Tag Archives: wetland

Photographs: Central California, Photographs: Nature

Tule Fog, Wetland Sunrise

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Tule Fog, Wetland Sunrise
The winter sun rises thorugh tule fog above Central Valley wetlands.

Tule Fog, Wetland Sunrise. © Copyright 2013 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

The winter sun rises thorugh tule fog above Central Valley wetlands.

This is my favorite season of the year for a whole bunch of reasons. It brings so many special opportunities here on the West Coast. The fall colors come to the Sierra and then work their way downward and westward over a period of up to three months — and sometimes even a bit longer. The hot, dry season of wildfires and haze comes to an end, replaced by cooler temperatures and much more interesting skies and light as Pacific weather fronts arrive. Migratory birds return to the Central Valley… and once again I get to photograph the tule fog!

This photograph comes from a beautiful tule fog morning in the Central Valley some years ago, a perfect morning when the fog was thick but not so thick as to completely obscure the rising sun, here silhouetting the wetland foliage and gently reflecting on the surface of a pond. What the photograph cannot convey — but what it certainly evokes for me — is the sound of many thousands of nearby geese, cranes, blackbirds, and more.

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

Wetlands, Winter Fog

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Wetlands, Winter Fog
Early morning winter tule fog rises from Central Valley wetland ponds as sandhill cranes take flight.

Wetlands, Winter Fog. © Copyright 2012 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Early morning winter tule fog rises from Central Valley wetland ponds as sandhill cranes take flight.

Winter transforms the arguably-mundane California Central Valley landscape. Much of the area is agricultural country, and while that can look bucolic when fields are green, most of the time they are not. During much of the year they are brown, and during the winter the place can be quite muddy. (Don’t regard this as suggesting I don’t like the Valley. I do!)

On a January morning such as the on the day I made this photograph, magic can occur as tule fog rises and drifts about wetlands and as the sky fills with birds. To make this photograph I stopped along an empty rural road next to flooded fields and waited for cranes to take wing along a 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: Birds, Photographs: Central California, Photographs: Nature

Sunset Perch

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Sunset Perch
A bird perches atop a snag at winter sunset in wetlands.

Sunset Perch. © Copyright 2012 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A bird perches atop a snag at winter sunset in wetlands.

Ah, to be in a place like this on a morning like this one right now! Unfortunately, that is not to be — and not just because long distance travel is still out of the question except in essential situations, but because it is no longer winter! I made the photograph on an early January day spent out in California’s Great Central Valley, searching after bird and landscape subjects. Now that I think of it, one might even say that this bird is… social distancing! Though, to be more accurate, it is other birds and smaller critters that are distancing from this hunter.

Doing photography — at least the kinds that I do — is a challenging proposition in the current situation. I do get out to walk in our urban/suburban neighborhood, and I carry a camera with me when I go. But I prefer to do my urban photography in busier and perhaps ab it grittier locations. For now, virtually all of my landscape subjects are off-limits, as they require travel over distances that are beyond what seems responsible right now. In the meantime, it turns out that among the tens of thousands of images in my raw file archive there are quite a few that seem worth revisiting!

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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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: Nature, Photographs: Wildlife

Flock In The Fog

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Flock In The Fog
A flock of Ross’s geese in tule fog.

Flock In The Fog. © Copyright 2020 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A flock of Ross’s geese in tule fog.

By now, these Ross’s geese are long gone from California, going back to the northern shores of North America, where they return each spring to breed. The last time I saw them here was on March 13, the day of my last pre-shelter-in-place trip to the refuges where I ordinarily look for them. It was a strange visit, with a sense of foreboding in the air. I went there alone, self-contained to the point that I would not have to stop anywhere on my nearly 300-mile out-and-back journey. There were almost no remaining Ross’s or snow geese — they had apparently departed just days earlier. There were also almost no other people. I photographed for a few hours and then turned back home.

This photograph was not made on that trip — it was made back on New Year’s Day, in a more innocent time. A group of us met up, gathered for food and camaraderie, spent the day photographing. There was tule fog that morning, which is just what we want. I made the photograph at just about that magical moment on a foggy day, when the soft light of the sun just begins to break through, making the atmosphere luminous.

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 | 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.