Tag Archives: geese

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

Geese in Motion

Leave a comment
Geese in Motion
Geese in Motion

Geese in Motion. San Joaquin Valley, California. January 1, 2013. © Copyright 2013 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A flock of geese takes flight in front of a winter evening sky, San Joaquin Valley, California

This is another bird photograph that intentionally flirts with the limits long shutter speed in order to allow motion blur to affect the image. This is perhaps a bit less “abstract” than the previous one I shared in that you can still see reasonably well-defined shapes of some birds in this photograph.

On a winter evening in California’s Central Valley I intentionally lowered the shutter speed to a setting much slower than normally used for handheld shots with a long lens. I tracked the birds as they lifted off during the evening “fly out” event, attempting to shoot during moments when the flock assembled itself into some sort of interesting configuration and, if possible was seen against something interesting in the sky beyond – dusk colors, other birds, etc. The faint blurs in the lower portion of the image are more distant flock. Although it almost doesn’t matter in a photograph like this one, the birds are Ross’s geese. One thing that appeals to me in this photograph is that while the birds are little more than vaporous smudges in some places, in other you can almost make out actual details for their shapes.

G Dan Mitchell is a California photographer and visual opportunist whose subjects include the Pacific coast, redwood forests, central California oak/grasslands, the Sierra Nevada, California deserts, urban landscapes, night photography, and more.
Blog | About | Flickr | Twitter | Facebook | Google+ | 500px.com | LinkedIn | Email

Text, photographs, and other media are © Copyright G Dan Mitchell (or others when indicated) and are not in the public domain and may not be used on websites, blogs, or in other media without advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

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

Ross’s Geese, Golden Hour Fly-Out

1 Comment
Ross's Geese, Golden Hour Fly-Out
Ross’s Geese, Golden Hour Fly-Out

Ross’s Geese, Golden Hour Fly-Out. San Joaquin Valley, California. January 1, 2013. © Copyright 2013 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Ross’s geese take wing during the sunset fly-out, San Joaquin Valley, California

As happens often enough to make things interesting, the light at the end of this day of less-than-phenomenal light momentarily made up for some of the earlier “blah” light. It had been a good day of goose (and crane) chasing, but with few moments of sublime light so far. That’s not necessarily a bad thing, since even when the light is not at its most astonishing out here, the air and the sound of the birds still makes it worthwhile, especially when a large flock of geese suddenly lifts off in unison or when the sound of cranes floats down as they coast overhead.

But still, we want that light! Just before sunset, as the hazy sky was already starting to dim, the last sun slanted in from the west at a low angle just as this flock of geese was beginning to fly out for the night. I made this photograph just a moment after the foreground group had taken to the air, but while other groups that had lifted off earlier were still visible beyond them as they departed over the grove of trees to the north.

G Dan Mitchell is a California photographer and visual opportunist whose subjects include the Pacific coast, redwood forests, central California oak/grasslands, the Sierra Nevada, California deserts, urban landscapes, night photography, and more.
Blog | About | Flickr | Twitter | Facebook | Google+ | 500px.com | LinkedIn | Email

Text, photographs, and other media are © Copyright G Dan Mitchell (or others when indicated) and are not in the public domain and may not be used on websites, blogs, or in other media without advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

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

Ross’s Geese, Evening Fly-Out

Leave a comment
Ross's Geese, Evening Fly-Out
Ross’s Geese, Evening Fly-Out

Ross’s Geese, Evening Fly-Out. San Joaquin Valley, California. January 1, 2013. © Copyright 2012 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Ross’s geese take flight in sunset light above California’s Central Valley

So much of this sort of photography is almost entirely not under the control of the photographer. For example, in this shot it just happened that the foreground group of Ross’s geese lifted off from the nearby pond as the further groups that had left earlier lined up beyond them. The lovely formation of the front group was entirely determined, as far as I can tell, by the geese and not by me! Of all the sky conditions that I had encountered on this day, it was fortuitous that the flock lifted off in the direction of this color gradient and then rose to the right height to be in front of it as they ascended. And it was especially gracious of them to lift off as the last golden hour sun hit them from the west, and on a side where I could see it.

So what does the photographer get to take credit for in cases like these? There are, of course, choices about when and where to park oneself to increase the odds that something interesting will happen in front of the lens. And there is the matter of instincts of various sorts, without which it would be very difficult (or should I say, even more unlikely) to have the camera pointed the right direction at the right time and to click the shutter button at an opportune moment. Exposures must be reasonably close to right, which is a trickier thing than some think. And then there is some combination of recognizing luck when it comes your way, intuitively recognizing and tracking what is happening, and being able to follow the birds and instantly recognize when an interesting visual pattern occurs.

G Dan Mitchell is a California photographer and visual opportunist whose subjects include the Pacific coast, redwood forests, central California oak/grasslands, the Sierra Nevada, California deserts, urban landscapes, night photography, and more.
Blog | About | Flickr | Twitter | Facebook | Google+ | 500px.com | LinkedIn | Email

Text, photographs, and other media are © Copyright G Dan Mitchell (or others when indicated) and are not in the public domain and may not be used on websites, blogs, or in other media without advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

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

Flight of Geese

Leave a comment
Flight of Geese
Flight of Geese

Flight of Geese. San Joaquin Valley, California. January 1, 2013. © Copyright 2012 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A flight of geese.

Occasionally I enjoy pushing an image as far as I can in the direction of abstraction. I’ve also been interested for a while in photographing birds at very slow shutter speeds, and working with the resulting blur. In addition, I have a vague long-term project of making photographs that are very ephemeral and perhaps almost without a central subject of form – I refer to them as my “barely there” photographs.

This photograph is in line with all of those things. After making plenty of sharp photographs of Ross’s geese and other beautiful migratory birds – some of which will be shared here later – I moved on to work the same subject with shutter speeds that were intentionally chosen because they were so slow that sharp images would not be possible. I have other images from this shoot that are also blurry but which retain a more concrete sense of whole birds… and I have some that are so vague and vaporous that you can barely see the animals at all. In this one the birds’ bodies are almost invisible, and we are perhaps mostly seeing the evidence of their black wing tips, against a pale sky that gradually transitions from pink to blue.

G Dan Mitchell is a California photographer and visual opportunist whose subjects include the Pacific coast, redwood forests, central California oak/grasslands, the Sierra Nevada, California deserts, urban landscapes, night photography, and more.
Blog | About | Flickr | Twitter | Facebook | Google+ | 500px.com | LinkedIn | Email

Text, photographs, and other media are © Copyright G Dan Mitchell (or others when indicated) and are not in the public domain and may not be used on websites, blogs, or in other media without advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.