Tag Archives: sky

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

Ross’s Geese, Dusk

December 17, 2013 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

A group of Ross’s geese takes flight in hazy dusk light

I try to visit California’s San Joaquin Valley as often as possible during the fall, winter, and early spring months when migratory birds settle in for the cold season. The sounds of the birds and the sight of flocks of them setting in or flying overhead is addictive – so much so that I’m willing to go to somewhat great lengths to experience this. Most often this means getting up way before dawn, often on very cold mornings, and driving a couple of hours into the foggy landscape of the valley and then photographing for hours in the cold. I’m not complaining – I love doing this! I also have what has become an annual routine connected to my periodic Death Valley photography trips. I try to arrange my schedule on the last day in Death Valley so that I can do a morning shoot there, quickly strike camp and pack up, and leave soon enough that I can stop to photograph birds on the way home. (The two worlds – the dry, austere world of Death Valley, and the cold, damp, and bird-filled Central Valley – could not be more different.)

This photograph is one of several (well, OK, more than “several”) I made during a one hour stop at some valley wetlands at the end of the day on the long drive home. I arrived, did a quick reconnaissance around the area, discovered a large flock settled in along a gravel road in a pasture, and settled in to watch the evening’s events. I recall a time when I was disappointed when the light faded, since it eventually became too dark to maintain shutter speeds that would stop the motion of the geese as they flew in, out, and around. But it didn’t take long to discover that continuing to shoot in the fading light and accepting the slower shutter speeds led to motion blur would let me present the birds in a more abstract way, but one that is in many ways as true as isolating a moment of seeming stillness in a scene that is actually full of motion. I now look forward to this time of low light, when I can make photographs that might possess a bit more mystery.

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: Desert, Photographs: Northern California, Photographs: Structures and Objects

Brick Building, Doorway, Reflected Sky

December 14, 2013 G Dan Mitchell 1 Comment

The desert sky is reflected in the windows of an abandoned brick building in the ghost town of Bodie, California

I have been to Bodie quite a few times, but I rarely go there anymore unless I think something interesting might happen with the weather. The place is often sun-blasted, with cloudless blue skies, and during the part of the year when it is most often visited it tends to be quite hot and dry. Don’t get me wrong – Bodie is a fascinating place and its story is even more interesting. I’ve visited a number of ghost towns and isolated abandoned structures in the outback of California, and the sheer scope of this ghost town sets it apart, as does that fact that California has worked to sustain it in a state of suspended decay.

We were wandering around the eastern side of the Sierra Nevada and points further east of that on the final day of our five-day “aspen chasing” visit this October. Most often my plans are a bit general and/or flexible, and I like to adapt to changing conditions rather than stick to a preset shooting schedule. On this day we were surprised to find it snowing when we awoke in Mammoth Lakes, and as we left town to explore in an eastward direction we stopped to photograph dawn snow flurries over the Sierra crest. Eventually, after going a good distance out toward the Nevada border, we looped back to the north and ended up in Lee Vining, where we grabbed a (very late!) breakfast at Nicely’s. The possibility of going to Bodie was somewhere on the list of options, but when we continued to see snow falling about the town and clouds to the north and east, we decided to head out there to see what we could find. In the end, there was no snow falling in Bodie – though it had fallen there earlier that day – but it was very cold and very windy and broken clouds provided interesting and changeable light. One of my main subjects as I wandered around the town making photographs turned out to be the doors and windows on the old buildings. Perhaps ironically, given my usual lack of interest in sun-blasted Bodie, I shot this scene in nearly flat front light – but it seemed appropriate for this old and weathered building and the reflection i the old windows of the very blue cloud-filled sky.

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

Tree and Marsh

December 5, 2013 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

A solitary tree in marshland in the San Joaquin Valley, California

I have a bit of history with this tree. It is at a place where I frequently photograph at this time of year out in California’s San Joaquin Valley. These ponds are in an agricultural area that supports large populations of birds in the cooler seasons, and as I make my way around this place I often end up stopping here.

The stark tree stands alone at the edge of a pond, and there are often birds in its branches. Somewhere I have a photograph in which the branches are nearly full of red-winged blackbirds, and I’ve seen larger birds there, too. I’ve encountered it in completely clear conditions and in fog so thick that it was barely visible. This morning started out with some fog, but not much by wet-season San Joaquin Valley standards, and some sun made it through within a few minutes of sunrise. The foggy atmosphere stuck around enough to soften the light and mute colors a bit, but visibility was good and it was possible to see the blue sky above, with its layers of diminishing fog near the ground, lighter clouds beyond, and the blue sky above all else.

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

Dawn Sky and Marsh

December 4, 2013 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Fog-filled dawn sky above a California Central Valley marsh

This is another photograph that sits on the interesting (to me, anyway!) boundary between wildlife/nature and landscape photography. I was here to photograph migratory birds – at least that is what I told anyone who was interested in my goal – but it is often a bit more complex than that. The sources of the complexity range from the question of just what a wildlife photo should/could be, to the relationship between wildlife and landscape in my photography, to the role of opportunism in photography… and the practical matter of what to do when the birds are not where you are!

I began this morning’s photography with some scenes with nearby bird in the foreground water and the sun rising through dense fog in the distance. Then I decided to move along through this area a bit, initially hoping to find cranes and certain other birds along a west-facing section of this wildlife reserve. The birds had their own ideas about where to be and what to do on this morning, and they apparently did not include settling in near or flying directly over my position. But as the early morning fog drifted in and out, it revealed the muted color of the dawn sky so I stopped and made a few more photographs that were (maybe) more about the landscape (and atmosphere and light and, in my mind, sounds) than about the birds themselves. If you look closely, though, you will see a trio of sandhill cranes passing over the marsh and if you look really close you might notice a lot of other smaller birds here and there, too.

G Dan Mitchell Photography

Tag Archives: sky

Ross’s Geese, Dusk

Brick Building, Doorway, Reflected Sky

Tree and Marsh

Dawn Sky and Marsh

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