Tag Archives: one

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Northern California

Forest in Afternoon Light

November 1, 2011 G Dan Mitchell 2 Comments

A dense forest backlit by afternoon light along the Northern California coast.

If you follow my blog, you know that I frequently photograph all around the Sierra, in the deserts east and south of the range, in coastal California in the San Francisco Bay Area and south, and even in the Central Valley. I’m almost a bit embarrassed, however, to admit to barely having scratched the surface of the photographic opportunities of “real” northern California, along the coast or inland. While I frequently shoot north of San Francisco, most of this work has been done no farther north than about Point Reyes.

This past weekend my wife and I managed a quick getaway that took us up to and slightly beyond Mendocino, where we spent a couple of nights. This wasn’t meant to be a photographic excursion, but I have a very understanding wife! She did not object when I stopped from time to time on our drive to get out the camera gear and make a few photographs. Truth be told, she made a few herself! I tried to keep the photography under control – after all, this trip was more about relaxing, seeing the sights, enjoying some good food, and so forth – but I did stop a few times make some photographs. And I also realized that I really need to head back up into this area and begin to seriously explore this region that is right at my virtual doorstep, and which is in many ways quite different from the “other Californias” that I’ve become familiar with.

This photograph was made in an extensive deciduous forest in a more or less random spot along the road, north of Fort Bragg and in an area where highway 1 takes an inland jog.

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: New York City

1 WTC, August 23, 2011

September 11, 2011 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

The 1 World Trade Center (1 WTC) building under construction on August 23, 2011, New York City.

“When words become unclear, I shall focus with photographs. When images become inadequate, I shall be content with silence.” – Ansel Adams

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” (Heyday Books) is available directly from him.

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

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

Two Gulls, Ocean and Horizon

July 20, 2011 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Two sea gulls glide along the top of coastal bluffs above the Pacific Ocean north of Santa Cruz, California.

Since I’ve related the basic story previously – more than once – I’ll keep it short this time. Since I live within an hour or less of the California coast, I head over that way frequently to photograph. Among my favorite subjects are the pelicans that travel up and down (but mostly, for some inexplicable reason up) the coast, riding the updrafts along the tops of coastal bluffs. I had some free time on this day, so I headed over with photographing the birds as one of my possible goals.

When I got to this familiar spot, there were no pelicans. (Eventually a few did fly past, but this was not a good day for pelicans.) Before moving on to other subjects I thought I’d at least stay here a while and practice the skills involved in photographing these birds in flight since even though there were no pelicans, there were plenty of other obliging birds. Most of the time it is difficult to get two gulls in the frame once they get close and start to fly past, but these two hung close enough together to be in the same frame, and their low trajectory placed them right in front of the deep blue water, with the fog-softened horizon near the top of the frame.

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

Gull, Sky, and Fog

July 16, 2011 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

A solitary gull flies above California’s Pacific Ocean coastline with a fog bank and blue sky beyond.

With some free time earlier this week, and the excuse of driving my son to a summer-session class at UC-Santa Cruz, I headed north from Santa Cruz looking for things to photograph. Because there was a lot of fog, even in the middle of the day, fog was one of my general subject ideas. And I almost always make at least a quick stop at a couple of bluff-top locations that I know of where shore birds often glide by very close as they ride the updrafts from the ocean winds. It turned out that my first stop was precisely one of these locations. With nothing else specific in mind at this midday hour, I figured I would at least spend a bit of time honing my skills and tracking and photographing birds in flight.

Although sea gulls are not necessarily my favorite subjects, there sure were plenty of them to practice on! At the spot I picked, they first become visible perhaps 10-15 seconds away as they come around the edge of a bluff to the south. As they approach they tend to vary their altitudes, with some dropping low enough that they disappear behind the cliff and others going so high that only their shaded undersides are visible. But a few come very close at almost eye level.

I almost always learn something new when I photograph birds in flight and this session was no exception. While in retrospect it seems like one of those “Well, duh!” realizations, I figured out that really strong winds tend to upset the birds ability to remain level, and for this reason they are constantly adjusting to remain level. From moment to moment the wings move into interesting positions or they find themselves tilting wildly to get back on course. This is much more interesting than what they do in benign conditions, where they often seem to just… coast.

So, add one more thing to watch for as they fly past. This isn’t an easy thing, and I have the greatest admiration for those who are really great at photographing birds in flight – or “BIF,” as some call them. The first challenge is simply to keep the moving birds in the viewfinder when using a long focal length lens. (I advise practicing the process of simply following the birds without even firing the shutter at first.) But that’s not enough. You must also attempt to keep the bird(s) in a position within the frame that is aesthetically interesting and which will position the target under the active AF points on the camera. Easier said than done! Then there is the matter of trying also be aware of what the bird is doing – watching wing and head position and so forth. On top of that, you ideally also want to be aware of the what else is in the frame – sky, clouds, water, other birds – and factor that into the decision about when to press the shutter. There are exposure challenges, too, especially with birds like this gull that have white on their backs… and this portion of the bird is in direct sun.

Let’s just say that – for me at least – it takes a lot of exposures to get a few shots that I like.

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