Tag Archives: sun

Photographs: Death Valley, Photographs: Nature

Evening Rain and Sandstorm

April 1, 2016 G Dan Mitchell 2 Comments

Evening rain and sandstorm as sun illuminates the Grapevine Mountains

During the spring season in Death Valley National Park almost anything can happen. It can be 90 degrees or higher, or it might snow. Days may be pleasant to sunny, or it could be overcast with huge winds and dust storms or rain. We just spent the better part of five days there, and I think I saw as great a range of conditions as I’ve encountered before. The second evening was particularly remarkable. We were up in Panamint Mountains when we first noticed the tell-tale haze of dust storms, and by the time we returned to the Valley it was so windy that there was nothing to do but hunker down and wait it out. Near sunset the winds began to abate a bit and we ventured outside. I heard a few claps of thunder and it began to rain huge drops. Later we discovered that it had snowed on the highest peaks.

A few days later the conditions were supposed to be more benign. We spend early morning hours photographing out on the dunes, then did a midday and afternoon hike up a beautiful canyon. Exiting the canyon we were surprised to see dust beginning to rise again, since the forecast had called for very light winds. By the time we got back to Stovepipe Wells the winds were howling, light rain was falling, and dust filled the atmosphere. A bit later things calmed down and I decided to make a quick evening trip to a nearby high point from which I could get an overview of the valley. Arriving there I could see a wild combination of dramatic light on up-valley mountains, rain falling on their summits, and the dust storm growing below. Within minutes of making this photograph the wind began to howl and the dust enveloped my position and I retreated once more.

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

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

Sunrise, Marshland, Birds

March 4, 2016 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Thousands of migratory geese fly above foggy San Joaquin Valley marshland at dawn

On this late-February day we arrived at the wetlands well before dawn, slowed by heavy tule fog along the final miles of our route. The fog was thick but not deep, and while our horizontal view was obscured we could see that objects as short as utility poles extended above the fog layer. At our destination we finally stopped, and got out of the vehicle to set up camera equipment and to get the lay of the land.

Almost immediately flocks of geese began erupting from ponds and taking to the sky, thousands at a time. First a group nearby, then one far off to one side, then another at the distant edge of the refuge, and so on until the sky was filled with them. We thought that it was perhaps the greatest bird tumult that we had seen, and we had arrived just in time to see it. (Of course, only a few days later we experienced an even more monumental evening, with tens of thousands of geese and cranes.) At first we simply photographed the birds in the low light, but eventually I turned my attention to the landscape and made a few photographs across the tule ponds toward the first light developing above the Sierra crest far to our east.

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

Photographs: Central California, Photographs: Nature

Marsh and Sky

December 8, 2015 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Late autumn sky above a flooded marsh, Central Valley, California

A winter ritual begins each year about this time. In the late fall the migratory birds return to California’s Great Central Valley and a band of photographers of which I am a part also heads out to the valley. The primary draw is the birds — geese, ibises, cranes, herons, egrets, and more — which gather by the thousands in the wetlands. But the valley itself also has its attractions at this time of year. The tule fog that slows drivers and obscures the sun also makes the landscape quiet and mysterious. The flat terrain is open to the sky and the clouds of winter storms create an overhead landscape.

A few days ago I made my first trip of the season to the valley, joining a small group of friends for a day of photography. We spent the first few hours focused on the birds — mostly geese and cranes on this visit — and then paused in the late morning. It was during this midday pause that I stopped along the edge of one of the marshland ponds and made this photograph of the expansive cloud-filled sky reflected in the surface of the water.

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Northern California

Drake’s Estero

June 28, 2015 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Summer sun penetrates clearing fog over Drake’s Estero, Point Reyes National Seashore

I took my camera for a hike this week. Or at least that’s how it felt. I have to confess that Point Reyes, a place I visit somewhat regularly, has always been a photographic challenge for me. I can’t quite put my finger on why that is. I certainly have good results with seascape photographs from other areas along the California coast. As I hiked today — an eight mile round trip to the entrance to Drake’s Estero* — I pondered this what might explain it. Because the point extends out into the ocean, it is often foggy. This fog is not the mysterious sort that hangs along the ground and partially obscures trees and hills. It tends to be the cold gray fog that hovers a few hundred feed up, simply blocking and flattening the light. Although I’m intrigued by this landscape, much of it can be quite barren. There are forests, but they often consist of slender trees growing closely together, often with dense undergrowth. It is difficult to find the things that attract me to the landscapes of the Sierra and the desert — rugged rocky forms, tall cliffs (there are some of these at Point Reyes), light-filled forests, bare and rocky ground. Oh, and did I mention the wind!?

But I keep going back, frequently returning with only a few photographs. This was one of those days. I very much like the place I hiked — a route that alternates between forest, tramping along the waterline, and traversing high bluffs above the estero. I walked four miles out past the end of the trail, to a place where I could walk along a narrow band at the base of cliffs that front the estero, and across the relatively still water were sandbars with birds. Beyond that the surf broke outside of the entrance to the estero. At this far end of the hike I was completely alone, and I found a rock to sit on and quietly take in this scene before turning around to retrace my steps. The photographic challenges on this walk were primarily the strong winds and the gray light. As I passed along the top of one of the bluffs, the sky cleared enough to produce beautiful, soft light on the water and the far peninsula, providing an opportunity to make my one good photograph of the day.

“Drake’s Estero” is, as you probably guessed, an estuary — but here I’m using the word that the park service uses for this feature.

G Dan Mitchell Photography

Tag Archives: sun

Evening Rain and Sandstorm

Sunrise, Marshland, Birds

Marsh and Sky

Drake’s Estero

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