Tag Archives: sky

Photographs: Mono Lake, Photographs: Nature

Tufa, Sky, Passing Birds

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Tufa, Sky, Passing Birds
A small flock of birds flies above tufa towers and the vast expanse of Mono Lake beneath summer morning sky

Tufa, Sky, Passing Birds. Mono Lake, California. July 15, 2016. © Copyright 2016 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A small flock of birds flies above tufa towers and the vast expanse of Mono Lake beneath summer morning sky

It is easy to think of the tufa towers and being the iconic features of Mono Lake, and arguably they perhaps are. They are certainly the destination for many visitors to the lake, and I have often been to them before dawn to photograph the first light striking their forms. A small group of the towers are included in this photograph, too, though I don’t feel that they are necessarily the predominant feature here.

When I think of Mono Lake, other things come to mind before the tufas. One of the first associations is the immense space encompassed by the lake itself, the larger basin that contains it, and the huge expanse of sky overhead. Very close to that are two related non-visual associations — a great stillness (interrupted only perhaps by a few birds) and a profound silence. For me, this is a place to approach quietly and without hurry.

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

Wetlands, Morning Fog

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Wetlands, Morning Fog
Morning fog clears from Sacramento Valley wetlands on a winter morning

Wetlands, Morning Fog. Sacramento Valley, California. January 8, 2016. © Copyright 2016 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Morning fog clears from Sacramento Valley wetlands on a winter morning

I love these winter mornings out in California’s Great Central Valley — cold, damp, perhaps foggy or perhaps clear, with the sights and sounds of migratory birds all around. This was my first visit to this wildlife refuge up in the Sacramento Valley, and I was in exploration mode on this visit, trying to get my bearings and begin to understand the rhythms of the place. It was a mostly clear morning, with high clouds from Pacific Ocean weather above and pockets of tule fog below.

It is easy to imagine that the wildlife refuges are wild places, someone along the lines of small wilderness areas. But the truth is more complex, at least at the refuges I’m familiar with. They are actually managed landscapes, with water levels carefully controlled to support various kinds of wildlife and even the growth of plants managed for their benefit. Those beautiful foreground curves of stubble in the water are the result of management — over the course of the season such grassy areas are cut down to ensure an optimum balance of open water and tall grasses. Beyond the water lies another peninsula lined with trees, with fog beyond and that winter sky high above it all.

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

Fog, Mist, Ocean, and Sky

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Fog, Mist, Ocean, and Sky
Looking westward toward the Pacific Ocean horizon and dissipating fog

Fog, Mist, Ocean, and Sky. Big Sur Coast, California. June 29, 2016. © Copyright 2016 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Looking westward toward the Pacific Ocean horizon and dissipating fog

I have something of an obsession with views to the west from the California coast, especially those in which details gradually fade toward and a distant and indistinct horizon. As a person whose family moved to this state when I was very young, and the son of a father who gradually worked his way west from New York through the midwest and the west to finally arrive on this coast, there is still, no doubt, at least a remnant of whatever it was that moved Americans across a continent — to arrive at its edge and look east to the unknown.

Minimalist Pacific Ocean views like this one have long intrigued me, especially when the light is extremely bright, to the point that the atmosphere glows so brightly that it almost hurts to look into it. This was an interesting day, one on which I escaped the hot inland weather to drive down the coast, where the fog was never far away. Here, at a spot high above the water, only thin remnants of the fog were present, along with a soft haze just above the water leading to a fog bank far off shore.

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: Ocean & Coast

Western Horizon, Fog Clouds

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Western Horizon, Fog Clouds
Clearing fog clouds above the Pacific Ocean western horizon

Western Horizon, Fog Clouds. Big Sur Coast, California. June 29, 2016. © Copyright 2016 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Clearing fog clouds above the Pacific Ocean western horizon

While I often am inclined to photograph the coast in the very early and very late hours, when the light is often at its most beautiful, I frequently see a special kind of light over the ocean in the middle of the day when I look to the west. Dissipating fog and the general moisture of the ocean, sometimes augmented by higher clouds, can give the backlight atmosphere a luminous and glowing quality — one that I often think of a light so intense that I can barely look into it. The ocean may lead off toward a horizon that simply disappears in this mist and luminosity.

This was a challenging day photographically, though the circumstances of making this photograph were quite mundane. I begin photographing at a slough many miles to the north, in the early morning when things were still foggy and gray. Eventually I moved down the coast, finding alternating fog and sunshine, but always high winds. It was a wonderful day to be out and about along this coast… but not an easy day for photography, and I had made very few photographs when I finally hit my turn-around point and stopped for coffee and a snack before stating to drive back to the north. After I parked and got my snack I came back to my car and noticed the small dissipating clouds of fog just offshore. The road was narrow, with no room for me to safely set up a tripod, so I shot handheld, thinking more about capturing scene data for a concept I wanted to work on in post than about capturing an “accurate” straight out of camera image.

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.