Category Archives: Commentary

Sandhill Cranes, Rural Road

Image February 27, 2020 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

A group of sandhill cranes crosses an agricultural road.

Sandhill cranes can be noble birds, but they can also be downright goofy. One of the most impressive experiences I ever had while photographing birds came one evening, as the light was almost too dim to photograph. From the southeast we began to hear the characteristic call of these birds, and a moment later successive flocks of them filled this sky, with thousands of birds passing overhead before landing in nearby ponds. On the other hand, there are few things more gangly-looking than a crane trying to get itself straight for a landing!

I photographed this group at an unusual daytime hour, rather than at my more typical early morning or evening times. The small flock had collected along a levee road next to a pond, and they were mostly just standing around, occasionally shifting positions a bit. It seemed to be a quiet time for them — no flying in or departing, no “crane dance.” After an extremely foggy morning, the atmosphere was still hazy and the light soft.

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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Commentary, Conservation/Environment, Locations

No More Posts About “That Thing”

Image January 30, 2020 G Dan Mitchell 4 Comments

Earlier this week I saw an article from a Southern California newspaper (and many links to it online) that promoted and glorified the annual late-February appearance of a particular conjunction of light and water in Yosemite Valley.

I first photographed it quite a few years ago, back before the 50-foot wave of the incoming digital camera revolution washed over everything, threatening to change such things forever, and not in good ways. Back then I was fortunate to join a few folks (maybe a dozen or a score?) standing quietly in one of a couple of places and hoping to see “the thing” happen. For many years I did an annual post about the subject that offered advice on when, where, and how to photograph it.

I’m not doing that any more.

I pretty much stopped photographing it several years ago when the whole event took on a circus-like atmosphere and got so out of control that it began to threaten the well-being of portions of the Valley. While I could share some positive aspects of it, the truth is that chasing after a photograph of something that has been built up and even distorted by too much publicity no longer interests me… and that it is now doing more harm than good.

This past week I also read that the Park Service has had to institute even more draconian (and necessary, I think) restrictions — closing traffic lanes, making it illegal to stop along portions of Valley roads, and completely closing one popular viewing area that had gotten to be so overrun that the forest, meadow, and river were damaged.

You’ve seen photographs of this subject. The photographs can be striking and sometimes remarkable. May I share another secret? If you go there to make your own photograph, the best most visitors can likely hope for is to maybe, if they are really lucky and really skillful and have the right equipment, get a “me too” photograph that looks pretty much like the others. There can be some value in that, but no longer enough to negate the downsides.

And what you are likely to see isn’t what you see in those select few remarkable photographs. The event, if it happens, is very high up on a tall cliff and a good distance from where you’l. be standing. In order to fill the frame the way you’ve seen it you are going to need a very long telephoto, a pretty good camera, probably a tripod. You’ll also need to take that “capture” and subject it to a fair amount of post-processing. The truth is that most of the photographs of the subject that you’ll see, including many of the most striking, have been enhanced to a considerable degree. during post-processing. (I’m not anti-post-processing at all. I’m just being honest.)

Short story: you aren’t going to get “that photo” on your iPhone.

And all of this assumes that the event actually happens. It depends on the conjunction of a number of uncertain conditions — a small stream that must receive enough February snow melt from a very small drainage to start it flowing, a clear line of sight between the location and the horizon far to the west. This doesn’t happen every night. In fact, of all the times I did try to photograph it, more often than not it did not happen.

But I have good news, too! Further afield in the famous Valley where this happens, this is my favorite season of the year, and there are loads of other astonishingly beautiful attractions that are equally worth photographing: morning mists in meadows, snow-topped cliffs ringing the Valley, the potential for spectacular winter storms, clouds floating among cliffs and towers, quiet forests, waterfalls that may come back to life, ice, and much more.

UPDATE: As of 2020 I am no longer posting annual updates concerning the annual Horse Tail Fall event. I also no longer recommend going to the Valley to see it. Unfortunately, too much exposure (yes, I played a part in it, unfortunately) has led to absurd crowds, traffic jams, littering, destruction of areas in the Valley where too many people go to see it… and the park has increasingly — and appropriately — cracked down. Parking options have been eliminated, at least one viewing location has been closed. Good news! The rest of Yosemite Valley is still there and often exceptionally beautiful at this time of year.

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Commentary, Photographs: Central California, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Ocean & Coast

Pacific Horizon, Weather Front

Image January 1, 2020 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Cloud shadows on the surface of the Pacific Ocean as an incoming storm front darkens the skies above the horizon.

This is a familiar scene to me, as I’ve have been visiting this section of the California coast for decades. The location is along the Big Sur coast, though it could be any number of places where it is possible to get up high and find an open view toward the horizon and the sun. On this day there was a thin overcast from the leading edge of an incoming Pacific weather system, and it did a fine job of casting shadows on the water and muting the brightest reflections.

For me these scenes always encourage a certain kind of stillness and thoughtfulness. As a person who has spent next-to-no time on the ocean, looking across these immense distances toward the horizon causes me to ponder the scale of the Pacific Ocean. Lower down at the waters edge, my attention goes to sand and surf and rocks — but up higher it extends much further outward.

