Tag Archives: lesser

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Wildlife

Crane in Sunrise Light

Image March 5, 2025 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Several things had to come together for this photograph of a lesser sandhill crane to work. Obviously, the bird had to fly above me at a relatively low height. That’s not as simple as it sounds, as cranes usually divert to avoid flying over people. The light was also special — it was the warmly colored light just after sunrise, when the sun is low enough to illuminate the underside of the bird. On top of that, the bird was flying toward the sun, so the light hits it almost head-on, while appears as side light from the camera position.

Cranes can be quite beautiful birds in flight. In contrast to some of the geese and ducks found in the Central Valley of California, they tend to move their wings more slowly and often simply glide. They are big, impressive birds, too — they stand several feed tall when on the ground.

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” from Heyday Books, is available directly from G Dan Mitchell.

All media © Copyright G Dan Mitchell and others as indicated. Any use requires advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

Photographs: Central California, Photographs: Nature

Sandhill Crane Flying Low

Image March 1, 2025 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

I had been trying to find the right time to head to California’s Central Valley to photograph migratory birds again. I was last there around New Year’s Day, but since then various things have kept me away — mostly that the times I ‘ve been free were the times when my favorite foggy conditions were not in place. I finally gave up on waiting and went on a sunny day. After all, many of the migratory birds will only be there for a few more weeks!

Late in the winter bird season it always seems like the “bird action” picks up out there. At the beginning of the season much of that happens at the morning/evening fly-ins and fly-outs, with a lot of quiet time between. But by February the birds seem to be more active during the day. On this early-February visit both cranes and geese around all day long. I made this photograph in the early afternoon as a flock of nearby cranes began to gradually move from one spot to another.

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: Nature, Photographs: Wildlife

Flock of Cranes

Image April 16, 2024 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Unless and until I return to my old files to review them later on, this is likely this season’s last photograph of migratory birds. I photographed this group of lesser sandhill cranes in an old corn field on my final seasonal visit back in early March. By that date the departure of geese was perhaps a week away and the cranes would leave soon after that. This was nearly the last photograph of them I made this season.

There is a familiar arc to “migratory bird season,” as I think of the period between about November and March. Although the cranes arrive earlier, I usually make my first visit to photograph them in November. At that point they are fewer in number and likely to be off in some distant inaccessible area, and mostly I photograph them during the morning and evening fly-in/out. As the season continues they seem to become more comfortable in their surroundings, and I can often find them close enough to photograph in the middle of the day. But mid-February they and the geese become extremely active in the weeks before their northward migration.

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.

Links: Articles, Sales and Licensing, my Sierra Nevada Fall Color book, Contact Info.

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

Sunrise Trees

Image March 17, 2024 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

There are birds in this photograph, but it is really (mostly) about these sunrise trees. I went to this spot early this winter morning because it has been a reliable place to find sandhill cranes as they fly out in the morning. There were cranes, though not that many. But as I waited for them the nearby fog began to thin, and the light of the rising sun turning eastern clouds blood-red illuminated the trees with intensely colorful light.

This photograph is in a category that I sometimes think of as “unreal light” images. We all understand that photographs are not objectively accurate “recordings” of the real world. They are subjective, personal views of how the photographer sees things. An aspect of this is that we “work” the colors in photographs in pleasing ways… and sometimes they get worked to excess, producing unbelievable results. Against that background, when nature produces such intense and saturated light, it is easy to chalk it up to something the photographer did. Sometimes that’s the case — but not here!