Tag Archives: national

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Wildlife

White Pelicans

December 26, 2015 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

A flock of white pelicans wheels overhead

I’m sure I’ve mentioned this before, but I’m a late-comer to the whole bird thing — and I’m still more of a bird appreciator and photographer than an actual “birder,” in the sense of being able to precisely identify many birds or of building a life list. I have long been aware of the brown pelicans that are found along our California coastline, and I’ve watched and photographed them for years. However, until just a few years ago I was unaware that we had white pelicans right here in California. I first “discovered” them on one of my Central Valley goose photography forays when I spotted some large white birds with big bills off in the distance. It was a late discovery for me, but I’m glad I found them.

Each of the birds that I know from the Valley has its own mode of behavior and of flight. The geese generally fly fast, make a lot of noise, can frequently be approached fairly closely, and tend to flap a lot when flying. Ibises, to me at least, somehow have a mosquito-like appearance in flight. Cranes seem purposeful, often flying in low, straight lines, but swerving so as to avoid flying directly above people. The white pelicans often have a very smooth mode of flight, seeming to coast in without a lot of wing action — much like their brown cousins along the coastline. They do flock, but in much smaller numbers here, generally measured in dozens rather than hundreds or thousands. And when they land they typically seem to keep their distance from humans and their traces. This group, however, put on quite a close-up show. The arrived from out across the ponds, but then began to circle above and around my position, where they remained in flight for quite some time. A bit of backlight shining through their wing feathers compensates for the usual difficulty of photographing the undersides of birds against the bright sky.

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

Photographs: Central California, Photographs: Nature

Tree, Wetlands, Morning Fog

December 25, 2015 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Merry Christmas 2015!

Thin dawn fog floats around the base of a solitary autumn tree in San Joaquin Valley wetlands

This landscape is ostensibly about the migratory birds at this time of year, from late fall through the winter months. These ponds, which are just fields during the hot Central Valley summer, typically fill with shallow water and become the winter home for uncounted numbers of geese, sandhill cranes, ibises, and more. It was, in fact, the birds that first brought me out here in the winter, and they still call me back every year.

But there is much more to this landscape than photographs of birds. In fact, my strongest sensory associations with the place are not about the visual appearance of the wildlife for the most part, but are instead about a host of other things. And this simple photograph, for me at least, evokes the sensory recall of those other elements. To a person who may not have been here at this time of year, many things familiar to me cannot be contained in the photograph. The sound of the birds, continuous and often raucous, is central — and it is the thing that most immediately gets my attention when I visit. The fog is a big part of the experience — not just its ability to mute the details of the landscape, but also the sensations of cold and damp and what it does to the quality of light, especially at dawn. In addition, this is one of those California places allow me to extend the color season for three months or more. It begins in September in highest reaches of the Sierra, works its way down (as aspens change) to the high desert (with cottonwoods), then the Sierra foothills, then to the coastal hills, and finally to the lowlands where, as in this photograph, “fall” color remains until nearly the new year.

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

Photographs: Central California, Photographs: Nature

Evening Trees

December 23, 2015 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Evening trees reflected in the surface of San Joaquin Valley wetlands

The primary attraction for me in these San Joaquin Valley wetlands is, or so I tell myself, the hordes of migratory birds that arrive here in the late fall and over-winter — geese, ibises, sandhill cranes, along with egrets and herons and more. They draw me to the Valley, just a couple of miles away from my home over the coast range, throughout the late fall through winter period. But once I get there I think I am as interested in the landscape as in the wildlife.

We had just about finished a full day of photographing (mostly) the migratory birds. Late in the day I always start to think about what my final subject will be, and then I try to extend my shooting time as late into the failing light as possible. I might continue to photograph birds in deep dusk, raising ISO and lowering shutter speed and working with the resulting motion blur. On this late-fall evening I went in a different direction, and I put the camera on the tripod and finished up with some blue-hour landscape photographs of the wetlands, the trees, and the evening clouds.

Photographs: Central California, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Photographers

Photographer, Wetlands

December 20, 2015 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Water reflects clouds above photographer David Hoffman as he works from a levee in San Joaquin Valley wetlands.

Passing through California’s Great Central Valley by car, you could be forgiven for thinking that there isn’t much there besides fast food, gas stations, freeway, and other stuff alongside the road. Get off the freeway, get out of the car, and slow down a bit, especially during the colder half of the year, and you may find a very different place. This little post is not the place to share the whole story, but for me the place is partly defined by its agricultural roots, partly by the sense that it is located between the coast ranges and the great Sierra Nevada, and partly by the sense I often get there of space and immense sky.

We had spent the morning photographing migratory birds and the somewhat hazy landscape. We broke for lunch in a nearby town and then returned for more photography in the mid afternoon. While we were at lunch the conditions changed — the light fog dissipated and high clouds from a Pacific weather front drifted across the sky. As we headed out toward a spot where we hoped to find birds for evening photography we paused along the levee and photographed the sky, its reflection in the wetlands pond, and the spare winter landscape. My friend and photographer David Hoffman is photographing the same pond from the far bank.

G Dan Mitchell Photography

Tag Archives: national

Tree, Wetlands, Morning Fog

Evening Trees

Photographer, Wetlands

Photographer and visual opportunist. Daily photos since 2005, plus articles, reviews, news, and ideas.