Tag Archives: san joaquin

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

Sandhill Cranes, Wetland Pond

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Sandhill Cranes, Wetland Pond
“Sandhill Cranes, Wetland Pond” — A small group of lesser sandhill cranes stands in the shallow water of a wetland pond.

Sandhill cranes were the main reason that I went to the Central Valley on this winter morning. My plan was to be there before dawn — and I was! — so that I could photograph them taking flight in luminous fog at sunrise. But the fog over-achieved, and was so thick at sunrise that the birds weren’t visible at all. At that point the fog itself become my dawn subject.

As the morning wore on the fog thinned, and eventually the cranes and other birds became visible. I found a large group in a shallow pond where they had spent the night. One of the challenges of photographing groups of these birds is that much of the time their heads are down as they groom themselves or reach for the water. So I watch and wait, hoping for that instant when a few —or all! — of them raise their heads at once.

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

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

Winter Birds, Virga

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Winter Birds, Virga
“Winter Birds, Virga” — Migratory geese in flight against virga sky, Central Valley.

An incoming storm from was just beginning to make its presence known on this morning. The front would not arrive until that night, but high clouds were already producing virga — rain that fails to fall all the way to the ground. I made the photograph as a group of migratory geese passed in front of a cloud lit by early morning light.

I’m going to give away a secret about this photograph and some others that I have made. Because I used a very long lens, I was able to isolate a small, interesting section of the sky. I frequently see small, distant, and very interesting things in the landscape. When this happens I like to use long lenses to extract them from the larger scene.

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

Old Tree, Sunrise

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Old Tree, Sunrise
“Old Tree, Sunrise” — Winter sun rises through tule fog behind an old tree along a Central Valley backroad.

Once again the weather reports predicted tule fog in the Central Valley, so I was up and on the road early. My hope was that I’d find more geese and cranes to photograph this time — there weren’t as many as I expected on my previous visit. At the same time, I knew that the wet conditions might diminish their numbers. It turned that this was the case, and there were almost none of the birds I came for in the morning. But there was fog!

It was almost a perfect foggy morning. Most of the drive was in clear air, but I hit heavy fog perhaps ten minutes from my destination, so thick that photography was initially a challenge. I photographed this tree later as the fog thinned. It still was around, but so close to the ground that the blue sky was visible above this sprawling old tree as the sun rose beyond.

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.

Scroll down to share comments or questions. (Click post title first if viewing on the home page.)

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