiquitous fog creates mystery and the clouds of winter weather fronts produce beautiful skies. The dusk ending of a day out here rarely fails to produce some twilight magic.

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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Wetlands, Early Light

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Wetlands, Early Light
Morning light and fog along a San Joaquin Valley levee.

Wetlands, Early Light. San Joaquin Valley, California. December 6, 2015. © Copyright 2015 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Morning light and fog along a San Joaquin Valley levee.

I seem to have developed a ritual for photographing this favorite San Joaquin Valley location. Almost invariably I arrive very early in the morning, in the half hour before dawn. Often I meet photographer friends who have arrived from other places. We stop at an area near the entrance and greet one another, engage in a bit of small talk, marvel (again!) at the sound of tens of thousands of migratory birds just beyond out sight. We get in our vehicles and we start a circuit of the wetlands, first looking for a place to photograph the dawn. By now, after photographing there for a few years in variable conditions, we all have our favorite spots — this place if there is heavy fog, that spot if the birds are close by, another if it looks like we may have a clear view of sunrise.

On this morning I moved quickly past the first ponds to round a corner on the perimeter road and then stopped near a junction of several levees, at a spot that has often proved fruitful for my photography. There was a thin fog in the air and high, broken clouds were above the Sierra far to the east. Depending on which direction I chose to point that camera I found a range of subjects. Birds were nearby, the Sierra were in the distance, and in between was that flooded wetlands. As the first thin sunlight from the rising sun came through the fog I swung my camera back in the direction from which I had arrived and photographed along the levee route, past trees and brush to a long grove of old cottonwoods lying along the boundary.

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: Wildlife

Dawn Flight of White Pelicans

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Dawn Flight of White Pelicans
A dawn flight of white pelicans above San Joaquin Valley wetlands

Dawn Flight of White Pelicans. San Joaquin Valley, California. December 6, 2015. © Copyright 2015 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A dawn flight of white pelicans above San Joaquin Valley wetlands

I’m going with a bit of mystery and mood in this photograph — I could probably lighten things if I wanted to, but I prefer the darker rendition. I made the photograph very early on a late-fall morning, when thin fog had settled above the wetlands and high clouds partially obscured the sky above the summit of the Sierra Nevada far to my east. As soon as there is any light the birds begin to take to the air. These very early moments are probably my favorite of almost any day in these wetlands.

This photograph and the series like it posed some interesting technical and aesthetic challenges. The general light level was quite low, especially with the thin fog, and because I was handholding a long lens I had to keep my ISO somewhat high. As the birds passed from left to right in front of me they passed from near obscurity in dark sky and fog through brilliant light as they crossed in front of clouds lit by the first light of the sun.  I panned with the birds as I kept watch for landscape elements that might give some definition to a composition and kept an eye on the birds, waiting for a group to stretch out in a beautiful line and to pass in just the right area of illuminated sky.

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+ | 500px.com | 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

Sunset Sky, Trees

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Sunset Sky, Trees
Sunset Sky, Trees

Sunset Sky, Trees. San Joaquin Valley, California. March 1. 2015. © Copyright 2015 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Winter sunset sky above San Joaquin Valley trees

After a weekend photographing (and socializing!) in Yosemite Valley we headed back toward the San Francisco Bay Area, leaving the Valley early enough to make a stop along the way at one of our favorite bird locations. We arrived in the late afternoon and found a medium size group of Ross’s geese on a pond, but too far from us to photograph them effectively. What’s more, as we watched they began to leave, and before long there were few left at all. However, off in the distance I thought I saw groups of them beginning to land in a pasture next to a roadway that would provide access, so off we went to check this out.

There was a decent sized flock there, but they also moved off from our position and were just a bit too far away for great photography. We waited for a while, hoping that they might move back our way, but it never happened. However, the sky compensated a bit — just after the sun set a beautiful, colorful glow appeared in the western sky and I photographed the effect above a row of trees that I’ve had my eyes on for some time.

G Dan Mitchell is a California photographer and visual opportunist whose subjects include the Pacific coast, redwood forests, central California oak/grasslands, the Sierra Nevada, California deserts, urban landscapes, night photography, and more.
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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.