All posts by G Dan Mitchell

Photographs: England, Photographs: Travel, Photographs: Urban/Street

At Nelson’s Column

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At Nelson's Column
People near Nelson’s Column at Trafalgar Square, London

At Nelson’s Column. © Copyright 2021 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

People near Nelson’s Column at Trafalgar Square, London

Everyone has to go to Trafalgar Square when visiting London, right? AT least if it is your first visit, which this was for us. I have previously shared a rather different version of this photograph — one rendered in monochrome and in a 4:3 aspect ratio. While looking through old photographs recently as part of my pandemic project, I came across it once again and saw it in a different way.

I now think that the colors in the image are appealing — I originally felt they were irrelevant. I find some interesting patterns and relationships among them. I also discovered that, for me anyway, there are a lot of interesting little things going on among the people in this photograph. While I don’t think it is a photograph that works primarily on the basis of its larger patterns (though there are some of those), I do think that it is the sort that becomes more interesting when I take the time to study it carefully. (I know. That’s kind of hard to do in a little social media jpg. A big print would work better for that.)

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, Amazon, and directly from G Dan Mitchell.

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Photographs: Birds, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Wildlife

Geese, Evening Sky

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Geese, Evening Sky
The evening sky filled with snow geese.

Geese, Evening Sky. © Copyright 2021 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

The evening sky filled with snow geese.

One thing that you don’t understand about bird photography until you do it, is that in order to experience truly remarkable, memorable moments you will spend a lot of time at the opposite end of the spectrum of exciting experiences. The vast majority of your time will be spend watching a quiet landscape in which it seems, at least superficially, that nothing much is going on. Truth be told, there will be moments (sometimes long “moments”) of boredom. You might nap. (I do!) You may do some reading, check your phone for news. Or, best of all, simply immerse yourself in the quiet.

But if you are willing to pay this easy price, you almost certainly will experience a few moments that make it well worth the effort. I still cannot get a particular foggy February morning out of my mind, even though it was years ago when the sun began to break through tule fog as thousands upon thousands of geese and cranes wheeled through the sky in constant motion. That morning, on its own, has led to many 3:00AM wake-up calls and long drives in the. This photograph is from a different but similar moment recently, when many thousands of geese erupted almost continuously from cornfields and filled the sunset sky around me.

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, Amazon, and directly from G Dan Mitchell.

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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: Birds, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Wildlife

Geese in Dawn Sky

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Geese in Dawn Sky
A cloud of geese takes flight over wetlands in dawn light

Geese in Dawn Sky. © Copyright 2021 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A cloud of geese takes flight over wetlands in dawn light

Today’s post begins with a confession: I can’t resist raising the camera and photographing when these gigantic flocks of migratory geese take to the air above these wetland landscapes. I’ve seen this happen perhaps thousands of times now, but the visual and auditory tumult is remains irresistible. So I photograph. Even knowing that I have hundreds of photographs of similar events in my archives. What can I say?

If you are looking for something a bit out of the ordinary or special in this image, allow me to help. You may notice that not all the geese are white. In fact, I’m certain that at least four different types of migratory geese appear in this photograph. The white geese are likely mostly snow geese, but I think there are some Ross’s geese in the mix, too. The darker geese in the airborne flock appear to be Aleutian cackling geese – the subject of an amazing species recovery. Down on the water and difficult to make out are the ubiquitous white-fronted geese. (I imagine one of them looking over to a buddy, “Hey, what are those guys so upset about?” while floating placidly in the pond.) The light is a bit unusual. There was no thick fog here, but there were low clouds to the east, and they muted the light — though a bit of reddish sunrise light is coloring the white geese in the airborne flock.

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, Amazon, and directly from G Dan Mitchell.

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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: Birds, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Wildlife

Three Black-Necked Stilts

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Three Black-Necked Stilts
Three black-necked stilts feeding in a shallow wetlands pond.

Three Black-Necked Stilts. © Copyright 2021 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Three black-necked stilts feeding in a shallow wetlands pond.

Often when I go out to photograph birds the potential conditions of light and weather can dominate my thoughts more than the birds themselves. It isn’t that the birds are not endlessly fascinating — they are! Rather it is that I want to photograph them, if possible, in exceptional conditions. That typically means near the beginning or end of the day and, if possible, when the atmosphere is interesting… and by “interesting” I usually mean foggy.

This was not that day. The sky was clear from dawn until dusk. But while the light was perhaps ordinary, the birds were not. There were more of them than I recall seeing in the past. They were mostly geese of various sorts (snow, Ross’s, cackling, white-fronted…) but also cranes and abundant small blackbirds. And, as always, along the edges of the ponds there were black-necked stilts, a bird that I’ve come to enjoy quite a bit. Photographing them is either really easy… or incredibly hard. The hard part comes when they suddenly take flight and tracking them is a challenge. But between those flights they spend a lot of time feeding and moving slowly as this trio was doing when I photographed them.

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, Amazon, and directly from G Dan Mitchell.

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.