Images

Photographs: Nature

Late-Winter Fiddlenecks

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Late-Winter Fiddlenecks
Fiddleneck blossoms near the end of winter.

Late-Winter Fiddlenecks. © Copyright 2020 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Fiddleneck blossoms near the end of winter.

Two weeks ago — it seems like years now — I made my last pre-lockdown visit to a favorite natural area on Friday the 13th of this month. We had attended our last public event a week before and were already in the process of adopting social-distancing measures — a bit ahead of the curve and a bit before such things were no longer optional around here. On this visit I minimized my contacts, traveling self-contained back and forth so that the only stop I had to make was at a local gas station when I got back home.

The experience was both rewarding and somewhat strange. The main flocks I go to see had apparently departed just a few days earlier. There was almost no one else there — normally a good thing, but strange now. Against that backdrop it was clear that even on this late-winter day spring was arriving. I paused from photographing birds to make some photographs of an exuberant patch of fiddle neck blossoms.

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: Nature, Photographs: Wildlife

Cranes Before Dawn

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Cranes Before Dawn
A flock of sandhill cranes reflected in a shallow pond before sunrise.

Cranes Before Dawn. © Copyright 2020 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A flock of sandhill cranes reflected in a shallow pond before sunrise.

A few winters ago I mainly went to places like this to photograph the geese that arrive in flocks of thousands. Distracted by the geese, I paid less attention to other birds at first. Surprisingly, the sound of the cranes that brought them to my attention.(That, and a magical evening when thousands of them showed up unexpectedly after sunset.) When I arrived in these places before dawn after a long drive and got out of my car I was immediately taken by the call of cranes. Even though at first I did not recognize it, it is the first thing I look for now.

The behavioral patterns of the migratory birds evolve as the season progresses. The cranes seem to land in remote places early in the season, but later I can get closer to them. In early March many of them were in ponds where I could use a long lens to photograph groups. This group was part of a much larger flock in this wetland pond when I photographed them against the reflection of the pre-dawn pink sky.

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: Architecture, Photographs: San Francisco, Photographs: Urban/Street

Columns

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Columns
Columns of a San Franicisco building.

Columns. © Copyright 2019 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Columns of a San Franicisco building.

One of my photographic habits is to take the train up to San Francisco and then walk for miles through its rich environment while I photograph people, buildings, and anything else I can find. The visual diversity there — and in similar urban places — is astonishing. At some point I almost always find myself photographing details abstracted from their surroundings. I have photographed these columns several times, but this time I decided to take that approach and divorce them entirely from their surroundings.

Many of us depend on travel to make our photographs — from relatively short jaunts like my train ride to The City to much longer expeditions. The necessity of doing our part to slow the spread of the corona virus has pretty much eliminated travel beyond our neighborhoods. But when I look more closely I can find similar subjects within walking distance of my home. How about you?

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: Death Valley, Photographs: Desert, Photographs: Nature

Dunes and Mountains, Evening

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Dunes and Mountains, Evening
Dead plants, sand dunes, and distant desert mountains in evening light, Death Valley National Park

Dunes and Mountains, Evening. © Copyright 2019 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Dead plants, sand dunes, and distant desert mountains in evening light, Death Valley National Park.

During normal times I would be leaving for Death Valley today, making my annual early spring visit to spend up to a week photographing in and around the park. Until a few weeks ago that was the plan for this year. That’s not going to happen this spring. As much as I tell myself that I could simply work “off the grid” (not too hard to do in that park) for a week, the truth is that we all have a responsibility to do what we can to drive down the number of opportunities for corona virus to spread. So I’m making a virtual visit by going back into my raw file archives.

This was one of those “typical” Death Valley evenings. I wandered out in to the dunes in the late afternoon, far away from the most popular areas, to photograph the transition from day to evening. I found this spot, with its dead snags emerging from the sand, and photographed it as the last bit of soft light shone on the dunes and colorful sunset light was on the distant mountains.

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.