Tag Archives: mnwr

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

The Cranes Return

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The Cranes Return
Sandhill cranes fly over full moon in twilight and return San Joaquin Valley wetlands

The Cranes Return. © Copyright 2018 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Sandhill cranes fly over full moon in twilight and return to wetlands

I understand that the “Super Blue Blood Moon” or something similar occurred early this morning. I missed it. (Well, not quite. I did look out my window before sunrise, and I saw a bit of the eclipse over my neighbor’s house.) However, almost exactly 12 hours earlier I was in a position to look at and photograph that very same moon as it rose over the Sierra Nevada and climbed into the sky above California. It was a beautiful, quiet, peaceful moment at the end of a long day photographing birds.

I chose this particular day to visit the wetlands for a couple of reasons. First, I knew there would be ground fog in the morning and that fog often leaves behind a soft and hazy atmosphere. Second, I knew that the moon would rise from behind the Sierra about a half hour before actual sunset, putting it at an interesting elevation above the horizon at sunset and during the blue hour, that period when the moon seems bright but the ambient light is still sufficient to illuminate the landscape. I began watching for the rising moon at the appointed time, but it did not immediately appear, because it still had to clear the Sierra and because the atmosphere above the valley was so thick with haze. Perhaps twenty minutes later it began to emerge from the haze, and I quickly moved to a spot I had previously considered, where some trees break up the otherwise flat landscape here where a gravel road winds among them. I hoped that the cranes might appear — they often do during the moments shortly after sunset — and hoped even more that they might pass through the scene. Sometimes one does get lucky, and a long string of the birds flew just above the moon as the sky turned pink and deeper blue.

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 and Amazon.
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Photographs: Abstract, Photographs: Central California, Photographs: Flight, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Wildlife

Into Evening Light

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Into Evening Light
A small group of geese takes flight in evening light

Into Evening Light. © Copyright 2017 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A small group of geese takes flight in evening light

There are many ways to photograph birds: sharp images of birds filling the frame that reveal the details of color and shape and feathers, landscape photographs that show them in the worlds they inhabit, shots that capture them social groups ranging form groups of a few individuals up to flocks of many thousands, captures of them engaging in particular behaviors, and much more. (I’m occasionally amused by discussions of “the way” to photograph birds of or “the right” equipment to do this.)

This flock of geese suddenly took to the air as the very last golden hour light shone across this hazy landscape, and the birds were partially illuminated by the colors of the warm sunset light, but against the less vibrant colors of the local surroundings. A sharp-edged photograph was a possibility, but here I think the abstracting blur of camera motion and fast-flying birds may better suggest the feeling of the scene.

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 and Amazon.
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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

Wetlands Evening

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Wetlands Evening
Trees, plants, and a few birds under a bank of clouds above San Joaquin Valley wetlands

Wetlands Evening. © Copyright 2018 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Trees, plants, and a few birds under a bank of clouds above wetlands

The process of bird-photography, at least as I know it, is perhaps not quite what people who don’t photograph this subject might imagine. The actual practice and experience varies from photographer to photographer and, no doubt, from place to place. However, I’d be willing to bet that many people would be surprised at how much not-photographing goes on! There are amazing moments when we come upon a special scene, when a huge flock of geese lifts off, when we get close to a raptor, when the light and sky do something astonishing. Then there are all the other moments, and they form the majority of the experience. The birds are somewhere else. They are just a bit too far away. The light goes flat. It rains. And so on.

The fact of the matter is that in order to photograph those periodic extraordinary moments, you have to spend a lot of time just being there. If really special stuff happens, say 1% of the time, you’ll increase your odds of experiencing it if your base is 100 hours rather and one. Of course, that also means that you’ll increase the number of slow hours when not much happens. Be ready. Bring a book. Take a nap. Wander a bit. And sometimes take a look at other subjects, like the still and quiet grasses growing in a shallow pond beneath winter skies, even though there aren’t a whole lot of birds there.

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 and Amazon.
Blog | About | Flickr | Twitter | Facebook | Google+ | LinkedIn | Email

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

One Goose From The Flock

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One Goose From The Flock
A goose takes flight along with the rest of the flock

One Goose From The Flock. San © Copyright 2018 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A goose takes flight along with the rest of the flock

Some birds are most often photographed as individuals, usually because that is how they live. Examples include egrets, eagles, hawks, and many other hunting birds. To simplify a bit, a major challenge is to get close enough (physically and/or with a big lens) so that an individual is large enough in the frame to produce a photograph and so that distinguishing characteristics of the bird (along with some aspect of its environment) are visible. I rarely do that with geese snow geese, Ross’s geese, and other wild geese. These are, by their nature, birds that live in communities. I most often see and photograph them in groups which may range in size from a few individuals up to many thousands.

Some of the other members of the flock are partially visible in this photograph, so the image isn’t entirely of a lone bird. However, because the others are shown only in part and out of focus, my attention here is drawn to the largest, central bird with wings outstretched as it ascends. I made the photograph on a day when I found myself unusually close to a large flock for a good amount of time — they were spread across a dirt access road I was using. Eventually, as always happens with geese, some of the birds began to get ideas about going elsewhere, and this time I was very close to their lift-off.

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 and Amazon.
Blog | About | Flickr | Twitter | Facebook | Google+ | LinkedIn | Email

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