Images

Photographs: Central California, Photographs: Nature

Wetlands Sunrise

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Wetlands Sunrise in California's Central Valley
“Wetlands Sunrise” — Morning sun rising thruogh tule fog and reflected in Central Valley wetlands.

Bird photography is my excuse for going to this place in the winter months, but this winter landscape is the main attraction. I love what happens here during the spells of thick tule fog, when the landscape is obscured and the light becomes soft and mysterious. Here the rising sun colors the sky above the fog, which in turn makes the fog glow luminously.

To look at this scene, you might imagine that it is warm — at least the colors are! But it was a typically cold morning, likely in the thirties, with damp fog making it feel even colder. The fog had been thicker before the sun came up, but when I made the photograph it was beginning to thin. (If you look closely you may spot a few migratory birds just above 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.

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Photographs: Nature, Photographs: New York City, Photographs: Travel, Photographs: Urban/Street

Central Park, Trees, Snow

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Photo of Central Park, Trees, Snow — Manhattan
“Central Park, Trees, Snow” — Tall trees silhouetted against a backdrop of Manhattan buildings on a snowy day in Central Park.

I seem to attract “interesting” weather when I visit New York City. Part of this may be my predilection for visiting in August when, as any New Yorker knows, the weather is atrocious. (There’s a reason that August is a traditional vacation month for residents of the city.) For years we also tended to visit over the holiday break, when the weather can be very cold, at least by California standards. I made this photograph during our recent December visit.

I have been told by people who live there that snow isn’t that common until after the New Year. But we had a morning of light snow just before Christmas. To be honest, it was a treat for us, and we went for a couple of long walks in Central Park to enjoy the wintry scene. The photograph looks through a grove of winter-dormant trees towards the tall buildings of Manhattan.

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 | Instagram | Flickr | Facebook | Threads | BlueSky | Email

Links: Articles, Sales and Licensing, my Sierra Nevada Fall Color book, Contact Info.

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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

Wetlands, First Light

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Wetlands, First Light
“Wetlands, First Light” — Dawn sky and thinning tule fog above a reflecting wetlands pond.

Yes, I’m still working the winter Central Valley photographs — and I’m not done yet! As I have said many times, this is probably my favorite winter subject. Or perhaps I should write “subjects,” since these locations offer both landscape and wildlife photography subjects at this time of year. Although they are not featured in this photograph, this is a prime part of California for winter migratory birds.

You can never predict with certainty what the fog will do on these winter mornings. The surprise this time was a “hole” that opened in the fog, producing clear skies in our little area while our surroundings were still obscured. This photograph looks east, across a pond and the fog bank, toward the first dawn light above the Sierra Nevada.

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 | Instagram | Flickr | Facebook | Threads | BlueSky | Email

Links: Articles, Sales and Licensing, my Sierra Nevada Fall Color book, Contact Info.

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Post-processing Workflow, Software, Tests

Does Adobe Dream of the Moon?

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Yesterday while I was editing a raw file in Adobe Camera RAW (ACR) I used the Generative AI Remove feature to deal with a shadow created by some dust on my sensor. It removed the spot from the sky in the image but inserted a roundish object in its place. I remember thinking, “That’s odd? Did ACR just add a 3/4 moon in place of the dust spot?” But I then forgot about it and continued editing.

Today I again used the Generative AI Remove function to remove another faint dust shadow in the sky of another photograph from the same shoot. It happened again! I think Adobe Generative AI may be hallucinating!

Above are two tiny, highly magnified sections of the original image. In the upper one, if you look carefully, you can see a sort of faint, darker smudge behind the individual light-colored bird above the line of darker birds. I used the brush to outline the darker area, then had Generative AI Remove take it out.

The lower image was the result. It is faint, but I swear that it replaced the light colored bird with… the moon!

That’s just plain weird.

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 | Instagram | Flickr | Facebook | Threads | BlueSky | Email

Links: Articles, Sales and Licensing, my Sierra Nevada Fall Color book, Contact Info.

Scroll down to share comments or questions. (Click post title first if viewing on the home page.)

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