Tag Archives: evening

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Wildlife

Red-Wing Blackbirds, Twilight

1 Comment
Red-Wing Blackbirds, Twilight
A huge flock of red-wing blackbirds wheels in the twilight sky

Red-Wing Blackbirds, Twilight. © Copyright 2018 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A huge flock of red-wing blackbirds wheels in the twilight sky

First, a confession. Although I’m almost positive that the little black spots in this photograph are individual red-wing blackbirds, I was not actually close enough to verify. I had seen quite a few of those specific birds here earlier and none (or very few) of the birds that I might mistake for them, such as tricolor blackbirds. The rediwings are ubiquitous here in California and, I suspect, many other places. Before this past year I had mostly noticed them as individuals or in very small groups, often perched on a fence or tree or similar. I also sometimes saw them in groups of perhaps a few hundred.

This was the first year that I saw these small birds collect into extremely large group of many thousands of individuals. (In at least one case, I would estimate that there might have been multiple tens of thousands. On that day I saw then in the far distance through light fog in the very early morning — too far away to photography.) These really big groups sometimes perform remarkable group aerial maneuvers, with the entire flock spontaneously changing directions, ascending, descending and forming unusual patterns in the sky. In this photograph we see a diagonal boundary between the main group and a smaller group against twilight 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.
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.

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Sierra Nevada, Photographs: Yosemite

Meadow, Forest, Evening Light

Leave a comment
Meadow, Forest, Evening Light
Soft evening light and haze illuminate a meadow clearing with silhouetted trees

Meadow, Forest, Evening Light. © Copyright 2018 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Soft evening light and haze illuminate a meadow clearing with silhouetted trees

It was late on a clear winter day, and I found myself in Yosemite Valley, in an area of trees and meadows. My first objective was group of riverside trees that were catching the early evening light coming up the Valley from the west. Soon the cliffs along the north side of the Valley cast shadows across these trees, so I moved on, following the shadow-sun line to the southwest as I crossed meadows.

Ahead a row of trees cut across the meadow along the route of a trail. A management fire was burned a bit to the west — incinerating trees that died in the drought of the past few years — and the smoke drifted, producing a gentle haze in the evening light. I found a break in the trees, with a meadow and back-lit trees on the far side, and above more trees fading into the haze toward faint cliff silhouettes. I made a quick series of exposures, and then then light was gone.

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.

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Sierra Nevada, Photographs: Yosemite

Winter Light, Granite And Snow

Leave a comment
Winter Light, Granite And Snow
Winter sunset light on a granite face and distant mountains fade into falling snow

Winter Light, Granite And Snow. © Copyright 2018 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Winter sunset light on a granite face and distant mountains fade into falling snow

I spent the last week in Yosemite National Park, as an artist-in-residence sponsored by Yosemite Renaissance. (Thank you!) I stayed in the Wawona area and made the drive to the Valley every day. It was wonderful to have a full week in the park and, especially, in the Valley. I spend a lot of time in Yosemite, but most of it is in the high country during summer and into the beginning of fall, so having this unbroken block of time in winter was a special treat. Making it even better, I got some weather luck. Recently California has again been in drought conditions, and last month we had record high temperatures that often felt more like spring or even summer. But I arrived to find cold (at times very cold) conditions, and a series of weak cold fronts brought snow to the Valley.

If I recall correctly, I had spent much of this afternoon photographing in the eastern part of the Valley, and as the weather closed in the light there began to die. I finished up my work in that area and prepared to depart for Wawona, but leaving enough to time to stop along the way should interesting light appear. In fact, further to the west the skies were trying to clear, and intermittent light made its way through breaks in the clouds to spotlight various areas. I stopped here and waited a few minutes, at which point almost the very last light of the day cut across the edge of the El Capitan monolith as the snow storm closed in on the upper Valley.

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.

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

Twilight Flight

Leave a comment
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.