Tag Archives: rushes

Photographs: Central California, Photographs: Nature

Winter Wetlands, Clearing Fog

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Winter Wetlands, Clearing Fog
“Winter Wetlands, Clearing Fog” — Winter tule fog clears and the sun begins to shine on Central Valley wetlands.

This “quiet photograph” of winter wetlands, clearing fog, and bits of sparse vegetation is as evocative of the experience of such places as those featuring flocks of birds and winter sunrises and sunsets. The latter are remarkable and compelling features of this landscape largely because they are exceptional. Most of the time these places are quiet and still, and never more so than on a foggy morning.

Fascinating transitions of light occur as tule fog clears. The day begins in muted, gray, even oppressive darkness, with visibility measured in feet. Because tule fog is shallow it often becomes luminous as the sun begins to rise. Then, here and there, it begins to thin and break up, and soft directional light appears. Then the blue sky becomes more clearly visible, more distant features being to appear, and remnant clouds float above the landscape, and soon it is day.

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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Photographs: Central California, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Sky

Wetlands, Winter Sky

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Wetlands, Winter Sky
“Wetlands, Winter Sky” — A fog-draped landscape of water and sky and clouds,, Central Valley, California.

Recently I was thinking about a particular sort of “moment of consciousness” that I’ve experienced a few times. It usually (though not that often!) comes when I’m in a natural place where more or less nothing is happening and my pace has slowed. It is hard to define precisely what these moments are or force them to happen, but when they do come they are palpable. There’s a sense of immense stillness and of time almost stopping. For me it has come on a few occasions in the desert or in the mountains, alone on a windless and silent day..

I think it could come in a place like this, too. At one point this week I paused and just sat quietly and considered what is happening most of the time in this wetlands location. The answer is: nothing obviously remarkable. A few birds move about slowly and almost silently (until the geese and cranes arrive!), the water is still, and the sky seems fixed and luminous. I’m not sure that a photograph can embody all of that, but perhaps it can be a reminder.

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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Links: Articles, Sales and Licensing, my Sierra Nevada Fall Color book, Contact Info.

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Photographs: Central California, Photographs: Nature

Tule Fog and Reflection

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Tule Fog and Reflection
“Tule Fog and Reflection” — Morning sunlight reflects on the surface of a wetland pond covered by winter tule fog.

After starting the morning in fog so thick that I could not see (or photograph), I stopped here along a levee road as the fog began to thin. I still couldn’t see much more than perhaps fifty yards along the ground, but the tule fog was shallow enough that light penetrated it and I could see the sky. As the sun rose above the Sierra it broke free of clouds and its light reflected on the surface of this pond.

Color in foggy conditions is a tricky thing. Looking into the foggy void, everything seems essentially gray. But the atmosphere picks up all sorts of colorations — the warm tones of sunrise light, the blue of the sky, and sometimes combinations of these things. Here the light took on a slightly pink quality that didn’t completely wash out the blue from the 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, Amazon, and directly from G Dan Mitchell.

Blog | About | Instagram | Flickr | Facebook | Threads | Post | Email

Links: Articles, Sales and Licensing, my Sierra Nevada Fall Color book, Contact Info.

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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

Female Redwing Blackbirds

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Female Redwing Blackbirds
Female Redwing Blackbirds

Female Redwing Blackbirds. San Joaquin Valley, California. January 21, 2013. © Copyright 2013 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Three female redwing blackbirds among the reeds near a San Joaquin Valley pond.

Among the relatively small number of birds that I actually can identify with some certainty are the red wing blackbirds… or so I thought. (To repeat my frequent disclaimer, I’m no expert on identifying birds, despite the fact that I frequently photograph them.) I have long been intrigued by these small birds, which I’ve photographed in large flocks and as individuals. The flocks are fun to watch and shoot for many reasons, but one is that as the birds turn and angle across the landscape many of them may reveal the namesake red areas on their wings for brief instants.

I remember making this photograph and being intrigued by the small birds hanging out in the reeds of this pond where I had gone to photograph other larger and more impressive migratory birds, including geese, cranes, and more. The soft light on the birds caught my attention – fog was thinning but still muting the light – as did the warm golden and brown colors of the vegetation and the out of focus background of small trees. At the time I really did not know what kind of birds these were, but I figured that I could look them up later. I did so somewhat later when I had time to work on the photographs from this shoot. I tried to match them with various different sort of common small birds but nothing quite fit. I finally asked some folks if they knew and one online friend quickly got back to me to say that they were female redwing blackbirds… which don’t have red wings and are not black! (He was sympathetic and suggested that others had been confused by these birds, too. Thanks, Chuq!)

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.