Tag Archives: pelagic

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Northern California, Photographs: Wildlife

Two Pelicans in Flight

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Two Pelicans in Flight
Two Pelicans in Flight

Two Pelicans in Flight. North of Santa Cruz, California. May 15, 2010. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Two pelicans in flight along high bluffs above the Pacific Ocean coast north of Santa Cruz, California.

More pelicans… These were photographed along the bluff just south of Waddell Beach, the coastal section of Big Basin Redwoods State Park. I’ve observed the pelicans – and other birds – skim past very close to the edge of the bluff and then descend to the outlet of Waddell Creek on the beach.

The light on this day was not especially conducive to landscape photography – it had been a sort of murky, gray morning – so I thought I’d use the softer light (with its tendency to reduce blown highlights and to bring out shadow detail) to try to photograph these great birds. The pelicans are often seen along the coast in California, though their numbers had seemed to decrease over the winter. On this morning it seemed like they might be increasing once again.

This photograph is not in the public domain and may not be used on websites, blogs, or in other media without advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

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Technical Data:
Canon EOS 5D Mark II
Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6 L IS USM at 400mm
ISO 400, f/5.6, 1/1600 second

keywords: pelican, pelagic, bird, sea, shore, sky, cloud, two, nature, wildlife, bif, santa cruz, county, davenport, california, usa, north america, fly, flight, wing, beak, flock, group, wild, highway, one, pacific, ocean, bluff, stock, northern

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

Pelican Flock in Flight

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Pelican Flock in Flight
Pelican Flock in Flight

Pelican Flock in Flight. Near Davenport, California. May 15, 2010. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A flock of pelicans in flight over the Pacific Coast near Davenport, California.

Since I’ve recently posted other photographs of pelican flocks along the Pacific coast of California, I’ll keep the commentary shorter on this one. While driving along Highway One just north of Davenport, California – close to Waddell Creek, actually – I noticed a spot that looked ideal for photographing shorebirds: a place where the land extended a bit further toward the ocean and where access to the to top of the high bluff was fairly easy. The birds often fly along the tops of these bluffs, I assume because they can coast in the updraft created by wind coming off the ocean. If I am patient and/or lucky a flock may pass by very close to me. It still isn’t easy to get a photograph – there are a number of challenges: if the birds are below me the camera wants to focus on the water or the rocks beyond the birds, tracking a flock of moving birds that fills the viewfinder is no easy thing, not all birds are equally photogenic (depends on position, health of the bird, etc.), and I have to be able to anticipate their appearance and then react instantly.

This flock was very cooperative! They were so kind as to arrange themselves in an appealing formation – and to make sure that “everyone can see the camera!” They also made a slight turn toward the coast, allowing be to see their heads and eyes. And their passage was relatively slow and predictable.

This photograph is not in the public domain and may not be used on websites, blogs, or in other media without advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

G Dan Mitchell Photography | Twitter | Friendfeed | Facebook | Facebook Fan Page | Email

Technical Data:
Canon EOS 5D Mark II
Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6 L IS USM at 400mm
ISO 400, f/5.6, 1/1000 second

keywords: pelican, bird, sea, pelagic, shore, ocean, coast, davenport, california, usa, north america, nature, fauna, wildlife, flock, group, bill, wing, water, pacific, fly, flight, brown, stock

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

Three Pelicans in Flight, Waddell Beach

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Three Pelicans in Flight, Waddell Beach

Three Pelicans in Flight, Waddell Beach. Pacific Coast, California. December 4, 2009. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Three pelicans, blurred by their motion, fly just above the wet sand of a Pacific Ocean beach.

It has been a busy week and it promised to remain busy next week as well, so I decided to make a quick trip over the hill to the Pacific coastline north of Santa Cruz this afternoon with a vague plan to shoot some seascapes and whatever else might come up. The weather today was a type of typical central California winter weather – some tule fog in the morning that cleared to hazy light… perfect for photography in my book! I was hoping for something like this on the coastline, too.

When I arrived I found that it was even more murky along the coast (and colder!) than back home. I finally ended up at the beach where Waddell Creek enters the Pacific and pulled over to stop before turning around and starting back. At just that moment two large groups of pelicans were coming in from the south and landing among sea gulls on the beach. I quickly put the long lens on the camera and very soon the group of birds took off and headed across the shoreline in front of me.

Most often I try to make wildlife photographs as sharp as possible, but at the moment the birds took off that just wasn’t going to be possible. I had a 400mm lens on the camera, the light was very murky, my ISO was still at 100… and the birds were in flight now! So I tracked them as they flew past, blurring the background surf and sand and letting their wings blur as well. In the end, I feel that this blurry shot in which everything seems to be in motion better suits the subject and perhaps conveys the atmosphere of the scene better than sharper photos might. (I later adjusted everything and captured a few more traditionally sharp pelican shots – and in this light they strike me as pretty boring!)

This photograph is not in the public domain and may not be used on websites, blogs, or in other media without advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

G Dan Mitchell Photography | Twitter | Friendfeed | Facebook | Facebook Fan Page | Email

keywords: pelican, bird, marine, pelagic, brown, pacific, ocean, sea, coast, shore, shoreline, beach, sand, wave, surf, motion, fast, low, fly, blur, wing, formation, water, reflection, shadow, beak, bill, flight, california, usa, nature, travel, scenic, stock, waddell, big basin, state, park

Photographs: Central California, Photographs: Ocean & Coast, Photographs: Wildlife

Gull on Rock

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Gull on Rock

Gull on Rock. Point Lobos, California. November 30, 2008. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A gull rests on the point of a shoreline rock at Point Lobos, California.

I thought I was finished shooting for the day and I was hiking back to my car to head home when I walked past this gull. It obligingly stood on this picturesque pillar of conglomerate rock for at least 15 minutes, as if posing for me – so I could hardly pass up the opportunity to stop and photograph.

And isn’t that an amazing rock!

keywords: gull, seagull, bird, pelagic, shore, sea, conglomerate, rock, perch, beak, bill, orange, white, surf, coast, wildlife, nature, california, usa, point lobos, state, reserve, park, monterey, peninsula, big sur, pacific, ocean, stock