Tag Archives: bird

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Northern California, Photographs: Ocean & Coast, Photographs: Wildlife

Three Pelicans In Low-Level Flight

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Three Pelicans In Low-Level Flight
Three Pelicans In Low-Level Flight

Three Pelicans In Low-Level Flight. Waddell Beach, California. December 4, 2009. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Three Pelicans fly just above the beach and surf near Waddell Beach along the California Pacific Ocean coastline.

I hope you don’t mind if I indulge – yet again – in my pelican obsession! I’m endlessly fascinated by these wonderful birds found, among other places, along the California Pacific Ocean coastline. (Note: This morning I read the unfortunate news that the pelicans may be undergoing some sort of stress this winter and some fear one of the periodic pelican “die-offs.”)

I photographed these birds on a dark and cloudy early December day. A bit earlier I had spotted a first group of them descending from above bluffs to the south to land at the delta of Waddell Creek along this beach. Gradually a few more groups of them arrived until there were a good number collected in a group. After a few moments, and for no reason that I could discern, they all lifted off at the same moment and flew across the beach in front of me, at first mere inches off the surface of the sand, and then turning out to sea and rising above waves before disappearing.

Trust me, I can make sharp photographs of pelicans. But here I like the obvious blur from the camera motion and from the motion of the birds through the air as well as from their moving wings – to me this image more strongly suggest their nearly constant motion than the sharper photographs I’ve made of them.

This photograph is not in the public domain and may not be used on websites, blogs, or in other media without advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

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keywords: pacific, ocean, sea, coast, highway, one, coastal, california, usa, pelican, bird, wildlife, fly, flight, low, beach, sand, water, surf, wave, motion, blur, wing, beak, shadow, feather, nature, waddell, creek, beach, big basin, state, park, shore, shorline, stock

Photographs: Central California, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Northern California, Photographs: Ocean & Coast, Photographs: Wildlife

Three Pelicans in Flight, Waddell Beach

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Three Pelicans in Flight, Waddell Beach

Three Pelicans in Flight, Waddell Beach. Pacific Coast, California. December 4, 2009. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Three pelicans, blurred by their motion, fly just above the wet sand of a Pacific Ocean beach.

It has been a busy week and it promised to remain busy next week as well, so I decided to make a quick trip over the hill to the Pacific coastline north of Santa Cruz this afternoon with a vague plan to shoot some seascapes and whatever else might come up. The weather today was a type of typical central California winter weather – some tule fog in the morning that cleared to hazy light… perfect for photography in my book! I was hoping for something like this on the coastline, too.

When I arrived I found that it was even more murky along the coast (and colder!) than back home. I finally ended up at the beach where Waddell Creek enters the Pacific and pulled over to stop before turning around and starting back. At just that moment two large groups of pelicans were coming in from the south and landing among sea gulls on the beach. I quickly put the long lens on the camera and very soon the group of birds took off and headed across the shoreline in front of me.

Most often I try to make wildlife photographs as sharp as possible, but at the moment the birds took off that just wasn’t going to be possible. I had a 400mm lens on the camera, the light was very murky, my ISO was still at 100… and the birds were in flight now! So I tracked them as they flew past, blurring the background surf and sand and letting their wings blur as well. In the end, I feel that this blurry shot in which everything seems to be in motion better suits the subject and perhaps conveys the atmosphere of the scene better than sharper photos might. (I later adjusted everything and captured a few more traditionally sharp pelican shots – and in this light they strike me as pretty boring!)

This photograph is not in the public domain and may not be used on websites, blogs, or in other media without advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

G Dan Mitchell Photography | Twitter | Friendfeed | Facebook | Facebook Fan Page | Email

keywords: pelican, bird, marine, pelagic, brown, pacific, ocean, sea, coast, shore, shoreline, beach, sand, wave, surf, motion, fast, low, fly, blur, wing, formation, water, reflection, shadow, beak, bill, flight, california, usa, nature, travel, scenic, stock, waddell, big basin, state, park

Photographs: Central California, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Northern California, Photographs: Ocean & Coast, Photographs: Wildlife

Sea Lions and Gulls, Sunset – Point Lobos

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Sea Lions and Gulls, Sunset - Point Lobos

Sea Lions and Gulls, Sunset – Point Lobos. Point Lobos State Reserve, California. November 22, 2009. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Sea lions and gulls on offshore rocks at sunset in heavy surf – Point Lobos State Reserve, California.

As I photographed this group of offshore rocks in heavy surf near sunset, a group of gulls suddenly came into the scene and tried to land on the sea-lion-covered rocky island. The season beginning at about this time of year until early spring is my favorite for photographing the California coastline – the time when the great Pacific Ocean weather fronts roll through and bring huge surf conditions.

This photograph is not in the public domain and may not be used on websites, blogs, or in other media without advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

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keywords: point, lobos, state, park, reserve, carmel, monterey, peninsula, big, sur, california, usa, ocean, sea, pacific, coast, shore, scenic, stock, travel, nature, gull, bird, fly, land, lion, marine, mammal, surf, wave, spray, wild, mist, reflection, sun, sunset, yellow, orange, light, foam, silhouette, beam, stock

Photographs: Central California, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Northern California, Photographs: Ocean & Coast, Photographs: Wildlife

Rocks, Spray, and Gulls – Punta de los Lobos Marinos

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Rocks, Spray, and Gulls - Punta de los Lobos Marinos

Rocks, Spray, and Gulls – Punta de los Lobos Marinos. Point Lobos State Reserve, California. November 22, 2009. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Two gulls on offshore rocks, engulfed in ocean spray and illuminated by the light of the setting sun, Punta de los Lobos Marinos, Point Lobos State Reserve. California.

Shooting almost directly into the setting sun, I photographed the wild spray as a weather front departed, leaving waves, wind, and spray it its wake. I was amazed that the two birds remained perched and completely immobile as the wind and surf raged around them.

This photograph is not in the public domain and may not be used on websites, blogs, or in other media without advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

G Dan Mitchell Photography | Twitter | Friendfeed | Facebook | Facebook Fan Page | Email

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