Tag Archives: motion

Photographs: Abstract

Light and Motion

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Light and Motion
Motion blur abstraction of colored light.

Light and Motion. © Copyright 2023 G Dan Mitchell.

Motion blur abstraction of colored light.

What this photograph contains is not exactly clear. I would be flattered if you thought that it resulted from something I did intentionally, but I can understand that you might also suspect that it could have been an accident. Perhaps I accidentally hit the shutter release button while handling the camera and, perhaps, it just happened to pan across something that produced interesting, angular patterns of light and color. Perhaps. One can never be certain.

I often have mixed reactions to camera-motion blur photographs. On one hand obscuring the objective subject is interesting, and often the resulting abstract patterns of color and light can be fascinating. On the other hand, some iterations of the technique have become cliches, and when I see them I sometimes think, “Not another one of those!” And then, someone does “one of those ” that catches my attention!

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

Birds in Motion

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Birds in Motion
Long-exposure motion blur photograph of geese in flight over winter fields.

Birds in Motion. © Copyright 2023 G Dan Mitchell.

Long-exposure motion blur photograph of geese in flight over winter fields.

This is another long-exposure, late-day bird photograph, in which I lower the ISO and use longer exposures in order to allow motion blur. A flock of (mostly) snow geese was turning into a strong crosswind and the brighter western sky — so the light was interesting and the birds were moving a bit slower that usual. The latter is a distinct advantage when trying to track the birds during longer exposures.

This way of shooting is fun and challenging. The idea is to end up with an image that has some kind of compositional integrity and which suggests the wild motion of the flock. A shutter speed up to about a second can work, and this variable will, of course, control how much blur there is. One challenge is that I can only estimate what the composition will look like since I’m shooting handheld and tracking the birds. Including a bit of the landscape in this photograph helps “ground” the blur of the flock.

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

Geese in Motion

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Geese in Motion
Long exposure photograph of an airborne flock of migratory geese.

Geese in Motion. © Copyright 2023 G Dan Mitchell.

Long exposure photograph of an airborne flock of migratory geese.

A day of my wildlife photography typically begins and ends in darkness — I arrive and set up before sunrise and “don’t pack until it’s black.” During the earliest and latest times there’s often barely enough to light to make photographs, especially with the long lenses that I favor for this subject. In the early morning I often just crank up the ISO and do the best I can. But in the evening I frequently go the opposite direction in my final shots of the day — lowering the ISO and intentionally working with rather long exposures that allow the birds’ motion to blur.

Given the popularity of sharp pictures of birds — something that I often aspire to, as well — this might seem counterintuitive. But it occurred to me some years ago that the mass of blurred motion actually better evokes the wild seeming-chaos of these mass flights. They are not so much about any particular bird as they are about the half-seen motion of the group.

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 | Twitter | 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.

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Sierra Nevada

Mountain Stream

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Mountain Stream
A High Sierra stream cascades past forest and meadows and over boulders after summer rainstorms.

Mountain Stream. © Copyright 2022 G Dan Mitchell.

A High Sierra stream cascades past forest and meadows and over boulders after summer rainstorms.

This little “almost-intimate” landscape comes from closer to the midpoint of our August backcountry photography trip. The first few days features some challenging weather, including torrential rains on the first day. That rain flooded a lot of the area and raised this creek by several feet. On that first afternoon as we lay in our tents sheltering from the storm we started to hear a roar beneath the sound of rain and hail — it was the sound of this “little” creek growing to a dangerous torrent.

The tumultuous water was brown with suspended material washed down from the higher mountains, and for days the nearby lake’s water was coffee-colored. But before long the creek began to recede and its water cleared. By the time I made this photograph early one morning the water was low enough that I could safely ford the stream. I was about to do just that on my way to some timberline country when I paused and made this photograph of the creek, still in morning shadows.

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 | Twitter | 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.