Tag Archives: san joaquin

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

Central Valley Coyote

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Central Valley Coyote
A coyote pauses during an early evening hunt in California’s Central Valley.

Central Valley Coyote. © Copyright 2013 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A coyote pauses during an early evening hunt in California’s Central Valley.

We know that coyotes are about in the locations where we photograph migratory birds in the autumn and winter. We often hear their cries in the evening, and occasionally we’ll catch sight of them in the distance as they trot across the grassland toward a tasty-looking flock of birds, no doubt encountering equally tasting small mammals along the way. However, seeing one this close in the daytime is a bit less typical.

It was the last hour before sunset, as you might guess from the warm and low-angle light, when this specimen appeared not far away from my position. It was most certainly aware of my presence, but it didn’t seem overly concerned as it passed, pausing occasionally to look around and even cast a glance in our direction.

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: Central California, Photographs: Nature

Clearing the Channel

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Clearing the Channel
Equipment poised to clear a channel in agricultural land, Central Valley.

Clearing the Channel. © Copyright 2013 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Equipment poised to clear a channel in agricultural land, Central Valley.

As I queue up this photograph for posting in the next week or two at the website, it seems oddly appropriate that I’m sharing a winter photograph on the final day before autumn begins. My photographic interests evolve seasonally, and I’m usually thinking a season or two into the future. These Central Valley landscape, along with the migratory birds that visit them each year, become my focus in the late autumn and winter.

Aside from the current — and deeply concerning — climate changes, there are variations from year to year. In the Central Valley they might be seen in the onset of the first rain, the overall humidity of a season, and whether or not there is enough rain to leave flood pools in the lowlands. There were back in this year, and I made this photograph on a very foggy morning, when I came across a piece of equipment staged to clear out one of the flooding channels in an agricultural region 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.

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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.

Photographs: Birds, Photographs: Central California, Photographs: Flight, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Wildlife

Landing in Fog

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Landing in Fog
Geese land in morning tule fog, California Central Valley.

Landing in Fog. © Copyright 20202012G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Geese land in morning tule fog, California Central Valley.

Back when I first began photographing this subject, I tended to think of these conditions as being barely worthy of photographing. Challenges abound — it is hard to stop the motion of flying birds when using a long lens in low light, the thick fog often renders the birds invisible, and it can be cold and wet! But over time my perspective shifted and I came to hope for conditions like these at the start of a day of bird photography.

Finding the birds in these conditions can be something of a challenge. Often I’ll hear them — many thousands of them — somewhere out there in the fog. But the birds are too far away to be visible, aside from an occasional outlier that quickly appears in the mist and is gone just as fast. So we move on, hoping that we’ll eventually find a spot where the birds a close enough or that the fog will eventually thin a bit. On this morning we had traversed almost the entirety of this location before we came upon a huge flock very close to the gravel road. We stopped and watched quietly as the first came and went.

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.

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

Photographs: Birds, Photographs: Central California, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Wildlife

Ross’s Geese in Flight

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Ross's Geese in Flight
A large group of Ross’s geese in flight above California’s Central Valley.

Ross’s Geese in Flight. © Copyright 2012 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A large group of Ross’s geese in flight above California’s Central Valley.

Recently I shared another photograph of Ross’s geese made on the same day as this one. The two photographs could not be more different! I made that other photograph in fading evening light, and I opted for a rather long shutter speed, resulting in a soft and abstract image of the motion of birds taking off. This photograph was made earlier in good light, and while it also focuses on birds taking to the air, there is no softness in this one!

How many birds? I don’t know. (Though if you are interested and patient you can count birds in a small area and then multiply to reflect those in the rest of the frame!) I took a close enough look to say that the birds are primarily Ross’s geese, which is not to say that there might not be a few stray snow geese sneaking into the party.

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.