Tag Archives: sunlight

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

Dunes and Mountains, First Light

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Dunes and Mountains, First Light
The first sunlight falls across sand dunes with a backdrop of desert mountains

Dunes and Mountains, First Light. © Copyright 2019 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

The first sunlight falls across sand dunes with a backdrop of desert mountains.

Back in early March I made a trip to Death Valley, partly to meet and camp with family members and partly (of course!) to make photographs. Early March is still in Death Valley’s “cool” season, and I don’t think I saw temperatures above the mid-70-degree range. (By the time of my next visit the highs will likely be well into the 90s. And after that? I stay away from the place!)

When I travel to places like this it isn’t at all unusual to encounter other photographers that I know. (I once ran into a friend walking around a bend in a narrow slot canyon beyond the end of a 25-mile gravel road!) This time I discovered that a trio of photographer/friends from the Yosemite area were camped nearby, and we joined forces for an early morning visit to the dunes the next day. We met up and started walking well before it was light out, and we arrived in the dunes before the sun came up. Soon the first light began to slant across the forms of the dunes and we worked quickly in this ephemeral light.

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: Ocean & Coast

Storm Approaches

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Storm Approaches
Approaching storm, sunlight on water, clearing fog along the Big Sur coast

Storm Approaches. © Copyright 2019 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Approaching storm, sunlight on water, clearing fog along the Big Sur coast.

While summer is the most popular time for tourists to visit California’s spectacular Big Sur coastline, I’d rather go there in the winter — which is just what I did today. This is the season of the most interesting and dynamic conditions — storms approaching and departing, big surf, clouds and mist, and the low sun reflecting on the water.

To be honest, I initially thought that I might get ahead of the next Pacific weather front, which was scheduled to arrive in the evening. The weather forecast was calling for partly sunny morning conditions, and I planned this little trip with that in mind. But as I headed south from the Carmel area it was obvious that there were plenty of clouds to the south and offshore. Here and there the clouds thinned enough to bring a bit of directional light or reflect off the surface of the Pacific, but overall the sky leaned in the “ominous” direction. I stopped briefly at this familiar spot to photograph this cliff descending steeply into the water, with a few thinning fog clouds dissipating along the ridge of the mountains extending to teh south.

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

Photographs: Coastal Redwoods, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Northern California, Photographs: Redwood National & State Parks

Redwoods in Sun

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Redwoods in Sun
A beam of filtered sunlight illuminates redwood trees deep in Prairie Creek Redwood State Park

Redwoods in Sun. © Copyright 2018 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A beam of filtered sunlight illuminates redwood trees deep in Prairie Creek Redwood State Park

I had a portion of one day to spend at Prairie Creek Redwood State Park. I could easily have spent more time there, but I wanted to make first visits to several of the redwood parks, so I saved this one for my last day in the area. Arriving at the park my first subject wasn’t redwoods — instead it was a remarkable grove of alder trees. I finished there and moved on into the center of the park, looking for a particular trail that I thought might have some rhododendron blooms. (It turned out that I was probably a few days early for that.)

I arrived at the trailhead, shouldered my camera pack, and started walking… slowly. While I can hike efficiently and cover distance, when I photograph my speed slows profoundly, and what I call hiking might more accurately be described as ambling. As I wandered up this trail, following it up into a redwood-filled valley, the light constantly changed. High fog was breaking up, and one minute it would be bright (too bright for photograph) and then next minute the clouds muted the light. I stopped at this spot where I could look across the valley and focus on a spot many feet up the trunks of the trees. I waited for the clouds to block the sun and mute the light before making a few photographs.

See top of this page for Articles, Sales and Licensing, my Sierra Nevada Fall Color book, Contact Information and more.

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

Photographs: Central California, Photographs: Nature

Island With Trees, Thinning Fog

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Island With Trees, Thinning Fog
Sunlight begins to illuminate a small wetland island as San Joaquin Valley tule fog thins

Island With Trees, Thinning Fog. © Copyright 2018 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Sunlight begins to illuminate a small wetland island as San Joaquin Valley tule fog thins

We all know that (apparently false) story about the number of words that Inuit people have for the myriad types of snow. I suspect that it would be possible to have a similarly diverse vocabulary of descriptions for fog, dependent upon its thickness, temperature, quality and color of light, tendency to move, effect on sound, time of day, season, persistence, and much more. Photographing in California is something of a laboratory in the nature of fog, in that we have so many types. Living in the San Francisco Bay Area I am very familiar with the type of fog created by the marine influence — often cold and gray and damp, and frequently a feature of the late-spring and summer months. Photographing Central Valley birds (and driving across the great valley while traveling to and from the Sierra Nevada) has given me ample opportunities to know the tule fog, mostly a winter phenomenon caused by cool and damp conditions over land.

On winter days when I photograph in the valley I experience transitions though many different types of fog and fog-light. I often start before dawn, when the fog and darkness can close the world down to what I can (barely) see in my headlights, or by the glow of commercial signs and streetlights as I pass through towns. Before sunrise the fog can glow in colors ranging from sky blue to the gaudy reds, oranges, yellows, and purples of first light on clouds above the fog. Eventually that color dissipates and the fog can simply become gray. Then, as it things (often from the top down), and light begins to filter down to the ground level, the colors of grasses and trees and water being to appear faintly.

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