Tag Archives: blue

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Northern California, Photographs: Ocean & Coast

Low Tide, Drakes Estero

Leave a comment
Patterns emerge and reflect the sky at low tide on a foggy morning at Drakes Estero
Patterns emerge and reflect the sky at low tide on a foggy morning at Drakes Estero

Low Tide, Drakes Estero. Point Reyes National Seashore, California. July 23, 2017© Copyright 2017 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Patterns emerge and reflect the sky at low tide on a foggy morning at Drakes Estero

Although I have been visiting the Point Reyes National Seashore, just north of San Francisco, for quite a few years, it has sometimes been a challenging place for me to photograph. Perhaps it is because, with some exceptions, it generally doesn’t feature the same sorts of iconic and spectacular Pacific coast subjects found in places such as the Big Sir coast. instead there are coastal lowlands with most-treeless bluffs, thick and impenetrable forests further inland, and grand vistas across low-lying landscapes. But given enough time and patience and persistence, I think ti begins to be possible to discover a way of seeing almost any landscape, and I’m starting to understand how to see this place.

I knew it that there would be fog on this visit, and my plan/hope was that I could get there at the right time to place myself along the boundary between sun and fog, where interesting things often happen with the light. I decided to take a rather long hike (about 13 miles roundtrip) to a location that I have long wanted to visit, and I arrived at the trailhead just as the fog was beginning to thin there. After dropping through forest I arrived and crossed one arm of Drakes Estero as the tide was at its low point, revealing mud flats along the shoreline. The trail climbed again and I came around another high headland to see a more expansive view toward the fog over the ocean to the west. The low tide revealed remarkable patterns in the estero, and the shallow water reflected the deep blue sky and the thinning fog clouds.

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 | Google+ | LinkedIn | Email

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

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Sierra Nevada, Photographs: Yosemite

Moonrise, Sierra Wave Cloud

Leave a comment
Moonrise, Sierra Wave Cloud
A Sierra wave cloud stretches south along the Sierra Nevada crest as the moon rises.

Moonrise, Sierra Wave Cloud. Yosemite National Park, California. July 15, 2016. © Copyright 2016 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A Sierra wave cloud stretches south along the Sierra Nevada crest as the moon rises.

Spend a bit of time — or a few decades — in and around the Sierra and you begin to be able to anticipate certain events. Nothing is a sure bet when it comes to predicting spectacular visual conditions, but some signs make it very likely that your efforts may be rewarded. The “Sierra Wave” cloud phenomenon is one such condition — common, easy to spot once you recognize the signs, and having the potential to produce very special photographic opportunities.

As on this evening, it often begins subtly. The line of clouds is produced over the crest or on its leeward side as moisture-laden air passes above the crest. The clouds can extend many miles north and south and sometimes stack up in layers. During the day they are impressive, but it is at dusk (or, rarely, at dawn) that they excel. After the last direct sunlight has risen above the highest peaks and the sun has set, brilliant red light may illuminate the clouds from the west, producing an almost unbelievable intensity of color. On this evening I saw the potential as I came over Tioga Pass from the east, and I quickly found a place to stop and watch the show develop. The moon above Kuna Crest was an added bonus!

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 | Google+ | LinkedIn | Email

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

Clearing Dust Storm, Evening

Leave a comment
Clearing Dust Storm, Evening
Translucent atmosphere as the sky clears in the wake of a Death Valley dust storm

Clearing Dust Storm, Evening. Death Valley National Park, California. March 30, 2016. © Copyright 2016 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Translucent atmosphere as the sky clears in the wake of a Death Valley dust storm

This was the tail end of a massive dust storm that was with us in one form or another for an entire day. Very early in the morning we had seen the precursor conditions when we visited a high ridge in the Panamint range before dawn. At that time there was a kind of haze in the atmosphere that I had come to associate with incipient dust storm conditions. By midday the dust was easily seen rising out of the great valleys on either side of the mountains, and before long tendrils of dust were snaking through the air above our position. Returning to Death Vally itself we encountered a wild scene — thick dust everywhere and extremely high winds. We gave up and shut ourselves indoors for a few hours, and then not long before sunset the wind abated a bit, and I ventured outside.

The dust storm was still raging across the valley, but in our location the winds had dropped considerably. But in the interim a weather system had moved overhead, and now it was raining into the dust storm — something I had not encountered here before. I made my way to an elevated location that was above much of the worst of the dust and from which I had wide views across the lower end of the Valley. From there I could see the Cottonwood Mountains to the west, and as the air cleared slightly the light made its way under the clouds and back-lit the dust still floating in the translucent atmosphere.

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 | Google+ | LinkedIn | Email

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

Great Blue Heron in Flight

Leave a comment
Great Blue Heron in Flight
A great blue heron flies above San Joaquin Valley wetlands

Great Blue Heron in Flight. San Joaquin Valley, California. December 26, 2016. © Copyright 2016 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A great blue heron flies above San Joaquin Valley wetlands

This photograph may tend more toward “clinical” than toward “evocative,” but I was happy to have a chance to photograph such a bird this closely as it flew past. The great blue heron is the largest bird that I typically get to photograph in the San Joaquin Valley wetlands where that I visit so often in the late fall and winter.

This bird is not exactly rare, though it is less plentiful than the white egrets that we often see near wetlands. The heron usually is seen alone, often in areas similar to those that attract the egrets, though also perhaps a bit more likely to be in dry fields. Most of the time they stand relatively still and they don’t show obvious signs of being upset or annoyed by the presence of humans… unless you get too close. The boundary between “that’s OK” and “that’s too close” is hard to determine, except that if you cross it the great bird quickly takes to the air and flies away from 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.
Blog | About | Flickr | Twitter | Facebook | Google+ | LinkedIn | Email

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