Tag Archives: sky

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

Marsh, Fog, Sunrise

February 21, 2014 G Dan Mitchell 2 Comments

Dawn sun reflected in the surface of a foggy San Joaquin Valley marsh

On a foggy morning like this one, when the fog is dense but not deep, the atmosphere and light can pass through an astounding series of phases in short order as the day begins. We arrived before sunrise, when it was still almost dark, and when we began to think photographically a few minutes later there was little light in the sky at all. The overall toned were mostly blue, and it was difficult to see any detail. Very soon, as the first real pre-dawn light began to illuminate clouds above the eastern horizon and turn them shades of red and pink, the shallow fog layer began to glow with these reflected colors. We had perhaps five minutes of this luminous color, which at times was almost unbelievably saturated, and then the intensity began to fade and the colors became more subtle. At the same time, the brighter sky overhead became more visible through the fog, and we could begin to more clearly see the higher clouds.

The sun was still below the horizon, even though its light was beginning to strike those higher clouds to the east. At about this time we moved on to a different location with a clearer view directly to the east. Very soon the rising sun began to emerge above the distant Sierra and low clouds, and from our position it rose into a slight clearing in these clouds. The orb of the sun became visible through the dense atmosphere and its direct light soon began to reflect off the surface of the wetland pond in front of us. Shooting straight into the rising sun, I closed down aperture and shortened exposure and made this photograph that, to me, captures the depth of the scene as it moves from the nearby reflections and ripples in the water, across a further line of half-submerged grasses, towards a larger expanse of the pond and then further landscape in fog, to finally rise though slightly glowing back-lit fog toward the sky and the sun.

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Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Sequoia-Kings Canyon, Photographs: Sierra Nevada

Lake and Rocky Peninsula

February 17, 2014 G Dan Mitchell 2 Comments

Smooth water behind a small rocky peninsula reflects clouds above a high Sierra back-country lake, Kings Canyon National Park

We stopped at this small lake along the route to and from our destination during our September 2013 nine-day photographic excursion into the high Sierra back-country of Kings Canyon National Park. Between the trailhead and the 11,000′ basin where we camped for nearly a week, there was a 15+ mile hike, two near-12,000′ passes, and a final climb of well over a thousand feet – too far for our party to travel in a single day. So we ended up making a stop here on the inbound and outbound trips. This is a view a few steps away from our campsite near the outlet stream.

My previous visit to this lake had been several decades earlier, back on my very first solo Sierra Nevada backpacking trip. That is a story worth its own lengthy post at some point, but the most striking point may be that I decided that my very first solo trip would be two weeks long! Given that solo backpacking may strike some as a stretch in several ways, a shorter first trip might seem more sensible – but in retrospect I’m glad that I went out for so long. After a few initial days of dealing with the expected “issues” of solo backcountry travel, I got past those concerns and have rarely felt as connected to the natural world as I did during the second half of that trip. At about that point I stopped at this lake on the walk between Bubbs Creek and Rae Lakes, and I recall the next day’s climb to the Pass, where I sat for a long time, in no hurry to leave or get to any place in particular.

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

Dawn Light, Fog, Marsh and Tree

February 16, 2014 G Dan Mitchell 3 Comments

Early morning fog above a marsh briefly glows with pink dawn light, San Joaquin Valley

The winter season ends all too quickly here in California, and blossoms are already appearing on trees. Especially in this drought year, now is the time to enjoy the sights of the cool season – so when we had a chance to make another trip out to the San Joaquin Valley to chase migratory birds a few days ago we immediately changed our previous plans and headed out that way. We left shortly after 4:00 AM so that we could meet friends in the valley at 6:15 – well before dawn, but just in time to be ready for the potentially beautiful pre-dawn light, especially if it would turn out to be foggy.

And it did. Although the two-hour drive was mostly through clear conditions, perhaps 10 minutes from our destination we began to run into the typical Central Valley tule fog. It makes driving difficult… but it makes light wonderful! As soon as we drove into the area where we would photograph we could see that the ground-hugging fog was starting to glow in the pink pre-dawn light. Sometimes we hang out for a bit and chat before getting to work on photographing, but these conditions created a sense of urgency and we immediately moved on to look for subjects. Soon one of the members of our party stopped and headed across a bit of pasture towards the edge of a pond where the quiet water reflected the image of a solitary tree and the colorful sky. I soon joined him, and after he moved on I made a series of photographs of this scene. Photographs made a moment later in the sequence have more of a blue coloration, but for a brief moment the fog glowed pink-purple in the early light.

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

Geese, Wetlands, Dusk Sky

February 12, 2014 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Geese and colorful dusk sky reflected in wetland pond, San Joaquin Valley

This was close to the final photograph I made on my New Year’s Day visit to the San Joaquin Valley. Despite arriving back from the east coast the night before after 10:00 PM, I was determined be out in the valley at a wildlife refuge for the first day of the year. Up hours before dawn, I drove for two hours in the dark and arrived in dawn twilight to find a couple of my friends were already there. We photographed all morning, in light that changed from pre-dawn fog to morning mist to typical winter Central Valley haze, and then we took a break in the early afternoon to go into town and get something to eat.

By this time the light conditions were looking a bit less promising, as high clouds were blocking some of the light, and this combined with the haze to create some very murky conditions. I had more or less decided to call it a day and, in fact, my friends did decide to head back home. Late in the afternoon I was about to do the same thing, but I realized that my route would take me back past the refuge – so I might as well drop in there and see what was up on the way. It was not much more than an hour before sunset when I arrived and it was still quite murky. But I know that there is often a possibility that these conditions can turn colorful when the distant sky is lit but sunset colors. I worked my way around the area to find this very large flock of geese settling in for the evening and, sure enough, the sky lit up during the last few minutes of daylight and into the early evening.

G Dan Mitchell Photography

Tag Archives: sky

Marsh, Fog, Sunrise

Lake and Rocky Peninsula

Dawn Light, Fog, Marsh and Tree

Geese, Wetlands, Dusk Sky

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