Tag Archives: group

Photographs: Central California, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Northern California, Photographs: Ocean & Coast

Pelicans Along the Coast

May 19, 2014 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

A line of pelicans flies along the Point Lobos Reserve coastline

Brown pelicans are probably my favorite Pacific coast birds, and I often like to photograph them when I visit the nearby Pacific Ocean shoreline. However, that’s not at all what I was at Point Lobos to photograph on this late April morning. I was more in a landscape or seascape frame of mind. That said, this photograph is an example of how things most definitely do not happen in a slow, considered, or contemplative manner when shooting landscape subjects.

I was thinking about how to try to photograph the elements of very choppy near-shore water, the further rocks that we partially obscured by mist and spray, the subtle shadings of the offshore fog bank, and the blue tones of sky. I decided to use a long lens and try to line up something that included nearby shoreline elements juxtaposed with the more distant rocks. I wasn’t having an easy time coming up with a composition that I liked. I must have momentarily looked up from the camera, because I recall spotting this line of pelicans flying up from the south and thinking that if I could just operate fast enough I might be able to get them in the frame. Being set for landscape (manual exposure and focus, live view, small aperture, on the tripod), that meant trying to quickly and intuitively make a whole bunch of quick changes. I must have managed to do so just in time to squeeze off three frames as the line of birds passed through this gap in the rocks and continued on.

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Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Northern California, Photographs: Sierra Nevada, Photographs: Yosemite

Flock of Cranes, Marsh

April 25, 2014 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

A large flock of sandhill cranes gathers in a shallow San Joaquin Valley marsh

This large group of sandhill cranes was most cooperative with us during our mid-February visit to their habitat out in California’s San Joaquin Valley. While there are places in the valley where it is reasonably simple to get quite close to them, at this place they often hang out a good distance from the areas accessible to visitors—and many times the photography is therefore limited to very long shots or to birds passing overhead.

In general this was a somewhat different day as far as birds were concerned. The common mid-day lull in their activity was less pronounced, and for almost the entire day they tended to be quite active. Large groups of many different kinds of geese flew in and out, often collecting in large flocks in empty fields. Earlier a group of cranes had stood close to the access road near the larger group of geese. And a bit later in the day, a very large group of cranes settled in on this shallow pond and was willing to remain there as we photographed.

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

Sandhill Cranes, Pond

March 24, 2014 G Dan Mitchell 1 Comment

A flock of sandhill cranes stands in the shallow water of a San Joaquin Valley marsh

The sandhill cranes are among my favorite of the seasonal birds found in California’s Central Valley. Their call is almost replacing that of the geese as my favorite sonic image of winter in the valley, especially when it comes in thick fog and heralds the approach of birds that I cannot see. Their manner of flight is also special. Rather than wheeling wildly, as geese will do, they often seem to be headed somewhere, traveling in a mostly straight line and frequently at a low level. When they take off they remind me, in a way, of heavily laden passenger airliners that must ascend slowly. They may travel in groups of a dozen or more, but they may also be seen flying over in smaller groups of two or so.

Most often I cannot get very close to them. At one place where I frequently photograph I have gotten accustomed to seeing them take off just after dawn from a location that is just a bit too far away for good photographs. But on this mid-February day they seemed to be a little more willing to stick around as we came closer. On several occasions earlier in the day they stuck around as we drove slowly past. This group stood almost still in shallow water not far from our position (“hidden” in our vehicle on a nearby access road) and only gradually began to leave a bit later. I no longer recall what it was, but something to my left must have been very fascinating to cranes!

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

Sandhill Cranes, Fog and Trees

June 28, 2013 G Dan Mitchell 2 Comments

A group of sandhill cranes takes flight in foggy dawn light as others stand in a marsh with blackbird-filled trees beyond.

I almost feel like I know this group of sandhill cranes, as we have found them on several occasions in the same San Joaquin Valley location – and by this I mean in precisely the same spot along a levee and at the same time of day… and often in fog. The first time I “saw” them here I actually heard them more than saw them. It had been an extremely foggy morning, so thick that it was difficult to see any distance into the murk. We could hear lots of birds and certainly recognize the distinct call of the sandhill cranes. Occasionally a small group of them would momentarily emerge from the fog to pass overhead and just as quickly disappear.

On this January morning it was again foggy, but not quite that thick. When we arrived before dawn we were able to make out the large flock of the birds on the ground near the levee, though it was a bit too murky and they were too far away to get clear photographs. But as sunrise arrived, the cranes began to take to the sky in small group, sometimes passing over or near our position before departing. As this group flew across the scene, above other birds still on the ground, the faint light of sunrise managed to pierce the fog and case a bit of warm light on the flock.

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Photographer and visual opportunist. Daily photos since 2005, plus articles, reviews, news, and ideas.