Tag Archives: storm

Photographs: Nature

Sunset Rain, California Valley

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Sunset Rain, California Valley
Spring rain dissipates over mountains near California Valley at sunset.

Sunset Rain, California Valley. © Copyright 2019 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Spring rain dissipates over mountains near California Valley at sunset.

Early spring (and sometimes the tail end of winter)offers some of the most interesting weather in California. Summers tend to be somewhat bland from a photographic perspective, at least in places where nearly endless blue sky days are the norm. Winter storms are powerful, but follow a predictable path for the most part. But as we transition from the wet season to the dry one we have an increased chance of experiencing hail, sudden downpours, rainbows, lightning and thunder, and rapid transitions between clouds and sun, all playing out over the green spring landscape.

A year ago I was at an area of inland hills where wildflowers can bloom in extraordinary ways when the conditions are just right. It was a day featuring that dynamic, changing weather. In the evening I went to a spot where a valley began to ascend toward hills, from which I could see across the valley toward distant hills. As the sun appeared under the clouds to the west near sunset, the golden light illuminated sheets of rain falling over the mountains.

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 and Amazon.

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Photographs: Central California, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Southern California

Oak Tree, Clearing Spring Storm

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An oak tree surrounded by wildflowers and new growth, as an early spring storm clears.

Oak Tree, Clearing Spring Storm. © Copyright 2019 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

An oak tree surrounded by wildflowers and new growth, as an early spring storm clears.

This is the green season in California right now, although our opportunities to get out and experience it directly are limited right now. While I can get out for a daily neighborhood walk during our mandatory “Stay At Home” order, that keeps me mostly within walking distance of home. There is spring to see and experience locally, but not quite the same way as when I travel. So for now I’m tracking my way through my raw file archives, roughly following the current season, and rediscovering photographs that I left behind in the past.

I made this photograph on a beautiful early spring evening in California’s Temblor Range last year. It had been a day of those wonderful spring storms, when light and shadow and showers sweep across the green landscape, one after another. Late in the day I went to this elevated location and looked back across a valley through this oak tree as the storm clouds began to clear from the west.

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 and Amazon.

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Links to Articles, Sales and Licensing, my Sierra Nevada Fall Color book, Contact Information.

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

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Sierra Nevada

Evening Light, Clearing Storm

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Evening LIght, Clearing Storm
Summer storm clouds clear in the evening over the John Muir Wilderness

Evening Light, Clearing Storm. © Copyright 2019 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

One of the advantages of setting into one backcountrylocation for an extended stay is that I often get to experience the location in a variety of circumstances and conditions. I get to shoot in morning, midday, and evening light; in “perfect” blue-sky sunshine and thunderstorm conditions. And because the seasonal changes happen so rapidly in the high country, with its shortened growing season, I can watch wildflowers bloom and meadows transition from green to golden.

Along with fellow photographers, I spent a week in this spot two summers ago. On most days the sky was that Sierra Nevada “perfect blue…” that may not thrill photographers who are looking for something more interesting. But over the course of the stay those conditions changed. There was a morning with a deck of broken clouds, an night of thunderstorms, and this evening when clouds caught the light and high country pastels replaced the often stark

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 and Amazon.

Blog | About | Flickr | Facebook | Email

Links to Articles, Sales and Licensing, my Sierra Nevada Fall Color book, Contact Information.

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

Photographs: Death Valley, Photographs: Desert, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Southern California

Dunes, Mountains, Sand Storm

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Dunes, Mountains, Sand Storm
A sand storm blows a cloud of dust into desert mountains at sunset

Dunes, Mountains, Sand Storm. © Copyright 2019 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A sand storm blows a cloud of dust into desert mountains at sunset.

This early-April afternoon and evening produced remarkable conditions in Death Valley. I had seen the advance warnings of high winds and sand storms so I was already thinking of the potential conditions beforehand, but late in the day I noted that dust clouds were already visible far to the north. But the wind-driven sand and dust wasn’t the only interesting element — a weather front was also moving through, stacking up spectacular clouds, some of which were managing to drop some rain.

We did a big loop northward along the eastern slopes of the valley, climbing a ways into the Amargosa Range before coming back down to the valley, where the winds continued and dust and sand were blowing everywhere. We stopped in the thick of it, and I thought about a technique I often use in these conditions: photographing with a long lens from inside the vehicle. But that presented two problems: opening a window even a crack quickly let in piles of sand, and the subjects I was interested were in all directions. So I got out, cowering in the leeward side of the vehicle, and photographed as the sand blew, clouds to the west began to thin, and sunset light struck the mountains to my east.

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 and Amazon.

Blog | About | Flickr | Facebook | Email

Links to Articles, Sales and Licensing, my Sierra Nevada Fall Color book, Contact Information.

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