Tag Archives: silhuoette

Photographs: Central California, Photographs: Nature

Orchard, Fog

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Orchard, Fog
Thick winter tule fog spreads through a Central Valley orchard.

Orchard, Fog. © Copyright 2022 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Thick winter tule fog spreads through a Central Valley orchard.

The primary goal of my visit to the Pacific Flyway on this early-January day was to photograph migratory birds in the tule fog. I regularly check the weather predictions at this time of year, since it is the time of “interesting weather,” and this can make all the difference when it comes to the photographic potential of a location. On the day before I made this photograph, my check revealed a very good chance for dense tule fog — the kind that sane drivers try to avoid but which attracts photographers. So I was up very early, ready to drive through the fog for the chance to photograph it.

Local conditions can vary a great deal on days like this. Out where I was photographing birds the sky was beginning to clear, but I still wanted fog. So I drove a ways in a direction where the sky seemed darker, and before long I was once again engulfed. I had this orchard in mind as drove, and when I got there I took a gravel side-road to a spot where I could see an uninterrupted expanse of tree silhouettes fading into the distant fog where the sun was trying to break through.

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

Winter Sun, Fog, Trees

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Winter Sun, Fog, Trees
Morning sun glows weakly through tule fog to silhouette a grove of winter cottonwood trees.

Winter Sun, Fog, Trees. © Copyright 2021 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Morning sun glows weakly through tule fog to silhouette a grove of winter cottonwood trees.

This New Year’s Day my photography was supposed to focus on migratory birds, but somehow I ended up with a bunch of landscape photographs! This is a bit ironic, since I go to these places to photograph birds — but perhaps it isn’t too surprising given that it is hard to photograph birds when the fog is so thick that it obscures things more than 100 feet away.

Before I made this photograph I had tried to photograph cranes. I could hear them nearby, but I could not see a single one through the fog aside from a few that occasionally flew directly overhead. I finally decided to look elsewhere, and before long I passed these familiar trees. In the fog they took on a new and mysterious aspect, so I stopped and set myself up in landscape photographer mode — off came the really long lens and out came the tripod. As I worked the fog changed from moment to moment, and at the instant of this exposure the sun was barely visible through the fog.

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 | 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.