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

Geese in Flight, Dusk

February 19, 2015 G Dan Mitchell 2 Comments

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.

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Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Northern California, Photographs: Sierra Nevada, Photographs: Yosemite

Forest, Afternoon Light

February 18, 2015 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Hazy afternoon winter light in a Yosemite Valley hardwood forest

This may have been just about the briefest visit to Yosemite Valley that I have ever made. We drove up from the Bay Area for two days and one night so that we could attend the opening reception for an art exhibit (Sierra Art Trails) in Oakhurst. We had thought that we might visit one of the Central Valley wildlife refuges on the way — and we ended up spending enough time there that it was after 3:00 when we got to the Yosemite Valley. We briefly stopped to watch people setting up to try to photograph Horsetail Fall, which we did not intend to do, and then headed up to one of the large meadows where I thought that I could photograph trees backlit by the low angle afternoon light.

I started out in a meadow, photographing trees to my west silhouetted against the hazy backlight. Finishing with this subject I wandered over to the banks of the Merced River to look for closer subjects, and as I looked west I saw this tangle of trees which gradually resolved into patterns of downward curving branches superimposed on taller tree trunks leaning to both sides. One challenge was trying to find a composition in this complexity, and another was shooting straight toward the sun without ending up with lens flare. The first took some careful thought, while the second required some contortions to shade the lens with my hand.

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

Sun Beams, Clearing Fog

February 17, 2015 G Dan Mitchell 2 Comments

Afternoon sun breaks through clearing fog in the farm country of the San Joaquin Valley

This photograph, made late on a day spent photographing migratory birds and the landscape they inhabit, illustrates a bunch of things that seem important to me. Each one might be the subject of a short article, but I’ll try to keep it short in this post. One theme might be persistence or patience: This was not the easiest day of photography, with interesting thick fog early in the day, but a midday that seemed to be a bit aimless and included an unsuccessful visit to a nearby area, and a conclusion that was glorious in several ways. Another might be flexibility: I was there primary to photograph wildlife, but I was ready to switch gears and become a landscape photographer when the clouds began to break up in the very late afternoon. It also reminds me to the value of not focusing on the literal depiction of what passes for the objective reality of the landscape, and the importance of focusing on the mood of the place in a subjective way. And it provides an example of how two photographers, working from nearly the same spot, will make quite different photographs and come away with different kinds of successes.

A few days earlier I had photographed at this same location, and late that day I had convinced myself that there would be no great evening light, and I left early. Who knows what I missed as a result of that decision! This time, shooting with a group of friends, I was back on track and eager to shoot until the light was gone. It was an unusual day — great but challenging photography conditions early in the morning, followed by less exciting conditions later in the day. Then in the early evening a large flock of Ross’s geese assembled in a familiar spot and a few of us headed there and positioned the flock between ourselves and the sky to the west, where the clouds were finally starting to break up. During the last portion of the day we were treated to this cloud and light show as the sun played peak-a-boo with the clouds and to one of the most spectacular mass take-offs of geese that I have seen.

Reader Questions, Technique

Reader Question: About Depth of Field

February 16, 2015 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

I recently received an email from David, who has some questions about depth of field:

As you have a lot of experience of using the Fuji X-E1, may I please ask you for some advice regarding landscape focusing.

My aim is to use the 18-55mm kit lens with the majority of shots taken at the widest end. I have in mind setting the lens at Hyperfocal distances, based on a crop factor of 1.5 and a circle of confusion of 0.02. I think the first figure is reliable, but I’m not sure about the second in relation to the X-E1 – perhaps you could confirm.

I have already done some testing at home using the attached table (which come from the well respected DOFmaster site).

In my experiment I carefully measured distances at apertures of f8 and f11 using a tripod and a printed card as the subject. I set the lens manually at the hyperfocal distance, using the EVF distance scale. I was disappointed to find that the closest point of focus was not as sharp as I had hoped. Have you any idea why this may be?

I did a further test on aperture f11 and this time set the distance scale at 4 feet (2/3 of the way between 3 and 5 feet). This resulted in a sharp image from 3.5 feet. This would suggest that the distance scale is not accurate.

Any suggestions you have to overcome the problem would be much appreciated.

Let me preface my response on the depth of field (DOF) issue by congratulating you for taking the time to conduct your own experiments. One of the great things about digital cameras is that we don’t have to trust what we read — we can easily and quickly conduct the experiments ourselves. In addition to getting the answer to the question at hand, we end up knowing our gear at a much deeper and even intuitive level, which is extremely important when we are in the field and we don’t have time to ponder and calculate, but must instead make a photograph in the moment.

The rest of this post is going to be somewhat involved, so let me share a quick thought right at the beginning:

The usefulness of DOF calculators is very limited, as they are based on subjective assumptions that may not match what you are doing with your photographs. The best way to align your expectations with exposure choices is to test them yourself and evaluate images in the form that you most often produce — and not just at 100% magnification on a computer screen.

What is DOF? Essentially the depth of field is the distance range in front of and behind (unless you focus at infinity) the focus point within which subjects are likely to sharp enough to seem in focus when the photograph is viewed at some arbitrary magnification. This size of this range increases as we stop down (for example, going from f/2.8 to f/8 expands the DOF) and decreases as we open the aperture (going from f/8 to f/2.8 contracts DOF). This is a source of creative control for the photographer. A smaller aperture can allow subjects across a greater distance range to appear relatively sharp, while a larger aperture can keep the primary subject in focus while pleasingly “un-focusing” elements in front of and behind the primary focus point. Continue reading Reader Question: About Depth of Field →

G Dan Mitchell Photography

Geese in Flight, Dusk

Forest, Afternoon Light

Sun Beams, Clearing Fog

Reader Question: About Depth of Field

Photographer and visual opportunist. Daily photos since 2005, plus articles, reviews, news, and ideas.