Category Archives: Photographs: Flight

Photographs: Central California, Photographs: Flight, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Northern California, Photographs: Wildlife

Black and White, Cranes and Geese

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Black and White, Cranes and Geese
Black and White, Cranes and Geese

Black and White, Cranes and Geese. San Joaquin Valley, California. February 13, 2015. © Copyright 2015 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Masses of sandhill cranes and Ross’s geese take to the air in foggy winter skies about the San Joaquin Valley

A few years ago I may a photograph in the Skagit Valley of Washington that I described as a “snow goose maelstrom” — a scene utterly packed with those geese in flight. The scene we arrived to on this winter morning in the San Joaquin Valley was also such a maelstrom, except there were even more kinds of birds. While the description of this photograph refers to “sandhill cranes and Ross’s geese,” there are other birds here, too. In fact, it isn’t hard to spot a couple of white-fronted geese, and I know there were egrets lurking in this mass of birds, too. Who knows… it is even possible that a few snow geese might have shown up.

We arrived to a favorite kind of atmospheric condition. There was very dense tule fog — so dense that you can see the more distant airborne birds in the photo almost disappear behind its veil. But the fog was shallow and beginning to thin, and the sun was making it glow with intense brightness. I describe this effect as the fog glowing so brightly that it can almost be hard to look directly into it. I chose to go with a relatively high key interpretation of this scene to evoke that feeling. At the moment that I made the photograph, something had disturbed the flock and the various kinds of birds on the ground were beginning to lift into the sky to join those that were already airborne.

G Dan Mitchell is a California photographer and visual opportunist whose subjects include the Pacific coast, redwood forests, central California oak/grasslands, the Sierra Nevada, California deserts, urban landscapes, night photography, and more.
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Text, photographs, and other media are © Copyright G Dan Mitchell (or others when indicated) and are not in the public domain and may not be used on websites, blogs, or in other media without advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

Photographs: Central California, Photographs: Flight, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Northern California, Photographs: Wildlife

Geese in Blue Sky

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Geese in Blue Sky
Geese in Blue Sky

Geese in Blue Sky. San Joaquin Valley, California. February 13, 2015. © Copyright 2015 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Thousands of Ross’s Geese in the San Joaquin Valley winter sky

And, yes, another photograph of thousands of geese wheeling overhead in the San Joaquin Valley sky. They tend to do that this time of year. The cause of this eruption of geese was a bit different from the usual. Typically, when they are flocking in pastures and similar areas, something sets them off — a predator, a low flying plane, who knows what else — and an entire flock will suddenly take to the air en masse, in a maelstrom of flapping wings and noise. We had stopped near a large group in a field, from which smaller groups were constantly coming and going, when another vehicle pulled up behind us. Out hopped a half-dozen young girls who proceed to run down the road, setting of the geese. (For the record, you aren’t supposed to do this. They are young. They will learn. :-)

Because the flock was so close, the first photographs I made mostly featured close up walls of geese. But eventually they widened the circle of their flight, looping round beyond this little brushy grove out in the flatlands. I zoomed out to see if I could get a larger view, and although I was shooting a 100-400mm lens, 100mm was “wide” enough to take in thousands of geese, the landscape, and the gradient of color in the sky as it transitioned from the lighter colors of the foggy atmosphere near the ground to the deeper blue of winter sky far above.

G Dan Mitchell is a California photographer and visual opportunist whose subjects include the Pacific coast, redwood forests, central California oak/grasslands, the Sierra Nevada, California deserts, urban landscapes, night photography, and more.
Blog | About | Flickr | Twitter | Facebook | Google+ | 500px.com | LinkedIn | Email

Text, photographs, and other media are © Copyright G Dan Mitchell (or others when indicated) and are not in the public domain and may not be used on websites, blogs, or in other media without advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

Photographs: Central California, Photographs: Flight, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Northern California, Photographs: Wildlife

Geese in Flight, Dusk

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Geese in Flight, Dusk
Geese in Flight, Dusk

Geese in Flight, Dusk. San Joaquin Valley, California. January 25, 2015. © Copyright 2015 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Flocks of Ross’s geese in flight in the winter evening sky above the San Joaquin Valley

It was near the end of a full late-January day of winter bird photography in California’s San Joaquin Valley. After seeing fewer birds (Ross’s geese, sandhill cranes, and more) than we expected earlier in the season, the new year had brought increased numbers that reminded me of previous years. We started this day before sunrise and kept at it almost all day, taking only a short break for a visit to a nearby area before returning to again photograph the birds in the late afternoon. As the afternoon wore on we began to look for a likely spot to photograph the birds at the end of the day. They could end up anywhere, but this time they congregated in an accessible spot along the edge of a gravel access road. Several of us parked along this road, positioning ourselves so that a large flock of Ross’s geese that had collected there would be between us and the sunset light on clouds.

The giant flock of Ross’s geese gradually edged to the east, and we moved several times in order to keep them positioned for best light and background. There was some continuous coming and going as birds flew off to other groups or flew in to join this one, but for the most part things were rather calm. Then, for no clear reason (an eagle flying overhead? Something else?) the entire flock lifted off suddenly right in front of us. This moment, which I have seen before, is unforgettable, not just for the huge clouds of birds turning and gradually spreading in the sky, but also for the sound — wild cries as the birds lift off, and the rushing noise of thousands of wings suddenly beating.

G Dan Mitchell is a California photographer and visual opportunist whose subjects include the Pacific coast, redwood forests, central California oak/grasslands, the Sierra Nevada, California deserts, urban landscapes, night photography, and more.
Blog | About | Flickr | Twitter | Facebook | Google+ | 500px.com | LinkedIn | Email

Text, photographs, and other media are © Copyright G Dan Mitchell (or others when indicated) and are not in the public domain and may not be used on websites, blogs, or in other media without advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

Photographs: Central California, Photographs: Flight, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Wildlife

Sandhill Cranes, Blue Sky

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Sandhill Cranes, Blue Sky
Sandhill Cranes, Blue Sky

Sandhill Cranes, Blue Sky. San Joaquin Valley, California. January 1, 2015. © Copyright 2015 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A trio of sandhill cranes against the blue winter sky over the San Joaquin Valley

Today’s photograph is a plain, straight-up bird photograph of three sandhill cranes flying above me against the blue winter sky in California’s San Joaquin Valley. It is another of my New Year’s Day photographs, for our trip to this area to greet the dawn of the new year and share the experience with a few photographer friends and a few thousand feathered friends!

The day began, as it usually does out here in the winter, in fog. We photographed the sun rising through the fog and then moved on to photograph the frosty landscape and other birds along the gravel road that we traveled. This was not a tremendously foggy day, and eventually the fog gave way to hazy sunlight and later on to beautiful blue skies. The cranes were plentiful on New Year’s Day, and we had several good opportunities to photograph them.

G Dan Mitchell is a California photographer and visual opportunist whose subjects include the Pacific coast, redwood forests, central California oak/grasslands, the Sierra Nevada, California deserts, urban landscapes, night photography, and more.
Blog | About | Flickr | Twitter | Facebook | Google+ | 500px.com | LinkedIn | Email

Text, photographs, and other media are © Copyright G Dan Mitchell (or others when indicated) and are not in the public domain and may not be used on websites, blogs, or in other media without advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.