Tag Archives: mnwr

Photographs: Birds, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Wildlife

Night Heron in Brush

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Night Heron in Brush
A black-crowned night heron perched in brush in morning light.

Night Heron in Brush. © Copyright 2022 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A black-crowned night heron perched in brush in morning light.

In locations where there are many birds (in my cases, mostly big groups of geese and cranes) the night herons tend to lurk quietly in the background, and it would very easy to completely overlook them. They are much smaller than the lonely but attention-grabbing great blue herons. They are quiet. They tend to sit still among the plants for long periods of time. They keep their distance. I wasn’t even aware of them the first few times I went out to see the winter birds of California’s section of the Pacific Flyway.

But once I realized where to look, they were easy to spot. In good light their white breasts stand out against the darker vegetation in which they hide themselves. While I regard them as mostly stationary birds — at least where I run into them — occasionally I have seen them become more active, including on New Year’s Day when groups of them began to fly to and fro above the brush in the morning sun.

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.

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Photographs: Central California, Photographs: Nature

Wetland Reflections, Dawn

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Wetland Reflections, Dawn
Dawn clouds reflected in the surface of a wetland pond, Pacific Flyway, New Year’s Day 2022.

Wetland Reflections, Dawn. © Copyright 2022 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Dawn clouds reflected in the surface of a wetland pond, Pacific Flyway, New Year’s Day 2022.

The dawn light is remarkably fleeting. The space between “too early” and “too late” can be extremely small, and on a morning like this one I might have only moments to see what is happening in the sky, find a foreground, create a composition, and make some photographs. When the light arrived and a small group of clouds appeared in the distance, I first worked handheld with a long lens in order to narrow the view and get some flexibility about positioning the tree. Then I grabbed another camera that had a wider angle lens attached, and I made a few photographs that included more sky and water than seen here.

I have photographed in some remarkable landscape, where particular objects demanded attention. But this landscape along the Pacific Flyway is not that sort of place. To be honest, often it can seem plain and even boring. Much of the area is agricultural country, and nearby there are large cattle operations — not the most scenic or pleasant of landscape subjects. But for a few months each winter the fields flood and migratory birds return, and when the conditions are just right magic may happen.

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.

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Links to Articles, Sales and Licensing, my Sierra Nevada Fall Color book, Contact Information.

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

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

Above the Water

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Above the Water
A flock of small birds, reflected in the surface of a winter pond.

Above the Water. © Copyright 2021 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A flock of small birds, reflected in the surface of a winter pond.

These birds move so quickly and follow such unpredictable patterns that they are a real challenge to photograph. The sometimes stay in one place a bit while feeding but then, without much warning that I can detect, the whole flock of them instantly takes to the air, flying closely together and abruptly turning as if they were a single organism. They move quickly enough that it is hard to track them, and when they appear they are often in and out of camera range in a few short seconds.

Quite often they appear against busy backgrounds of grasses and trees and more distant water, and they can easily get lost against these backdrops. (Here their speed can be helpful, as panning with the birds can blur those backgrounds a bit.) It was foggy on this morning, and I chose (very quickly and intuitively!) to photograph them over a patch of uninterrupted water that gradually faded into the fog.

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.

Blog | About | Flickr | Facebook | Email

Links to Articles, Sales and Licensing, my Sierra Nevada Fall Color book, Contact Information.

Scroll down to leave a comment or question.

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

Photographs: Central California, Photographs: Nature

Three Trees, Sunset Clouds

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Three Trees, Sunset Clouds
Three trees and sunset clouds reflected in a Central Valley pond.

Three Trees, Sunset Clouds. © Copyright 2021 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Three trees and sunset clouds reflected in a Central Valley pond.

As we approach the end of 2021, here is (another) photograph from the last day of 2019, made on the last New Year’s Eve of the Before Times. It is strange to think back to the end of that year, when we certainly were well aware of challenges in our world — but when we had no idea of what was about to come. The subject of the photograph is an astounding scene of light and sky that formed late in the day. So many of these scenes are the result of coincidences that are far beyond our control — the light, the weather, the wind, where you find yourself and more. Often nothing out of the ordinary happens. But if you are there often enough, eventually you will almost certainly encounter something astounding.

As I saw this scene developing I stopped what I had been doing — photographing migratory birds — and turned my attention to the landscape. Since much of the scene was the sky itself and its reflection, the only real compositional decisions had to do with frame boundaries and what else might be in the scene. I found a place where I could get close enough to the water to fill the lower frame with reflections, then identified these trees as a potential visual focus, and I simply began making photographs as the light evolved. You may have seen another photograph from this evening that shared recently. I don’t think that there is one right way to portray such a scene, so I ended up with at least three ways of seeing it.

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.

Blog | About | Flickr | Facebook | Email

Links to Articles, Sales and Licensing, my Sierra Nevada Fall Color book, Contact Information.

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