Tag Archives: clouds

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

Three Cranes, Sunrise Sky

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Three Cranes, Sunrise Sky
Three sandhill cranes in flight beneath dawn sky, Central Valley, California.

Three Cranes, Sunrise Sky. © Copyright 2023 G Dan Mitchell.

Three sandhill cranes in flight beneath dawn sky, Central Valley, California.

In an earlier post I believe I mentioned that I made “more than a few” photographs of cranes flying against this colorful pre-dawn sky. The key on this morning was that a thin layer of high clouds stretched to the east over and beyond the Sierra Nevada. It was more or less the perfect sort of cloudiness to create this light — thick enough to pick up the color and glow, but mostly not thick enough to block the morning light. So I perhaps expended more frames than usual on the cranes that passed in front of my camera position.

I recently read that sandhill cranes are one of the most ancient of bird species, and they do have a sort of primordial quality when in flight. They often fly in small groups of two or three, though sometimes I’ll see groups of a dozen or so… and when they fly back to settle in the evening there may be a hundred or more at a time. They are large birds, and their relatively slow wing strokes and frequent gliding are striking.

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

Blackbirds in Trees, Sunrise

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Blackbirds in Trees, Sunrise
A flock of red-winged blackbirds perches in a bare winter tree at sunrise.

Blackbirds in Trees, Sunrise. © Copyright 2023 G Dan Mitchell.

A flock of red-winged blackbirds perches in a bare winter tree at sunrise.

This photograph fits squarely into that hybrid genre that I refer to as “birdscapes.” A lot of bird photography focuses on somewhat tightly framed photograph of individuals or small groups. I make those photographs, too, but often I include more of the landscape than the birds. In other words, I tend to be interested in the place of the birds in their landscapes. As such, I often treat them as part of the larger place and less as individual specimens.

When I arrived here before dawn, my general plan — which often works pretty well — was to look around for an interesting flock of birds, probably cranes or geese. Then I would look for a camera position that put them in the best sunrise light, which might be some kind of sidelight with an interesting background or perhaps backlight if there is some haze or fog. Unfortunately, there were hardly any such flocks, and those I found took off before sunrise! So I looked for an alternative sunrise subject, and soon remembered this group of three trees.

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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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: Flight, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Wildlife

Two Cranes, Sunrise Sky

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Two Cranes, Sunrise Sky
Two sandhill cranes fly through sunrise sky, Central Valley, California

Two Cranes, Sunrise Sky. © Copyright 2023 G Dan Mitchell.

Two sandhill cranes fly through sunrise sky, Central Valley, California

I hope you don’t mind what has become a series of photographs of sandhill cranes flying in front of an intensely colorful Central Valley sunrise. Yes, there will be more. Some things are beyond the photographer’s control — whether the birds will show up, where they will be, what background they will fly in front of, and precisely how the light evolves. Two things improve the odds: being out there as often as possible and developing a sense of what may happen. This sky was a welcome surprise, and it turned what I thought might be a rather dull sunrise into something quite colorful.

I have to wonder when I read people discussing “keeper rates” for bird photography and claiming things like a “90% success rate. In my experience, the success rate with this subject is MUCH lower. First of all, you cannot control the birds. Obvious, right? Secondly, one often has to make an exposure (or many) rather speculatively — “I think something interesting may happen here.” You cannot wait for it, since by the time it happens it is too late. One difficulty is that birds often fly in the “wrong” direction. They might be close, but they also might be flying away. That’s the case with these two cranes, but the difference is that they are, well, “craning” their necks to the left so that their heads are still visible.

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: Central California, Photographs: Nature

Winter Tree, Evening Sky

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Winter Tree, Evening Sky
A bare winter cottonwood silhouetted against dusk sky, California Central Valley.

Winter Tree, Evening Sky. © Copyright 2023 G Dan Mitchell.

A bare winter cottonwood silhouetted against dusk sky, California Central Valley.

This photograph is an example of why I always try to remember to not get so focused on the primary subject that I forget to look around. I was here to photograph migratory birds, and at this point in the evening they were putting on quite a show, rising and flying in giant circles directly in front of us in the evening light. But when I took a moment to look behind I saw the trees and the colorful evening sky.

This was an “interesting” day in weather terms. I didn’t actually have very high hopes for it as no fog was forecast (and I love to photograph these subjects on tule fog day) and early clouds from a incoming weather system were predicted to turn the sky gray, with extreme winds predicted for the afternoon. All of that happened, but it turned out that the sky cleared again in the afternoon, and the winds may have slowed the birds a bit is struggled to overcome its strength.

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.