Tag Archives: season

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

Geese, Sun, Winter Clouds

February 3, 2015 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

A flock of Ross’s geese flies in front of winter sun in cloud-filled sky

Occasionally, magic happens when out in a place like this, and it makes many days of less-magical photography seem more than worth it. And there was such magic at the end of this long day of winter photography in the San Joaquin Valley, beginning with a predawn arrival and hours of photography in mysterious tule fog, sometimes with birds heard by not seen. Friends were there with us, and as the day wore on more arrived. Sometimes we worked together and sometimes we headed off in different directions, but as the end of the day approached we began to see where the birds would be at sunset and then to pick our strategies for the final light.

Several of us ended up near a very large flock of Ross’s geese that was settling down in a pasture along a gravel road. The birds were gradually moving east, so we placed ourselves even further east so that rows of trees and the western sky would be in back of the birds. We settled in to photograph, occasionally moving a bit to accommodate the flock as it continued its drift to the east. For the most part things were quiet — geese came and went, with groups of them approaching from the west and landing near us. The sun was right behind the birds, which would normally make photography very challenging, but a cooperative cloud bank drifted across and blocked enough of the light to allow us to shoot straight into it as lines of birds came towards us to land.

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.

Photographs: Central California, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Northern California

Geese, Winter Dusk Sky

January 28, 2015 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Geese fly above California’s San Joaquin Valley in dusk light at the end of a winter day

Out here in the San Joaquin Valley winter wetland landscape, I never know for certain what the end of the day will bring. Will it be an evening when tens of thousands of birds — cranes and geese and others — are everywhere, periodically erupting into noisy flight? Or will it be a quiet evening with only a few birds? It is often foggy out here in the winter, and that fog might clear and bring evening colors or it might stick around so that the gray simply becomes darker. If the fog does clear, will it reveal a perfect blue sky or a sky with clouds from a passing weather front?

There were plenty of surprises on the late-January evening. One pleasant surprise was that a number of friends/photographers also showed up, and we often photographed together though the day and on into the evening. And in a season when it has sometimes seemed like the geese had gone elsewhere, there were huge flocks of them everywhere, and larger than usual groups of sandhill cranes joined in the party. The fog did clear, and at dusk the sun lit high clouds above the remaining valley haze. And as the day ended flocks of birds became very active, suddenly taking to the air and forming giant clouds of noisy birds that swirled in circles. This was nearly my final photograph of the day, made as some of those groups flew above the pastureland in front of rows of trees in the fading light.

Photographs: Central California, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Northern California

Pond, Winter Fog

January 24, 2015 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

A wetland pond in dense winter fog

In the winter California’s Great Central Valley is often covered by tule fog. This fog is sometimes so shallow that you can look straight up and see the moon, the sun, stars, and clouds… but it may also be so dense that you can barely see a hundred feet straight ahead. People who have to drive long distances in these conditions — the east/west drive across the valley or, worse, the north/south drive along its length — dread this for, and driving in it can be both nerve-wracking and dangerous. Some of us, however, respond to the dense fog alerts in a perverse way. They are our signal to head straight to the valley to photograph in the fog!

This was one of those days. We ran into the fog as soon as we topped the pass over the mountain range along the west side of the valley well before dawn, and then we drove slowly through it for over an hour to get to our destination, where we photographed in it until it began to clear a bit close to noon. It was thick and wet on this morning, with very limited visibility and a constant drizzle. But it was also very still, very quiet, and very mysterious as we drove slowly around this wetland area where the calls of invisible cranes and geese came to us through the fog.

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Northern California, Photographs: Sierra Nevada

Autumn Snow, Bear Creek Spire

January 17, 2015 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Early season autumn snow below Bear Creek Spire, Eastern Sierra Nevada

This little lake might be familiar to a number of viewers who hike in the eastern Sierra, as it is not too far up a popular trail to other east side access points for backpackers and day hikers. I have been there quite a few times over the years, though rarely with the lake itself as the objective. There is one exception. I recall one pack trip quite a few years ago, when a friend and I had arrived at the trailhead quite late in the day. We wanted to get a head start on the next day’s hike, so we headed out and dusk and got just far enough up the trail to set up a crude camp (I was just using a bivy sack, if I recall correctly) after dark.

The story behind this photograph is a different one. As I often do in October, I headed to the eastern Sierra to photograph that annual fall aspen color show. My plans are usually quite general, and I prefer to sort of follow my hunches as I poke around in various east side locations looking for photographs. I had been working with a client who wanted a photograph of a peak that appears in this photograph, and when I saw the conditions (nice weather and new snow) it occurred to me that I might quickly find something that would work better for my client than the photos I had already proposed. So I drove up to the trailhead (which I often visit anyway), shouldered my camera pack, and headed to this quiet spot where the scene look at lot more like winter than early autumn!

G Dan Mitchell Photography

Tag Archives: season

Geese, Winter Dusk Sky

Pond, Winter Fog

Autumn Snow, Bear Creek Spire

Photographer and visual opportunist. Daily photos since 2005, plus articles, reviews, news, and ideas.