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Commentary, Equipment, Reader Questions

A Question About The Mirrorless Canon R

Image November 25, 2019 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Reader “Scott” recently wrote with the following question about the Canon R mirrorless camera:

“Could you comment on the Canon EOS R? Your thoughts on mirrorless going forward? I’ve been reading a LOT on Fred Miranda, watching YouTube tutorials by Alex Barrera, etc. I know from reading that the RF glass appears to be amazing. As a trekker, hiker who is looking to maximize lighter gear with excellent IQ, this seems to be a good plan for me. Thanks for your insights!”

In a way I am very qualified to answer this… and in another way I’m not qualified at all! Read on to see why.

For those who may have not heard, the Canon “R” system (currently with two cameras, the “R” and the less expensive “RP”) is a new line of cameras from Canon using full frame sensors, a mirrorless design, and the new “RF” lens mount. While Canon has produced mirrorless cameras with smaller sensors for some time, these new bodies mark the company’s first entry into the mirrorless full frame camera market. Although Canon’s mirrorless cameras arrived late (by comparison to companies like Sony, Olympus, and Fujifilm), it seems that Canon carefully plotted out the path to their release. In addition to these two first bodies, it is all but certain that a high megapixel camera with the lineage of the 5Ds/5DsR will be next, and after that we can expect successors to other Canon DSLR designs.

The mirrorless design eliminates the pentaprism and the “flapping mirror” of DSLRs, and this allows the cameras to be made smaller and lighter. In addition, because lenses no longer need to clear the moving mirror the lens mount can be positioned closer to the sensor plane. This has some potential advantages, especially with “normal” to somewhat wide angle lenses, which can theoretically be made smaller. Canon’s lens strategy with the new mount has two parts. First, all existing EF lenses will work on the new cameras by means of a “pass through” adapter. Reportedly there is no loss in lens functionality, so photographers can continue to use their existing lenses without problems. Second, Canon is fast-tracking the introduction of new “native” RF lenses that use the R mount — and in many cases Canon appears to be making them “best of breed” lenses that exceed the performance of the older EF equivalents.

So, about that “I’m qualified to comment and I’m not” remark I made earlier… I have been shooting with a Fujifilm mirrorless system for about seven years or a bit more, relying on that system for the street and travel photography part of my work. So I’m very familiar with mirrorless cameras in general. On the other hand, my actual experience with the “R” is limited to playing with one in a shop for a short period of time. I cannot report on image quality, and my ability to analyze ergonomic issues is quite limited.

Like almost all mirrorless cameras, the R bodies use electronic viewfinders (EVFs) and do away with the traditional optical viewfinders. There are both pluses and minuses here. An optical viewfinder (OVF) is always a real time display, while an EVF will necessarily have at least some latency — in other words the display will lag the real world. The amount of latency is becoming quite small, but it can never disappear entirely. Some users don’t like (or don’t think they will like) EVF displays. My own experience is that I mostly forget that I’m using one after a short period of use. EVS displays have some real advantages, too. They can display all sorts of useful data right on top fo the image. They show the exact frame of the image — unlike DSLRs which usually are “off” by at least a small amount. They also work really well in very dark conditions, where exposure simulation may allow you to see a scene that might otherwise be nearly invisible.

One downside of mirrorless cameras is that they consume battery power more quickly than typical DSLRs. I might get over 1000 exposures from my DSLR in many situations, but I rarely get 300 with my Fujifilm mirrorless system before I have to change batteries. On the other hand, when I shoot in live view mode — which I usually do when photographing landscapes — battery life is diminished in a way that is about the same as what we get from mirrorless bodies.

Scott’s question is specific to trekking, so let’s look at that usage a bit.

Scott prioritizes lighter gear. Does the mirrorless system provide that? The camera bodies are certainly smaller and typically lighter than their DSLR equivalents, so they look good from that perspective. And for travelers who are constrained by the amount of space they have in bags and suitcases, the smaller body is an attraction. However, if you use large lenses on your DSLR system… you’ll probably use lenses that are roughly the same size and weight on your mirrorless system. So the overall size/weight of your gear many not decrease as much as you expect. However, if you can work with smaller lenses — say kit zooms or small primes — you can certainly get a relatively small system based these mirrorless cameras.

Depending on where you are trekking and on how many photographs you tend to make, the decreased battery life of mirrorless bodies could be a concern. If you are out long enough that you are carrying a charging system, you are probably fine, though you’ll likely have to rotate batteries more often. If you go out for a week at a time carrying enough batteries to see you through the trip… you many end up carrying more batteries with the mirrorless camera. (This can play into the overall weight comparison.)

There can be other advantages to these smaller mirrorless bodies. On the technical side, these bodies have fewer moving parts and rely less on mechanical components, potentially making them more reliable and less likely to break down in the field. On the subjective side, in some situations — such as photographing people on your travels — a smaller camera, especially when coupled with smaller lenses, can make your presence less intrusive and many help you get photographs where a larger camera might alert your subjects and change their appearance.

Finally, the writing is on the wall when it comes to how cameras will evolve in the next few years. That future is almost certainly going to be mirrorless. We may miss OVF displays, but I think we are going to like many of the other features of these cameras. As for me, I currently do half of my photography with a DSLR and half with a mirrorless camera… and I fully expect that five years from now I’ll be using only mirrorless.

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