Tag Archives: black

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

Black-Necked Stilt, Sunset Reflection

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Black-Necked Stilt, Sunset Reflection
A black-necked stilt wades in shallow water reflecting sunset sky.

Black-Necked Stilt, Sunset Reflection. = © Copyright 2018 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A black-necked stilt wades in shallow water reflecting sunset sky.

In this place where we gathered to photograph migratory birds on New Year’s Day, our attention often turns to the most impressive sights — giant flocks of thousands of  birds, collected on ponds and fields, or suddenly rising into the sky all at once. Or perhaps to other birds at dawn, or to their return at dusk. Sometimes the landscape and sky can produce spectacular scenes.

The end of this day wasn’t like that. We did find a very large flock of geese, but they were hunkered down on a close-cropped field, feeding in low and flat light as much of the sunset was cut off by clouds to the west and haze was everywhere. However, sometimes it is possible to find smaller subjects at times like these, and we spotted a few of these black-necked stilts wading in shallow water with a bit of colorful sky as a backdrop.

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 and Amazon.
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Photographs: Central California, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Wildlife

Birds Before Dawn

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Birds Before Dawn
A flock of small birds rises into pre-dawn sky about San Joaquin Valley wetlands

Birds Before Dawn. San Joaquin Valley, California. December 9, 2017. © Copyright 2017 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A flock of small birds rises into pre-dawn sky about San Joaquin Valley wetlands

This was a long day with lots of driving. In the evening I would be in Oakhurst, in the Sierra Nevada foothills near Yosemite, where I planned to attend the reception for “AVIAN: Birds In A Changing Landscape,” an exhibit of art related to the lives of birds in California. (Two of my photographs are in the show, and it runs through January 14 at Gallery Five.) But before going to Oakhurst I figured I would start my day by visiting the San Joaquin Valley wetlands, the environment where the birds actually live.

After a two-hour drive I arrived a half hour or so before dawn. I grabbed a quick cup of coffee from my thermos, put the big lens on my camera, and turned my attention to the surrounding bird-filled landscape. Within moments I was stunned to see something new to me — an absolutely huge flock of very small birds rose in the distance. My best guess is that they may have been tai-color blackbirds, but the numbers were far beyond anything I had seen here before. The light was too low and they were too far away to make an effective photograph, but before long a very small fraction of the flock came across this section of the wetlands closer to my location, and I was able to photograph them against the pre-dawn sky.

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 and Amazon.
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All media © Copyright G Dan Mitchell and others as indicated. Any use requires advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

Photographs: Mono Lake Basin, Photographs: Nature

Mono Lake Shoreline, Evening

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Mono Lake Shoreline, Evening
The last light on hills beyond the Mono Lake shoreline

Mono Lake Shoreline, Evening. Mono Basin, California. October 4, 2017. © Copyright 2017 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

The last light on hills beyond the Mono Lake shoreline

I’ve long been fascinated by the view across this section of the Mono Lake shoreline. It contains a lot of things that I consider essential to the Mono Lake experience — tufa “towers” (though these are more like islands), the shallow shoreline with its curving edges, the larger islands and buttes, the distant mountains in the east, the immense open sky, and the textured and reflecting surface of the water.

In a way, this photograph was sort of (but not exactly!) the result of “killing time” between photographing two other subjects. I had been at a nearby area with colorful aspen trees, and had finished up there — the light was gone sooner than expected when high clouds moved in. At that point I knew that the full moon was going to rise close to sunset, so I decided to find a location along the Mono Lake shoreline to photograph it. I arrived there too early — better than too late! — and had some time to photograph other things as I waited for the moon. I went ahead and set up tripod and camera with some urgency as I noticed to last sunlight on some of those distant hills.

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 and Amazon.
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All media © Copyright G Dan Mitchell and others as indicated. Any use requires advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

Photographs: Architecture, Photographs: New York City, Photographs: Urban/Street

Passing Car

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Passing Car
A car speeds past, Manhattan

Passing Car. New York City. July 2, 2017. © Copyright 2017 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A car speeds past, Manhattan

There is perhaps not a whole lot to write about this photograph, but here goes. My initial thought was of a photograph that included only buildings and street, with the perspective lines heading away to converge at the lighter towers in the distant center of the frame. I hoped that the pedestrians might be in the center or near two it as they passed by in the cross walk.

But photographing such a scene in any city, and perhaps especially in Manhattan, is a tricky thing. Obvious, I had to be in the street myself, which meant that I was crossing on the green light and pausing just long enough to make a photograph or two. This meant that I did not have much time to wait for the perfect conjunction of moving elements and… there was this car.

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 and Amazon.
Blog | About | Flickr | Twitter | Facebook | Google+ | LinkedIn | Email

All media © Copyright G Dan Mitchell and others as indicated. Any use requires advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.