Tag Archives: water

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

Sandhill Cranes, Pond, Sunrise

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Sandhill Cranes, Pond, Sunrise
The first light comes to a pond as sandhill cranes begin to take to the air

Sandhill Cranes, Pond, Sunrise. San Joaquin Valley, California. December 26, 2016. © Copyright 2016 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

The first light comes to a pond as sandhill cranes begin to take to the air

Morning in these wetlands brings the literal reawakening of life in and above the ponds. I usually arrive before dawn, in the faint light of morning dusk and often in fog, just as the sunrise chorus of birds begins. Some take flight, but many are still settled in. Sandhill cranes often stand in shallow water and on low islands in this far corner along the western edge of this place, and I often begin my day of photography with these birds.

This was mostly a clear morning, with just a bit of general morning haze and here and there small bits of fog. As the pre-sunrise light in the eastern sky increased these cranes became more active, and eventually they began to take off and depart for the day. I made this photograph just as the first sunrise light arrived on the trees along this levee.

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: Fall, Photographs: Fall Color, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Sierra Nevada

Lake Shore, Autumn Morning

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Lake Shore, Autumn Morning
Morning light strikes grass on the shoreline of a Sierra lake reflecting autumn aspen color

Lake Shore, Autumn Morning. Eastern Sierra Nevada, California. September 30, 2016. © Copyright 2016 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Morning light strikes grass on the shoreline of a Sierra lake reflecting autumn aspen color

Some photographs have to age for a while before I go back and figure out how to “see” them. This is one of those. I made the photograph a few months ago on a lovely autumn morning high in the Eastern Sierra, at a corner of a well-known location from which people frequently photograph a rather different view. I had begun the morning near this lake, looking for ways to see the landscape in this location in ways that weren’t quite as familiar to me, partly with photographic intent and partly out of not wanting to be part of the assembled crowd!

A bit later, once the expected light show had ended and those who came only for that had departed, I wandered down along the shore of the lake. Where there had been dozens a bit earlier, there were now only two, myself and one other photographer. I’ve been intrigued by these grassy areas along the edge of this lake, but I had not thought to photograph the scene from quite this direction before — and my timing was either perfect or, more likely, lucky in that the first beams of morning light to find their way through surrounding trees were just beginning to strike the patch of grass.

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: Mono Lake Basin, Photographs: Nature

Mono Lake, Reflected Clouds

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Mono Lake, Reflected Clouds
“Mono Lake, Reflected Clouds” — Clouds reflected on the still surface of Mono Lake

Mono Lake has many moods. For example, as I post this, it is a quiet and lonely place where snow covers the mountains to the west, fog may fill in for days, and few people visit. In summer it can be very hot and often quite windy, with blowing dust and waves on the lakes surface. At dawn the light can be subtly colorful; at midday it may be intense and flat.

I made this photograph on a day just before the start of autumn, when the lake’s surface was unusually calm, to the point of almost justifying the description “glass-like.” I went to a place that is not visited as frequently as some of the more accessible and iconic locations, and from here I was able to photograph right at the water’s edge, a vantage point from which I was able to include a few isolated clouds floating past plus their reflections in the still surface of the water. At times like this, the strongest impressions of the Mono Lake Basin for me are of great distances, the immense sky, still water, and deep silence.

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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” (Heyday Books) is available directly from him. Blog | Bluesky | Mastodon | Substack Notes | Flickr | Email

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Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Wildlife

Dancing Cranes, Fog

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Dancing Cranes, Fog
Two lesser sandhill cranes raise their wings to greet the dawn on a foggy morning

Dancing Cranes, Fog. San Joaquin Valley, California. December 3, 2016. © Copyright 2016 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Two lesser sandhill cranes raise their wings to greet the dawn on a foggy morning

I arrived here, a location familiar to me, before dawn and in thickening fog. Although the place is familiar, each return brings the sudden shock of getting out of my vehicle after a long drive and hearing the wild sounds of thousands of migratory birds spread out across the acreage of this place. It is a sound like no other, especially in pre-dawn fog when the birds are not yet visible, and it always brings a smile to my face.

I headed toward an area where I anticipate finding several familiar kinds of birds: stilts in ponds next to the levee road, a rugged individualist egret or two (or perhaps a small group of cattle egrets), a pond surrounded by brush with roosting night herons (the pond was dry this time), geese almost anywhere, and off in the distance perhaps some cranes or white pelicans. The latter two kinds of birds were barely visible through the fog, but this pair was a bit closer. As the first very faint sunlight began to arrive they spread their wings and stretched.

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.