Tag Archives: low

Photographs: Architecture, Photographs: Northern California, Photographs: San Francisco, Photographs: Structures and Objects

North Tower of the Golden Gate Bridge, San Francisco Oakland Bay Bridge

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North Tower of the Golden Gate Bridge, San Francisco Oakland Bay Bridge
North Tower of the Golden Gate Bridge, San Francisco Oakland Bay Bridge

North Tower of the Golden Gate Bridge, San Francisco Oakland Bay Bridge. San Francisco, California. February 5, 2011. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Black and white photograph of the north tower of the Golden Gate Bridge silhouetted against San Francisco Bay morning haze and the San Francisco Oakland Bay Bridge.

A week ago I posted a few other photographs from this early morning winter visit to the upper reaches of the Marin Headlands, from which I photographed the bridges of the San Francisco Bay, backlit by early sun and partially obscured by a low layer of fog and haze. Since I am not fond of adding poetic (or pseudo-poetic) titles to my photographs, preferring to let them say whatever they have to say on their own, I have resisted the temptation to call this one “The Three Towers.” ;-)

The dark shape in the foreground that dominates the frame is, of course, the north tower of the Golden Gate Bridge. Shooting it in this light is trickier than it might seem like it should be. The light coming from beyond, reflected and amplified by water and haze, is very bright – almost hard to look at directly. So the west side of the bridge is deeply shadowed. I like the dark and stark shape of the tower here – as opposed to the more familiar photographs front or side lit by late afternoon or evening light – but the trick is to keep just a bit of detail in that nearly black tower.

The scene posed another technical issue, though it probably isn’t visible in this small version. As the sun comes up and heats the atmosphere, and as wind blows (and it was windy on this morning!) there is a lot of atmospheric turbulence. Normally you wouldn’t notice this at all, but when you shoot with a long lens and enlarge the image you quickly see that sharp edges and fine lines take on an almost “painterly” quality as the atmosphere shimmers, much in the manner of a mirage.

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

Three Pelicans Skimming the Beach

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Three Pelicans Skimming the Beach
Three Pelicans Skimming the Beach

Three Pelicans Skimming the Beach. Waddell Beach, California. December 4, 2009. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Three pelicans skim just above Waddell Beach along the California Pacific coast.

Considering just how many of the motion-blur pelican shots I’ve posted, I should probably have titled this one “Three MORE Pelicans Skimming the Beach.” ;-)

Besides the in-motion quality from the blur from camera motion, bird motion, and flapping wings, one thing that really struck me about this set of three pelicans was just how close to the sand they were flying. The lead bird was about as close as it could come without touching the sand with its wingtips.

A sight like this often makes me recall other encounters with animals in which they seemed to be doing something for the sheer joy of it: a bear I once saw travel across alpine rock fields to a high point on a ridge, where it stopped to take in the view for a minute or two before racing back down into a valley; a coyote in a high canyon in the eastern Sierra singing duets with its echo at dawn; and more. Of course I have no proof of this, but I like to imagine that these birds must find this low level flight to be exciting.

This photograph is not in the public domain and may not be used on websites, blogs, or in other media without advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

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keywords: motion, blur, pacific, ocean, sea, coast, highway, one, coastal, california, usa, motion, blur, in, flight, pelican, bird, wildlife, nature, surf, wave, sand, reflection, wing, low, skim, beach, diagonal, silhouette, winter, waddell, beach, state, park, big, basin, shore, line, stock

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

Three Pelicans In Low-Level Flight

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Three Pelicans In Low-Level Flight
Three Pelicans In Low-Level Flight

Three Pelicans In Low-Level Flight. Waddell Beach, California. December 4, 2009. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Three Pelicans fly just above the beach and surf near Waddell Beach along the California Pacific Ocean coastline.

I hope you don’t mind if I indulge – yet again – in my pelican obsession! I’m endlessly fascinated by these wonderful birds found, among other places, along the California Pacific Ocean coastline. (Note: This morning I read the unfortunate news that the pelicans may be undergoing some sort of stress this winter and some fear one of the periodic pelican “die-offs.”)

I photographed these birds on a dark and cloudy early December day. A bit earlier I had spotted a first group of them descending from above bluffs to the south to land at the delta of Waddell Creek along this beach. Gradually a few more groups of them arrived until there were a good number collected in a group. After a few moments, and for no reason that I could discern, they all lifted off at the same moment and flew across the beach in front of me, at first mere inches off the surface of the sand, and then turning out to sea and rising above waves before disappearing.

Trust me, I can make sharp photographs of pelicans. But here I like the obvious blur from the camera motion and from the motion of the birds through the air as well as from their moving wings – to me this image more strongly suggest their nearly constant motion than the sharper photographs I’ve made of them.

This photograph is not in the public domain and may not be used on websites, blogs, or in other media without advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

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keywords: pacific, ocean, sea, coast, highway, one, coastal, california, usa, pelican, bird, wildlife, fly, flight, low, beach, sand, water, surf, wave, motion, blur, wing, beak, shadow, feather, nature, waddell, creek, beach, big basin, state, park, shore, shorline, stock

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

Three Pelicans in Flight, Waddell Beach

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Three Pelicans in Flight, Waddell Beach

Three Pelicans in Flight, Waddell Beach. Pacific Coast, California. December 4, 2009. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Three pelicans, blurred by their motion, fly just above the wet sand of a Pacific Ocean beach.

It has been a busy week and it promised to remain busy next week as well, so I decided to make a quick trip over the hill to the Pacific coastline north of Santa Cruz this afternoon with a vague plan to shoot some seascapes and whatever else might come up. The weather today was a type of typical central California winter weather – some tule fog in the morning that cleared to hazy light… perfect for photography in my book! I was hoping for something like this on the coastline, too.

When I arrived I found that it was even more murky along the coast (and colder!) than back home. I finally ended up at the beach where Waddell Creek enters the Pacific and pulled over to stop before turning around and starting back. At just that moment two large groups of pelicans were coming in from the south and landing among sea gulls on the beach. I quickly put the long lens on the camera and very soon the group of birds took off and headed across the shoreline in front of me.

Most often I try to make wildlife photographs as sharp as possible, but at the moment the birds took off that just wasn’t going to be possible. I had a 400mm lens on the camera, the light was very murky, my ISO was still at 100… and the birds were in flight now! So I tracked them as they flew past, blurring the background surf and sand and letting their wings blur as well. In the end, I feel that this blurry shot in which everything seems to be in motion better suits the subject and perhaps conveys the atmosphere of the scene better than sharper photos might. (I later adjusted everything and captured a few more traditionally sharp pelican shots – and in this light they strike me as pretty boring!)

This photograph is not in the public domain and may not be used on websites, blogs, or in other media without advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

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keywords: pelican, bird, marine, pelagic, brown, pacific, ocean, sea, coast, shore, shoreline, beach, sand, wave, surf, motion, fast, low, fly, blur, wing, formation, water, reflection, shadow, beak, bill, flight, california, usa, nature, travel, scenic, stock, waddell, big basin, state, park