Tag Archives: sunrise

Photographs: Death Valley, Photographs: Desert, Photographs: Nature

Desert Spring

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Desert Spring
Pools of desert water reflect sunrise light on distant mountains, Death Valley National Park

Desert Spring. Death Valley National Park, California. March 31, 2015. © Copyright 2015 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Pools of desert water reflect sunrise light on distant mountains, Death Valley National Park

Although it is dawn in this photograph, I had already been up and photographing for some time before I took a break to walk along an observation area and next to the highway at this popular location. The pools of water have their source underground at the base of the tall mountains standing behind my camera position.

Beyond the water are salt flats, some in the “classic” flat white style, and others in the inhospitable and rugged “Devil’s Golf Course” style. The foreground water reflects the morning blue sky, and further out it reflects the ridge of the Panamint Mountains on the far side of the Valley.

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

White-Fronted Geese, Dawn Clouds

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White-Fronted Geese, Dawn Clouds
A group of white-fronted geese silhouetted against dawn clouds above the Sacramento Valley.

White-Fronted Geese, Dawn Clouds. Sacramento Valley, California. January 8, 2016. © Copyright 2016 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A group of white-fronted geese silhouetted against dawn clouds above the Sacramento Valley.

This is another photograph from the early morning of my one-day visit to wildlife refuges in the Sacramento Valley. Arriving at such a place for the first time a bit before sunrise it is a bit difficult to know what to look for or where to find it. I did quickly spot some birds and at least there was a spectacular dawn sky!

Soon groups of geese began flying above me as they moved towards a nearby pond. I watched and waited and attempted to time photographs for when the birds passed in front of interesting background elements. It is hard to tell, since they are silhouetted against the brighter sky, but this is a group of white-fronted geese.

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: France, Photographs: Urban/Street

Dawn, Paris Rooftops

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Dawn, Paris Rooftops
Rooftops and the long view at dawn, Paris, France

Dawn, Paris Rooftops. Paris, France. August 13, 2016. © Copyright 2016 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Rooftops and the long view at dawn, Paris, France

The photograph of this view was a result of a couple of coincidences. I have to admit that we rarely got up this early on our trip to France (or the UK, or New York, or Germany…), more often sleeping in and finally getting out the door of our room at 10:00 in the morning or so. We kid ourselves about our ability to adapt to time zone changes — we think we didn’t make it quite all the way to Europe but instead locked into a time about one zone west of Ireland! But on this morning we had no choice but to get up very early since we were scheduled to take an early train to Germany and we didn’t want to miss it.

But being up before dawn wouldn’t have quite been enough to give us this view. There is a hotel story involved, too. When we arrived earlier in the week we were given a room several floors lower. We went up to the room, opened the door, walked in… to find a pack of cigarettes on the bed, suitcases on the shelf, and clothes in the closet! The hotel upgraded us as a result, putting us in a room that was near the top of the building and which gave us a view across Paris. So, up at 6:00 in the morning, still fairly dark in Paris, we got dressed and then watched the light show as the sun spread across the city.

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 | Twitter | Facebook | Google+ | LinkedIn | Email

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, Photographs: Sierra Nevada

Winter Dawn, Sacramento Valley

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Winter Dawn, Sacramento Valley
Winter clouds at dawn above the Sacramento Valley

Winter Dawn, Sacramento Valley. Great Central Valley, California. January 8, 2016. © Copyright 2016 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Winter clouds at dawn above the Sacramento Valley

Today it is close to the end of June, the start of the hot season in California, and it has been nearly 100 degrees where I live and hotter than that where I made this photograph. It is, at it is every year, hard to believe that it was only months ago that I was out in this spot on a freezing January morning, with snow-covered peaks to my east and west, watching the first dawn light on these spectacular clouds and listening to the sounds of early morning flights of migratory birds across the wetlands.

For this I will get up at 3:00 am and drive three hours in the pre-dawn darkness. I had not visited this location before, and as I turned off of Interstate 5, the main artery up this valley, and headed east on a two-lane road I wasn’t sure what I would find. The sky was beginning to glow and it seemed that sunrise was coming soon — perhaps too soon for my arrival. I turned off onto a gravel road and headed into this refuge, passing the entrance and heading out onto the perimeter road just in time for this astonishing morning light show.

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 | Twitter | Facebook | Google+ | LinkedIn | Email

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