Tag Archives: rises

Foggy Wetlands Sunrise

I made this photograph of a foggy wetlands sunrise during a late January visit to California’s Central Valley. The main draw was the prospect of photographing migratory birds, but I chose the day because of the tule fog. I love photographing in the Valley on winter tule fog days — the fog turns the agricultural landscape into something magical. I made all the photographs in the series over perhaps a one-hour span and within a half mile of each other.

The fog was so thick when I arrived before sunrise that it was too dark to photograph. I got my gear ready, finished my coffee, and then set off into the gloom to find good location to watch it begin to clear. It wasn’t long before I came to a spot where the fog was thinning. The timing was perfect as the sun was just rising above the distant Sierra Nevada, with colorful and diffused light above the ponds.


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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Desert Mountains, Dust Storm

Desert Mountains, Dust Storm
A desert dust storm obscures Amargosa Range mountains and ridges, Death Valley National Park.

Desert Mountains, Dust Storm. © Copyright 2020 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A desert dust storm obscures Amargosa Range mountains and ridges, Death Valley National Park.

Death Valley dust storms are beautiful and terrible things. They are, from an objective point of view, very unpleasant. The wind alone can make it difficult to do much of anything, especially photography. The dust gets into everything, including camera equipment and your eyes, and is a constant, uncomfortable presence. A really bad dust storm is one of those things that helpfully remind us of how small and insignificant we are in this grand landscape.

The dust storm on this late afternoon was approaching that level. Having seen a few of these in Death Valley, there were a few things that were different about this one, most notably that the wind was carrying the thick dust into place where I don’t usually see it, including far up into the Amargosa Mountain range. It was so windy and dusty in the spot where I stopped to make the photograph that I was only able to cower behind the shelter of my vehicle just long enough to make a few exposures.


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 | FacebookEmail

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.