Tag Archives: tule

Photographs: Central California, Photographs: Fall, Photographs: Fall Color, Photographs: Nature

Autumn Fog

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Autumn Fog
Morning tule fog and autumn color in Central Valley wetlands

Autumn Fog. © Copyright 2022 G Dan Mitchell.

Morning tule fog and autumn color in Central Valley wetlands

Last week I visited a place where I have photographed for years. At one point I passed an obscure corner there that I have probably seen at last a hundred times, usually without giving it more than a brief glance. But this time a fortuitous conjunction of autumn color, drifting fog, and soft morning light caught my attention, and I paused to make a photograph.

While there is certainly an element of careful preparation and planning that goes into landscape photography, ultimately we are at the mercy of forces over which we exercise little or no control. There is no way that I could “plan” to be at a relatively nondescript corner of a particular place at just the moment that the fog drifts a bit one way or another to gently reveal a bit of soft, directional light on a bush. And that’s a big part of why I keep going back to places like this.

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

Photographs: Central California, Photographs: Nature

Pond, Fog, and Sun

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Early morning sun muted by tule fog, illuminates a late-autumn pond.

Pond, Fog, and Sun. © Copyright 2022 G Dan Mitchell.

Early morning sun muted by tule fog, illuminates a late-autumn pond.

Continuing with the fog theme, here is another photograph from this week’s visit to the California Central Valley. Even though I scheduled this visit because I knew there was a good chance of thick fog, I was a bit surprised by how much of it I encountered. I ran into serious fog before leaving Santa Clara County to cross to the Great Valley, and it was a more or less constant companion on my two-hour drive. When I arrived at my destination before sunrise the fog was extremely thick, and there was hardly enough light for photography at first.

On these days the fog determines what the landscape looks like: what is the condition of the light? How transitory are the conditions? How far can we see? Is the fog dim and gray or does light in the sky above add color and make it luminous. While it started out on the dim and gray side on this morning, the thick fog wasn’t deep enough to block the light from the rising sun.

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 | Twitter | 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.

Photographs: Central California, Photographs: Nature

Pond, Clearing Fog

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Tule fog begins to clear above a Central Valley pond on a late-autumn morning.

Pond, Clearing Fog. © Copyright 2022 G Dan Mitchell.

Tule fog thins above a Central Valley pond on a late-autumn morning.

The core of my landscape photography follows a pattern linked to the seasons — no surprise, I suppose, since the landscape is so profoundly affected by seasonal changes. Every year at this time my attention turns to California’s Great Central Valley, where the combination of migratory birds, tule fog, and its minimal landscape become my focus. I finally made it out there this week for the first time this season.

I suppose “normal people” would avoid this area on a day like this. Objectively speaking, this thick fog is not conducive to travel, and those who live there get tired of days and weeks of the cold and damp. But these conditions turn a landscape that can be a bit pedestrian into something mysterious and atmospheric. When I arrived before dawn the fog was so thick that I couldn’t see more than perhaps a hundred feet. But shortly after sunrise the fog began to drift and thin, faint windows opened in the sky above, and soft light began to subtly illuminate the landscape.

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 | Twitter | 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.

Photographs: Central California, Photographs: Nature

Tule Marsh, Fog

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Tule Marsh, Fog
A Central Valley tule marsh on a foggy winter day.

Tule Marsh, Fog. © Copyright 2022.G Dan Mitchell.

A Central Valley tule marsh on a foggy winter day.

My winter exploits photographing migratory birds often place me in beautiful landscape under spectacular skies and in the presence of remarkable flocks of thousands of geese and cranes. But that does not capture the totality of this experience. (News flash: the photographs we share most likely focus on best moments rather than typical moments.) On a cold, foggy Central Valley morning things can be gray and still, though it is rare that the sound of birds isn’t part of the experience.

I have an extensive background in music, and this has taught me something that can be missing from photography at times, namely that there are many kinds of beauty, and that not all of them yell at us for attention. Some are quiet and some, at least at first, may not even seem beautiful at all. I won’t try to explain what I find in this photographs — you’ll just have to trust me that it is there.

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.

Scroll down to leave a comment or question. (Click this post’s title first if you are viewing on the home page.)

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