Tag Archives: haze

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

Island, Marsh, Autumn Sky

December 22, 2013 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Late-autumn morning sky above islands and flooded marshland, San Joaquin Valley

We arrived here in predawn darkness for a day of bird photography. I never know exactly what I’ll find when I start a morning out here, especially since I most often start before sunrise and frequently in thick fog. On this day, the air was a bit murky before dawn but there was no thick fog, and as we drove the perimeter of this marshy area we could not only hear the cranes and geese and other birds, but we could even see them a bit. The atmosphere was “interesting,” to use a euphemism for “doesn’t look promising but you never know what might happen!” No thick fog… but clouds overhead that might or might not allow some interesting light at sunrise.

Perhaps 10 minutes before sunrise it was time to pick a subject and be ready for it. At about that point we arrived at this flooded pond with its odd little tule-covered islands. It was still gray, but I figured that if color did arrive at sunrise I might be able to fill the frame with the sky – both the actual sky and its colors reflected in the water – and split the image with the island and the thin horizon line. So I swapped my long bird lens for my widest ultra-wide and set up right along the edge of the water. The sunrise itself was blocked by thicker low clouds to the east, but as the sun rose above them it began to light higher cloud layers above the low-lying atmospheric haze and everything turned to shades of blue.

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

Geese, Dusk

December 21, 2013 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Geese take flight into dusk haze and clouds

A group of us – Patty Mitchell, Michael Frye, Claudia Welsh, David Hoffman, Charlotte Hoffman, and I – spent a day photographing migratory birds and the landscape of California’s San Joaquin Valley recently. I hope that it is obvious that this photograph does not attempt an objectively realistic presentation of geese! The facts include… these are almost certainly Ross’s geese, they are passing quickly as they fly between two close flocks in the early dusk light, the clouds in the distant sky are colored blue and pink and purple by post-sunset light. By the time I made this photograph it was almost too dark to clearly make out much of anything in this scene, and certainly not to see clearly the individual birds rising into the air, flying past, or landing among other birds already on the ground.

From a certain point of view, this photograph does everything “wrong” when it comes to wildlife photography in general and bird photography in particular. The shutter speed was something like 1/8 of a second, and kept that “short” only by underexposing by nearly a full stop and shooting at ISO3200. The shot was hand-held with a 400mm focal length. Geese, barely visible in the twilight gloom, where coming and going in almost unpredictable ways, yet getting an interesting arrangement of birds in the frame required quickly responding to what they did and then panning while shooting. I had positioned myself to the east of the flock in the hope of getting some interesting sky behind them, so I was also trying to remain aware of the background while tracking the birds. Clearly, this is not a recipe for razor-sharp, carefully and thoughtfully composed images! Additional work was done in the post-processing phase – to deal with the inevitable noise and with balancing out the luminosities of various parts of the frame and bringing out details that might otherwise be lost. Yet, with enough shots and some intuition from photographing these birds in these conditions before, it is possible to make something happen. In the end, for me a photograph like this can evoke the mystery of what happens in the deepening twilight – the sudden unpredictable motion, the sounds of the geese, the hazy atmosphere, and the gathering darkness.

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

Ross’s Geese, Dusk

December 17, 2013 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

A group of Ross’s geese takes flight in hazy dusk light

I try to visit California’s San Joaquin Valley as often as possible during the fall, winter, and early spring months when migratory birds settle in for the cold season. The sounds of the birds and the sight of flocks of them setting in or flying overhead is addictive – so much so that I’m willing to go to somewhat great lengths to experience this. Most often this means getting up way before dawn, often on very cold mornings, and driving a couple of hours into the foggy landscape of the valley and then photographing for hours in the cold. I’m not complaining – I love doing this! I also have what has become an annual routine connected to my periodic Death Valley photography trips. I try to arrange my schedule on the last day in Death Valley so that I can do a morning shoot there, quickly strike camp and pack up, and leave soon enough that I can stop to photograph birds on the way home. (The two worlds – the dry, austere world of Death Valley, and the cold, damp, and bird-filled Central Valley – could not be more different.)

This photograph is one of several (well, OK, more than “several”) I made during a one hour stop at some valley wetlands at the end of the day on the long drive home. I arrived, did a quick reconnaissance around the area, discovered a large flock settled in along a gravel road in a pasture, and settled in to watch the evening’s events. I recall a time when I was disappointed when the light faded, since it eventually became too dark to maintain shutter speeds that would stop the motion of the geese as they flew in, out, and around. But it didn’t take long to discover that continuing to shoot in the fading light and accepting the slower shutter speeds led to motion blur would let me present the birds in a more abstract way, but one that is in many ways as true as isolating a moment of seeming stillness in a scene that is actually full of motion. I now look forward to this time of low light, when I can make photographs that might possess a bit more mystery.

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Ocean & Coast, Photographs: Pacific Northwest

Shoreline Sea Stacks

December 9, 2013 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Giant shoreline sea stacks along the Oregon Pacific Ocean coastline.

As we traveled south along the Oregon coastline on the Oregon Coast Highway (US 101) we passed through various towns ranging from quite small to middle-sized. Eventually we came to Port Orford, which did not seem to us to be all the exceptional of a place – though apologies to Port Orfordians, who probably know the beauties of the place far better than some Californians quickly passing through! However, there was one interesting feature that immediately caught our attention. As the highway pass through the town it curves to the left to follow the coast. But at the point where the curve went left, a short section of road continued straight ahead to the top of a hill that appeared to overlook the coast, and a giant sign hand-painted on the roadway almost demanded that we leave 101 and see what was there.

Just over the top of this short side road was an open view of the coast to the south, curving inland right below the town to form a shallow bay. Slightly beyond this we could see a set of large sea stacks along the beach… but no picture in this particular light from our position. We continued on along the highway, curving through town and then back towards the south, and soon came to the spot where the sea stacks stood. Despite some tricky light, including wildfire haze and afternoon intense light, we paused to make a few photographs. First, a large group of pelicans surprised us by slowly flying by into the strong headwind and then landing almost directly in front of us at the waterline. Then I put a longer lens on the camera and went looking for an angle that would let me combine near and far towers with a bit of surf along the wild beach.

G Dan Mitchell Photography

Tag Archives: haze

Island, Marsh, Autumn Sky

Geese, Dusk

Ross’s Geese, Dusk

Shoreline Sea Stacks

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