Tag Archives: valley

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Sierra Nevada, Photographs: Yosemite

Autumn Tree, Broken Branches, Ground Fog

January 19, 2017 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

A tree with autumn leaves, surrounded by broken branches, with thinning ground fog below

When we think of Yosemite Valley the first things that come to mind are likely to be towering cliffs, waterfalls, peaks, domes, and other monumental things. The Valley is a place built on a grand scale, but more subtle surprises await if you are there at the right time. Especially between late fall and early spring, when the conditions are right beautiful ground fog frequently appears in meadows, drifting back and forth and gradually thinning as the morning warms.

On this morning I intended to be in the Valley early, but other things distracted me on my way there from Oakhurst (including fog in another valley!), and I arrived in the Valley a bit later than planned. At that point I had more or less written off my plan to go fog-hunting, so I was thrilled to catch the very tail end of the morning fog in a few spots here and there. This tree, a somewhat well-known elm, was just out of the fog that still lay across the surface of the meadow beyond.

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

Photographs: Flight, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Wildlife

Two Sandhill Cranes in Dawn Flight

January 13, 2017 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

A pair of lesser sandhill cranes flies toward the rising sun

The first birds that attracted my attention when I began to seriously photograph them in California’s Central Valley were not sandhill cranes, but rather geese. A series of coincidences led me to (finally!) “discover” the great winter bird migration, something I should have known about much earlier, having lived in this state for nearly my entire life. I recall one winter drive up the Valley perhaps 15 years ago when I first saw and was amazed by flocks of geese in dusk light above the Sacramento Valley.

Once I started photographing these birds I soon discovered that there’s a lot more going on than those astonishing huge flocks of geese — many other birds, all of them with different behavior patterns and attractions. It did not take long to discover sandhill cranes, birds that I had read about but not understood all the way back in college. While they can be ungainly on the ground, their pattern of flight is often magnificent and their cries now characterize the audio winter landscape of the Valley for me. This pair had just arisen from its overnight home along a wetland pond and was flying past and toward the dawn sun.

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

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Sierra Nevada, Photographs: Yosemite

The Valley, Dusk Fog and Clouds

January 9, 2017 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Dusk clouds and fog fill Yosemite Valley on an autumn evening.

This is, no doubt, a recognizable photograph of a recognizable place! Yes, Yosemite Valley, photographed from Tunnel View. And, yes, I shared another photograph from this same iconic (and over-photographed, perhaps?) location a few days ago. With that in mind, I’ll keep the explanation relatively short.

I was leaving the Valley after concluding the day’s photography and, as I often do, I briefly stopped at this spot. Initially I didn’t take my camera out, but after taking a look I thought the dusk light on the clouds and fog was interesting, so I went back to my car and grabbed camera, a lens, and tripod and went back to make a few photographs. Surprisingly, even though there had been a crowd of photographers lined up tripod-to-tripod earlier, almost all of them had left before this beautiful evening scene unfolded!

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

Winter Wetlands and Sky

January 6, 2017 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Ross’s geese flock on California Central Valley winter wetlands

To simplify, there are two common conditions in California’s Central Valley in winter: dense tule fog that reduces the visibility to mere feet, and immense open skies above the flatlands that reveal the distant snow-covered mountains. Sometimes both condiments — and, to be fair, some other possibilities — reveal themselves on the same day, as happened on this New Year’s Day visit.

We headed out to the Great Valley before dawn, arriving to a combination of scattered tule fog that continued to fill in as the morning went on, eventually turning the day rather gray. We spent the morning photographing this landscape and the tens of thousands of migratory birds that occupy it this time of year. By mid afternoon the sky began to clear as winds blew away most of the fog to reveal a clouded-studded blue sky above the expansive wetlands. Here that sky is reflected in a wetland pond — and a bit further out from the camera position you may be able to make out the flock of many thousands of Ross’s and snow geese on the water.

G Dan Mitchell Photography

Tag Archives: valley

Autumn Tree, Broken Branches, Ground Fog

Two Sandhill Cranes in Dawn Flight

The Valley, Dusk Fog and Clouds

Winter Wetlands and Sky

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