Tag Archives: central

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Wildlife

Red-Wing Blackbird

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Red-Wing Blackbird
A red-wing blackbird perched among wetland plants

Red-Wing Blackbird. © Copyright 2018 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A red-wing blackbird perched among grasses

The red-wing blackbird (and the similar tri-color blackbird) are among those birds that are found all over the place here in California. I’ve encountered them in agricultural areas and on trails in coastal hills parks, in huge groups or as solitary individuals. They often perch, and they aren’t too hard to photograph with a long lens, though their very dark feathers can provide some exposure challenges. When they take to the air they often move quickly and can be hard to track.

The red patches are not always visible. In fact, when I first saw this individual I did not see them. But the bird seemed content to remain in one spot for a while, so I settled in with the bird in the viewfinder and waited. Typically the first thing I’ll do is to try to grab an initial photograph that is at least usable. But they I wait and watch for something beyond that, something that might show the animal in a special way. As I watched this bird, all of a sudden it puffed out its feathers and exposed those brilliant red patches for a few seconds.

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: New York City, Photographs: Urban/Street

Museum Windows, Shadows

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Museum Windows, Shadows
Silhouetted figures, windows, and beams of light, Metropolitan Museum

Museum Windows, Shadows. © Copyright 2017 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Silhouetted figures, windows, and beams of light, Metropolitan Museum

This is a second “take” on a location I photographed between Christmas and New Year’s Day last year, when we spent a week in New York. It was an exceptionally cold week, and on a few days we decided that we really needed to find indoor activities. (On other days we defied the cold and wind and walked all over Manhattan anyway.) One of the reliable options is a visit to a museum, so we headed to the Metropolitan, where we wanted to see the David Hockney show. You can’t see it in this photograph, but the museum was packed with other visitors who were also looking for a warm, indoor option.

We passed through this room twice, on our way to and from a section of the museum with relatively modern art that we wanted to view. This space is really essentially a very wide walkway, though I suspect that it could also be used for exhibits at times. The row of tall windows along the southern wall opened to Central Park and, further away, the Manhattan skyline. Lots of people took advantage of the wide window sills as a place to sit. The resulting effects of light were intriguing — backlit people in a variety of poses, the faint image of the park and city outside, and the alternative effects of shadows and reflections from the bright light streaming through the windows.

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: Nature, Photographs: Wildlife

Killdeer

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Killdeer
A killdeer along the edge of a pond

Killdeer. © Copyright 2018 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A killdeer along the edge of a pond

I’m increasingly interested in little birds like this killdeer, even though they may not seem so “special” due to their small size and appearance almost anywhere you might go. Heck, you could photograph a lot of birds like this one by going no further than your own backyard or a nearby park.

What they lack in “spectacular-ness,” they (sometimes more than) make up for in personality, not to mention that it is often possible to get quite close to them and observe them for a long time. This killdeer was content to go about its business less than ten feet from me as I quietly photographed from a position that partially hid me. It hopped, it fed, it flew a short distance, it turned around — all in all, it was quite adept at posing. It also is a rather attractive bird once you watch it a bit, especially with those interesting stripes of black and white on the head and neck, plus that subtle margin of striking red around the deep black eyes.

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

Twilight Flight

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Twilight Flight
A rush of (mostly) geese at the end of the day

Twilight Flight. © Copyright 2018 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A rushing blur of birds at the end of the day

First, I do know how to make sharp photographs of birds, too… ;-)

There are many things I can’t really explain about winter bird populations. But as I have watched them (and listened to their remarkable sound) from Washington to California, I am starting to at recognize a few more patterns. At times some birds become increasingly active, and at the end of the day, as light fades, there may be opportunities to depict the motions of individual birds and flocks in a different way — rather than trying to stop motion I just go with longer shutter speeds, pan with groups as they fly by, and let the motion blur take over. Frankly, in many ways I think that this confusing blur may better evoke the wild actions of these evening flocks.

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.