Tag Archives: winter

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

Cranes, Woodland Haze

January 19, 2018 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

A flock of sandhill cranes flies above fields and woodland.

Yesterday I managed to make it out the valley with the main goal of visiting the reception for “Valley Focus: On Photography,” a wonderful exhibit at the Carnegie Arts Center in Turlock. (Note: Those of us in the San Francisco Bay Area, spoiled by the proximity of a lot of really top-notch art, sometimes forget that there is “good stuff” elsewhere in the state. The Carnegie Center is a fine example.) It is about a two-hour drive out there from my home, and I was thinking that I could leave in the mid-afternoon and make it in time for the 5:00 PM reception… until I was reminded of something I should have been thinking of, the monumentally awful commute traffic along my intended route between the Bay Area and the Central Valley. So I left early, with a plan to visit some wild areas I have wanted to look at for some time.

It rained, sometimes hard, during the first part of the drive, but as I dropped down into the great valley it was clear that I had gotten ahead of the weather front — clouds behind me, broken clouds and blue sky ahead, and glowing light coming over the mountains to the west. I headed south and then east, finally locating a somewhat out-of-the-way spot where there was access to bird viewing. It wasn’t the ideal place to watch the birds, but there were some wonderful woodlands off to the west along a river. I made this photograph from a slightly elevated position, looking toward those trees as a flock of sandhill cranes arrived and then landed nearby.

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

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

Geese and Sky

January 18, 2018 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Two geese take flight into winter sky

There is something primal about being among these migratory birds, at least if you stop to ponder. They come to my part of the world every winter, settling in to wetland areas in California. But the opposite end of their remarkable migration is along the arctic shorelines of northern Canada, an annual migration that is astonishing to imagine. (Wikipedia tells me that the majority of the world’s Ross’s geese nest in the arctic tundra of the Queen Maud Gulf Migratory Bird Sanctuary.) To spend time with them is to become open to a world that is not the human world, one in which we are temporary visitors and in which they are the permanent residents.

Getting close to such birds requires a lot of patience and persistence. The first problem is managing to be in the places they frequent when they are actually there, and these could be almost anywhere. I’ve gone to such places only to find no geese or, perhaps more frustrating, spot a cloud of thousands of geese in the air a mile or more in the distance and at a location I can’t go to. Once you do find them, you can only get so close and then you must wait for them to come to you — either as the flock moves across the land or as they fly. Sometimes, with luck and a bit of prediction, you find yourself quite close, at which point you move slowly and quietly and hope to sustain the experience. On this afternoon a flock settled onto a levee across which my route travelled. I moved slowly into a close position and then waited, occasionally moving just a bit closer if it seemed that the flock wasn’t alerted by my presence. I made many photographs of them on the ground, and then — as always happens — they began to depart, suddenly lifting into the air in groups.

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

Photographs: Central California, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Northern California

Tree, Winter Light

January 16, 2018 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

A bare winter tree and clearing tule fog.

On Sunday there was ground fog all over the San Francisco Bay Area, and I had a few free hours, so I headed out to see what I could find. I went to a place that is very familiar to me, a local haunt where I have hiked and photographed for decades. I had not been there in perhaps a year, so it was good to reestablish my relationship with the location and note a few changes. The little trip also reminded me that it isn’t necessary to travel long distances to find photographic subjects — quite often a closer look at nearby places will reveal worthy subjects.

The idea here was to arrive before the fog cleared, photograph in the thick fog for a while, and then be ready to photograph the brief transition period as it thinned, a time when brilliant and stunning but ephemeral light may appear. During my short drive to this location the fog remained thick, but just before reaching my destination it began to clear, likely because ground fog doesn’t stick around as long in the hills. As I parked and loaded up a light load (my lightweight trail photography setup) there were still some pockets of fog clinging to the hillsides, but in most places there was instead a sort of haze that glowed when I photographed in the direction of the sun. I’m very fond of this kind of light, so I quickly looked for subjects that I could use to advantage, and I soon found this tree standing on a grassy hillside and silhouetted against the glowing atmosphere beyond.

Photographs: New York City, Photographs: Urban/Street

Snow, Ridgewood

January 15, 2018 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

A snowy morning in the Ridgewood area of Queens, New York

For years, at least since our sons started moving there, we have visited New York City. People who know the place will likely note that we must be nuts for scheduling most visit for near the end of December or, wait for it, in August. (If you have been to New York City in August, you understand how unwise it is to go there once that time of year, and how crazy it is to voluntarily repeat the original blunder. ;-) Truth be told, while August still isn’t impressing us as a wonderful time to go, we actually do like going during the winter. The cold seems like a welcome change for these San Francisco Bay Area Californians, and there is quite a lot to see there at this time of year.

However, we usually miss out on snow, the one factor that would really make it feel like the winter we don’t experience at home. We have been snowed on there during our end-of-year visits, but typically no more than a trace, if that. I’m told that real snow is likely to arrive a few weeks later. This year we got our wish, as it were. We had a full week of terribly cold conditions, and on our last day there it finally did snow — not a lot, but enough. I made this photograph as we left an elevated subway (I know, oxymoron!) in the Ridgewood area, where we were able to look out over the urban environment and see snow-topped roofs fading into the distance.

G Dan Mitchell Photography

Tag Archives: winter

Cranes, Woodland Haze

Geese and Sky

Tree, Winter Light

Snow, Ridgewood

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