Tag Archives: road

Photographs: Death Valley, Photographs: Desert, Photographs: Nature

Morning Ride in the Badlands

Image 2 Comments
Morning Ride in the Badlands
A solo bicyclist on a morning ride along a curving gravel road past badlands.

Morning Ride in the Badlands. © Copyright 2019 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A solo bicyclist on a morning ride along a curving gravel road past badlands.

Years ago I was a very (very!) enthusiastic cyclist. I don’t ride any more, but I still have three bicycles — one of the early StumpJumper mountain bikes, a touring/commuting bike with a handmade British frame, and road-racing bike (also with a hand-built frame). Although I have not ridden in Death Valley, I can surely identify with the experience of the person in this photograph.

I had arrived in this area early, and I had been making photographs since before sunrise. Although a gravel road passes through here and the spot is not far from some well-known locations, I had the place almost to myself. I saw almost no one else as I worked. It was windless and still and so quiet… and that passing of a single cyclist was enough to interrupt the mood! But not enough to keep me from photographing him as he passed through this section of s-curves, heading toward more distant hills in this lovely 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.

Blog | About | 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.

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

Photographs: Birds, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Wildlife

Great Egret, Morning Light

Image Leave a comment
Great Egret, Morning Light
A great egret in California’s Central Valley

Great Egret, Morning Light. © Copyright 2019 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A great egret in California’s Central Valley.

Way back when I was a college student I first “discovered” egrets. I was in a general education science course that consisted of a sequence of short seminars on various subjects, and the professor teaching one on ecology was obviously an egret fanatic. I don’t recall many specifics from the course, but I recall his passion for “snowy egrets.” Later on, as a dedicated cyclist, I often rode past creeks and canals in the Bay Area where I spotted great egrets (not the same critter as the snowy egret), often simply resting but sometimes in flight. At that time I regarded them as exotic birds, since they were still new to me.

Of course, I eventually learned that they are all over California, wherever there are wetlands — from the Pacific shoreline to the Central Valley. As I learned more about other birds — cranes, geese, herons, ibises — I came to regard the egret as a much less exotic bird. Yet, there is nothing quite like the flight of a great egret, with that long neck, the pure white plumage, and the gigantic wingspan. This one managed to stay put on the ground long enough for me to take its picture on a recent, first-of-the-season bird photography foray into the Central 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 | Facebook | Email

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

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

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Sierra Nevada, Photographs: Yosemite

Lake and Mountains, Morning

Image Leave a comment
Lake and Mountains, Morning
Morning mists and light above a subalpine lake, Yosemite National Park

Lake and Mountains, Morning. © Copyright 2019 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Morning mists and light above a subalpine lake, Yosemite National Park.

There is no hiding the fact that this is a popular and sometimes crowded location in Yosemite National Park’s high country. Since this lake is along the Tioga Pass Road route though the park between Tuolumne Meadows (and interesting points farther east) and Yosemite Valley (and most of California!), on busy August days it can be almost oppressively crowded. However, even then, if you go at the right times you can avoid most of the crowds and busy-ness,” and there’s a special bonus: the most beautiful times of the day are often the least crowded!

I’m usually out and about before dawn since I don’t want to miss the beautiful early light or the peace and quiet of the early hours. I had already been up and photographing for some time when I stopped on my way back toward camp to make this photograph. But even as I was wrapping up my morning’s work, most of the people who would show up here later were still sleeping in, having a big breakfast, or perhaps still driving from distant locations. Consequently, I experienced this lovely morning light and atmosphere in near solitude and peaceful quiet.

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 | Facebook | Email

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

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

Photographs: Central California, Photographs: Nature

Wildflower-filled Meadow

Image Leave a comment
Wildflower-filled Meadow
A wildflower-filled meadow in San Luis Obispo County, California

Wildflower-filled Meadow. © Copyright 2019 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

wildflower-filled meadow in San Luis Obispo County, California.

This photograph has been sitting on my desktop for several months now, almost since the time we came back from a spectacular visit to California spring wildflowers, followed by several days spend photographing in Death Valley National Park. I share it perhaps less as a brilliant photographic object, and more as a witness to the excellent and extensive spring bloom we had this year, brought on by above-average rainfall in February.

This location is in the south-central California inland hills between the coast and the Central Valley. During much of the year this country of grassland and oak woodlands is quite dry, and portions of it would impress you as being nearly a desert. But in these wet years the place comes alive for a few months in California fashion. Sometime in winter, when much of the rest of the country is freezing and perhaps under snow, the rains come and new grasses and other plants sprout. Yes, we’re brown in summer here… but we can be “impossibly green” in winter. Over the next few month, typically up until the first part of April, there is a crescendo of green, climaxed by sometimes-astonishing wildflowers… like this bed of yellow flowers spreading across a meadow.

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 | Facebook | Email

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

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