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

Row of Trees, Evening

February 19, 2012 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

A row of bare trees stands next to a pond in evening light at the Merced National Wildlife Refuge, Central Valley, California.

While photographing migratory birds in early February at the Merced National Wildlife Refuge in California’s Central Valley, just before sunset there was a lull in the “bird action,” and I realized that I had neglected to photograph much of anything besides the birds. With this in mind, I left the edge of the ponds where we had been shooting, and I took a short walk along a nearby trail that went out into some brushy areas that generally seemed sort of nondescript. Except… I’m fascinated by brushy, scrubby trees and brush and I’m always challenged when it comes to thinking about how to make photographic sense of this subject. In the right light the shapes and subtle colors can be quite interesting, but it can also be tricky to find a composition in the dense growth.

As I walked I passed along a small pond, and at first I noticed the reflection of a tree whose trunk was branching out in many different directions and its mirrored image in the water. Then I saw this row of barren trees, which I assume might have been planted along the levee as some sort of wind break. Their straight forms were tall and parallel, except that here and there this orderly form was broken up by a trunk or branch pointing off in some odd direction and creating a bit of visual dissonance. Since it was the lens I already had on the camera for photographing birds, I made this landscape photo with what might seem to be the least likely of landscape lenses, a 100-400mm zoom!

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

Ross’s Geese, Winter Sky

February 18, 2012 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

A group of Ross’s geese in flight against a winter sky above California’s Central Valley.

I may have mentioned before that I’m not the world best namer of things – I struggle with identification of both flora and fauna, at least beyond the most obvious stuff. This is somewhat odd, since I often recall and recognize in great detail the specific characteristics of things. For example, while I’ve never been able to consistently remember the names of certain wildflowers, I’m very familiar with them and can tell you exactly where to find the plants, when they bloom, and so forth. This is all my preamble to saying that I’m pretty sure these are Ross’s Geese, but that I make no guarantees! From a bit of reading and viewing I did before posting, I found out that telling the Ross’s Goose apart from the Snow Goose is not an easy thing. Some of the differences are more of degree than anything else – one is a bit larger and has a bit larger wingspan. Others are subtle, for example the head shapes. Some or more obvious, such as the presence or not of a certain pattern on the side of the bill. (I now know that some other birds that I had not identified earlier on must be Snow Geese… since I now recall seeing that very pattern and wondering about it.)

Anyway… when we visited the Merced National Wildlife Refuge on an early February evening we got lucky and found a huge mass of these birds (and others) in a location that was fairly close to the places from which viewing was possible. To give you an idea of how many birds there were, when we first arrived we noticed groups of a few hundred lifting off and flying away and began to worry that we might miss the show – but it turned out that a few hundred departures, repeated many times over, did not diminish the apparent size of the monumental group of birds at all!

For me, and I suspect for most who photograph these birds, the “hit rate” is something considerably short of 100%. If I have to wait long enough for birds to fly over, eventually I get impatient and start shooting groups that are really too far away to make good photos. Others look like they are heading my direction, so I compose and start shooting, only to watch them veer off to the side. Others approach close enough but they end up against bright sky and little or no detail is visible in the shot. Others come close but assume odd positions that don’t make impressive photographs, or they may even come too close to photograph! But eventually, something good happens. This group came close, flew towards me, and within shooting distance not only turned to present great profiles but even lined up in such a way that the low sun caught their undersides and filled in what might have been silhouettes otherwise.

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

Tundra Swans, Dawn

February 17, 2012 G Dan Mitchell 2 Comments

: Tundra swans in dawn light above the Central Valley of California.

Tundra swans in dawn light above the Central Valley of California.

These photographs (there are others) of tundra swans in flight above the Central Valley of California near the end of Woodbridge Road are the result of some combination of foresight, planning, and good fortune. Mostly good fortune. :-)

The “foresight and planning” part involves knowing that huge numbers of beautiful migratory birds make their homes in the Central Valley every winter, in figuring out (by “poking around” and with the help and advice of friends) the locations of some of the good locations for seeing the birds, getting up very early and driving long distances before the sun comes up, having the right equipment to photograph them, and knowing how to use it. The good fortune part, however, cannot be diminished. You would have to be crazy to think that you have much control at all over the elements of such scenes. Not only are the weather and related atmospheric conditions essentially whatever they are, but the bird tend to go wherever they want, whenever they want. They are notoriously resistant to shouted commands to come back around a second time, fly past at a lower elevation, group themselves more closely, or position themselves nicely in the light. :-)

This was one of quite a few groups of birds that flew over us this morning. Sometimes the group might consist of two birds, sometimes of too many to count. They might be low or high, close or far. These approached in nearly perfect light – the sun had just risen and the low-angle light illuminated the birds from below and, to some extent, through their feathers. As they approached I was shooting in “landscape” (horizontal) orientation, since that works more often than not for flocks that are strung out lengthwise. I squeezed off one shot in that mode, then realized that they were about to line up vertically above me as they passed, so I quickly shifted the camera by ninety degrees and worked to frame them in the viewfinder as the flew past.

Publications, Reviews

Exposure for Outdoor Photography, by Michael Frye

February 16, 2012 G Dan Mitchell 4 Comments

Exposure for Outdoor Photography by Michael Frye

Craft and Vision has just released Michael Frye’s new ebook, Exposure for Outdoor Photography. The book seems to be directed at the many folks who own DSLRs or non-DSLR cameras and are striving to advance beyond the point and shoot approach to their photography. The book takes a straightforward approach to some of the most important topics related to exposure. It begins with a basic description of, well, the basics of exposure – shutter speed, aperture, and ISO and some of the important terminology and concepts related to these factors. Michael keeps the level of detail to a minimum, but the basics are all there, including an explanation of the how and why of using the histogram display – which is probably just about exactly the right approach for his intended audience.

After getting the basics out of the way, the book moves to a series of ten “cases studies,” each of which uses one of his photographs to explore a particular aspect of exposure. The subjects of the case studies include using the histogram, dealing with both large and small depth of field, freezing motion or controlling motion blur, the tradeoffs of moving to higher ISO, recovering highlights in bright scenes, how to handle extremely bright highlights such as direct sun, and a nod to the zone system (in very simplified form) and HDR and exposure blending concepts. Rather than presenting the concepts in theoretical form, he uses his one photographs to provide practical examples for the case studies.

There are a number of things I appreciate about the book, and I think many readers may also agree:

Rather than presenting rules that you must follow, Michael presents the concepts and explains/demonstrates the effects of some of the choice under discussion. He is careful to point out that there usually is no “perfect” exposure, and that there are different ways to get the result you have in mind. (Near the end of the book he even provides some examples of photographs that intentionally “violate” the exposure rules.)
He strikes a good balance between too little and too much detail. He avoids the pitfalls of trying to make things so simple that they end up being simple-minded and of trying to cover all possibilities to the extent that many readers simply end up confused. This is probably an ideal balance for photographers who are taking first steps towards fuller understanding and control of exposure in their photographs.
The case study photographs effectively illustrate the concepts that he covers. In addition, many of them are just plain fine photographs. (Two of my favorites are the Tuolumne Meadows photograph and one of geese in beautiful morning light.)

The ebook concept seems to be catching on quickly and there are plenty of good reasons for this. The visual quality of the text and illustrations is excellent. The books can be read on a laptop or a tablet. They are easy to purchase, and the cost is very low.

The book is now available from site affiliate Craft And Vision, and I understand that there may be a discount price during the first few days of availability.

G Dan Mitchell Photography

Row of Trees, Evening

Exposure for Outdoor Photography, by Michael Frye

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