Tag Archives: trees

Photographs: Central California, Photographs: Nature

Wetlands, Winter Sunset Sky

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Wetlands, Winter Sunset Sky
Clouds from an approaching winter weather system above Central Valley wetlands at sunset.

Wetlands, Winter Sunset Sky. © Copyright 2021 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Clouds from an approaching winter weather system above Central Valley wetlands at sunset.

Who can resist a winter sunset sky, a reflecting pond, a few bits of vegetation, and distant mountains? I know I cannot. Recently I have written about sunsets several times — once to describe one that surprised me at the end of a rather gray day and another that, well, stayed gray. On both of those occasions I had little idea about how the sunset would turn out, but I stuck around just to see what, if anything, might develop. This time the event was almost predictable. The front edges of a Pacific weather front was approaching, and the line of clouds had been visible for a couple of hours. I almost hate to admit it, but I showed up in this spot only above five minutes before sunset.

In addition to their colorful attractions, sunsets like this one speak to Californians in an additional way right now. It has been (again!) a very dry start to our wet season, and after too many recent drought years we are getting a bad feeling about this winter. So these clouds, signaling something other than more “perfect” blue sky weather, are exciting in their promise of the potential for rain.

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, Amazon, and directly from G Dan Mitchell.

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Photographs: Birds, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Wildlife

Cranes in Motion

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A flock of sandhill cranes taking flight above wetlands on a Central Valley autumn morning.

Cranes in Motion. © Copyright 2020 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A flock of sandhill cranes taking flight above wetlands on a Central Valley autumn morning.

This photograph follows one that I shared a few days ago. In that photo a group of sandhill cranes was standing in and along the edge of a pond, and I mentioned that their upright positions suggested that they were preparing to take to the air and depart. I wrote that without looking at the files that followed. Now I have looked at those other files, and I realize that I was correct — the small flock rose into the air almost immediately after that photograph and then traversed across the scene from left to right. I made this photograph as they departed.

You may notice that there is a lot of motion blur in this photograph. We often try to capture sharp photographs of birds, including those in flight, by hoping for sufficient light and then learning to track them as they fly. That’s not always an easy thing to do, and there’s nothing wrong with a sharp photograph of birds! But sometimes I feel that including some blur may better express the motion of this subject and the speed and suddenness of the birds’ flight.

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, Amazon, and directly from G Dan Mitchell.

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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: Birds, Photographs: Central California, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Wildlife

The Cranes Return, Dusk

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The Cranes Return, Dusk
As the day ends, sandhill cranes return to the wetlands.

The Cranes Return, Dusk. © Copyright 2020 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

As the day ends, sandhill cranes return to the wetlands.

Sandhill cranes are often the first birds I am aware of in the early morning and the last I look for in the evening before I put my camera away. In fact, the boundary between enough and too little light often comes during their evening return, so it isn’t unusual to end the day just watching them.

I’ve never quite figured out where they go during the day, though I suppose that some investigation would turn up the answer. (In a West Coast location I once found thousands of them in a dry, barren, out-of-the way place where I was virtually alone with them.) I’ll never forget the first time I experienced their evening return. At the end of a day of photography it was becoming dark — too dark, I thought, to continue. As I was about to pack up my gear I heard a remarkable sound coming from the southeast, a sound that I didn’t understand then but which I now recognize immediately as that of the returning flocks. A few moments later hundreds (more likely thousands) of them arrived, filling the sky, and then descending to nearby ponds.

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, Amazon, and directly from G Dan Mitchell.

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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: Birds, Photographs: Central California, Photographs: Fall, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Wildlife

Cranes, Pond, Autumn Morning

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Cranes, Pond, Autumn Morning
A small flock of sandhill cranes stands in a wetland pond in early morning autumn light.

Cranes, Pond, Autumn Morning. © Copyright 2020 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A small flock of sandhill cranes stands in a wetland pond in early morning autumn light.

I am a big fan of these flat landscapes of trees and grasses and ponds and birds, especially between the last month or so of autumn and the end of winter. All up and down California (and in many other places, too) migratory and native birds are everywhere, and while it might seem that there isn’t much happening here from the human perspective, the action is almost continuous in the lives of birds. The first thing I do when I arrive in such places before dawn is open the car window or door and listen — the sound may be that of a few far-off birds or it might be the raucous chorus of thousands of them nearby and overhead, but the striking sound of the cranes is almost always somewhere in the mix.

I began photographing before dawn on this morning as I usually do. I slowly worked my way along a levee, pausing to watch for and then photograph birds in the low light. The first big group I spotted was a large flock of snow geese, but they were not in a great spot for photography, so I kept moving. Soon I came upon a huge flock of hundreds of cranes in and around a pond. At first they were mostly standing still in the shallow water, but gradually they began to become restless and then, group by group, take to the air and fly away. I don’t recall now for sure, but judging by their attentive postures, there’s a good chance that this group left shortly after I made the photograph.

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, Amazon, and directly from G Dan Mitchell.

Blog | About | Flickr | Facebook | Email

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.