Swans, Sunrise Light. © Copyright 2020 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.
A flock of (tundra?) swans catches the color of low angle sunrise light.
About eight years back, on a beautiful January morning, I visited the place where I first photographed migratory birds. The location is south of Sacramento, in California’s Great Central Valley — in agricultural lowlands. (That could, of course, describe huge sections of the Valley.) During most of the year you probably would not regard the area as being exceptionally beautiful, but when the birds arrive everything changes.
And do they arrive! Just counting the large birds, there are sandhill cranes, egrets of several types, ibises, all sorts of geese, swans, and sandhill cranes. At dawn on the perfect mornings, the sky is filled with flocks, flying at different altitudes, crossing in different directions, and making the most impressive racket that I know of. I photographed this group of (tundra?) swans during the brief interval when the sun is low enough in the sky to illuminate their undersides.
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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