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Photographs: Central California, Photographs: Nature

Sailing Stone

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Sailing Stone
The sailing stones of the San Joaquin

Sailing Stone. © Copyright 2018 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

The sailing stones of the San Joaquin

Many are familiar with the “sailing stones” or “gliding stones” found on a well-know, remote playa at Death Valley National Park. Getting to that location takes a bit of effort — a 55 mile round trip on an awful road, and typically one wants to be there at sunrise and/or sunset. I’ve been there quite a few times – though I no longer go. Why not? A combination of being interested in the many other compelling locations in that park and the fact that too many visitors to the place have caused some damage that mars the landscape and the experience.

But I think I’ve found an alternative! This location — which I won’t name, given the obvious aesthetic appeal of this, uh, “landscape” — seems to also feature at least one sailing stone. And an out house. I’m not sure how to explain the appearance of the phenomenon at this location, but perhaps someone can investigate as the focus of their graduate project…

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

Toward Morning Light

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Toward Morning Light
A flock of sandhill cranes flies toward the morning light

Toward Morning Light. © Copyright 2018 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A flock of sandhill cranes flies toward the morning light

This group of sandhill cranes was flying almost into the early morning sun — it was actually just enough to one side to illuminate the side of the birds that was facing me. As the cranes came toward my position I was ready, and I tracked them as they crossed from left to right, repositioning themselves as they passed by.

Sandhill cranes hold a special place for me, and they did even before I had seen or heard them. Many years ago as  college student, an enlightened science professor assigned us to read sections of Aldo Leopold’s “Sand County Almanac.” Leopold was completely new to me at the time — my vocabulary of “nature” writers was more orientated to the Sierra Nevada. But his descriptions of the cranes and the experience of seeing them stuck with me, and perhaps made the experience more magical when I finally saw them many years later.

See top of this page for Articles, Sales and Licensing, my Sierra Nevada Fall Color book, Contact Information 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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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

Tufa, Morning Reflections

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Tufa, Morning Reflections
Tufa towers and morning light reflecting on the surface of Mono Lake

Tufa, Morning Reflections. © Copyright 2018 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Tufa towers and morning light reflecting on the surface of Mono Lake

The tufa towers are often the first subjects that people think of when they consider photographing at this location. I’ve photographed them many times and in may ways — up close, at a distance, in silhouette, in all kinds of conditions and at all times of day. I still find them fascinating, but I’ve come to see the lake as being more about other features now.

The greatest impression I get from the lake is immense space. This comes partly from the sheer size of this landlocked lake, but it may also come from a combination of often seeing it from elevated viewpoints and from the open and sometimes cloud-filled sky. And at early and late times of day the water takes on colors of sky and surrounding mountains, ranging from brilliantly intense to quite subtle. These colors are interrupted when the wind produces patterns on the surface of the water.

See top of this page for Articles, Sales and Licensing, my Sierra Nevada Fall Color book, Contact Information 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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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: Ocean & Coast

Big Sur Coast Headlands

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Big Sur Coast Headlands
Thinning fog over the Big Sur coast beyond rugged headlands

Big Sur Coast Headlands. © Copyright 2018 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Thinning fog over the Big Sur coast beyond rugged headlands

This was a particularly “quiet” section of the coast on the day I visited. Elsewhere the wind was blowing, sometimes pushing fog across the roadway, and often making photography a bit of a challenge. But here there was shelter from the wind, and the ocean was relatively calm. A fog bank lay across the water in the distance, though it was nearly gone as the day warmed up.

There are impressive headlands all along this section of the Pacific Coast Highway through the Big Sur coast, but this area just south of the town of Big Sur has some of the tallest and steepest sections. I often take this landscape for granted, as I have lived nearby for almost my entire life — and then, every so often, it hits me that it must be one of the most monumental meetings of land and sea on the planet, both for the rugged landscape itself and for the distance across which it stretches.

See top of this page for Articles, Sales and Licensing, my Sierra Nevada Fall Color book, Contact Information 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.
Blog | About | Flickr | Twitter | Facebook | LinkedIn | Email

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