Photographs: Birds, Photographs: Central California, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Wildlife

Three Cranes in Silhouette

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Three Cranes in Sillouette
Three sandhill cranes silhouetted against dawn sky over the Sierra Nevada crest.

Three Cranes in Silhouette. © Copyright 2023 G Dan Mitchell.

Three sandhill cranes silhouetted against dawn sky over the Sierra Nevada crest.

A trio of what may be my favorite kind of bird, the sandhill crane. This group is flying above California’s Central Valley on a late-February morning, silhouetted against a brilliantly colorful sky of thin clouds above the crest of the Sierra Nevada.

Photographing birds against this kind of sky is a challenge. Part of me wants to end up with photographs that show the details of the birds’ shape and texture, but an exposure that would accomplish this would entirely lose the brilliant colors of this pre-sunrise sky. So I go with the silhouette effect — though you may be able to spot at least the suggestion of detail on the birds’ wings if you look closely. Truth be told, seeing the details of the birds in this light is extremely difficult and, I think, perhaps not the most important thing.

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: Central California, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Wildlife

Geese, Winter Trees

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Migratory geese fly into evening sky above winter trees, California Central Valley.

Geese, Winter Trees. © Copyright 2023 G Dan Mitchell.

Migratory geese fly into evening sky above winter trees, California Central Valley.

As geese (and not an insignificant number of cranes) flocked in the evening sky nearby, I had watched this grove of winter-bare trees, hoping that the birds my fly over them at some point. More than once they came close before turning back to the left, but finally a group of them coming into this composition. They were silhouetted against the bright evening sky as they turned, with a few clouds lower in the sky.

This copse of bare trees and other like it in the Central Valley fascinate me during the cold months. Late in the fall their leaves start to turn a beautiful golden color, especially when the light catches them just right. This last of this color doesn’t fall until early January, at it is usually the last “fall color” I see each season. Then the trees remain bare until spring — though they always a good place to look for birds of all sorts.

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 | Twitter | 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.

Photographs: Birds, Photographs: Central California, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Wildlife

Birds in Motion

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Birds in Motion
Long-exposure motion blur photograph of geese in flight over winter fields.

Birds in Motion. © Copyright 2023 G Dan Mitchell.

Long-exposure motion blur photograph of geese in flight over winter fields.

This is another long-exposure, late-day bird photograph, in which I lower the ISO and use longer exposures in order to allow motion blur. A flock of (mostly) snow geese was turning into a strong crosswind and the brighter western sky — so the light was interesting and the birds were moving a bit slower that usual. The latter is a distinct advantage when trying to track the birds during longer exposures.

This way of shooting is fun and challenging. The idea is to end up with an image that has some kind of compositional integrity and which suggests the wild motion of the flock. A shutter speed up to about a second can work, and this variable will, of course, control how much blur there is. One challenge is that I can only estimate what the composition will look like since I’m shooting handheld and tracking the birds. Including a bit of the landscape in this photograph helps “ground” the blur of the 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.

Blog | About | Twitter | 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.

Equipment, Reviews

Moving On: Fujifilm XPro2 to XT5

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The XPro is dead! Long live the XPro! That’s not the main subject of this essay, but based on tea-leaf reading and my own experience with the XT5 I think that’s where we are headed. I’ll get to why I think so near the end of this article.

This article is primarily aimed at Fujifilm users (and potential users) considering the retro XPro design versus the recently released (DSLR-style) mirrorless XT5. It is partly about techie camera stuff, but it is also a story about letting go of preconceptions and adapting to something new.

Since some readers may be unfamiliar with the cameras, here’s a quick summary.

XPro2 — The XPro2 is one of three Fujifilm “XPro” bodies — originally the XPro1 , the subsequent XPro2, and the most recent XPro3. These are rangefinder-style cameras with retro appeal due to their similarity to classic rangefinder film cameras and the inclusion of full manual controls. A key feature is the hybrid viewfinder system combining an old-school optical viewfinder (OVF) and a modern electronic viewfinder (EVF). The XPro2 has a 24MP APS-C sensor, while the newer XPro3 has a 26MP sensor.

XT5 — The XT5 is the most recent (as of this writing) in Fujifilm’s series of XT cameras that combine a small DSLR-like mirrorless body with a full set of manual controls, similar to what is found on the XPro bodies. This new camera uses an updated 40MP sensor — previous models (XT1-4) used 16MP, 24MP, and most recently 26MP sensors.

Fujifilm XT5 (l) and XPro2 (r) with Fujifilm 27mm f/2.8 lenses.
Fujifilm XT5 (l) and XPro2 (r) with Fujifilm 27mm f/2.8 lenses.

Because virtually all models in a generation of Fujifilm cameras use the same sensor, Fujfilm owners are more attentive to other functional differences between them. That is why I’ll focus on those things and say little about the sensor.

Continue reading Moving On: Fujifilm XPro2 to XT5 →

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