Tag Archives: red

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

The Fly-In

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The Fly-In — geese arrive over a wetlands pond at sunset.
“The Fly-In” — Thousands of migratory geese arrive in the wetlands at sunset.

A day spent photographing migratory geese and other birds often includes a lot of “slow time” when little is happening. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing — sometimes the quiet and stillness is enough by itself. But around sunrise and sunset there is often a of activity as large flocks of birds take to the air and head to nighttime locations. If you are where they arrive, it is the “fly-in.” When they depart, we refer to the “fly-out.”

This huge flock of geese (almost certainly snow geese for the most part) arrived just after I went to this spot to photograph a colorful winter sunset and its reflection in the waters of a wetland pond. The flock arrived, circled, and eventually settled down on the water… and quiet returned.

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.

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Photographs: Europe, Photographs: Spain, Photographs: Travel, Photographs: Urban/Street

Mannequin, Madrid

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Photo of a mannequin, Madrid
“Mannequin, Madrid” — A colorfully dressed mannequin on a Madrid street.

We went on a long walk on this morning in Madrid. First we trekked from our hotel near the opera house to the Sunday El Rastro street market, a wildly popular collection of hundreds of street vendors that draws huge crowds. As we began to loop back towards where we started, at some point we passed this colorful mannequin.

One of the pleasures of street photography is that I pay more attention to my surroundings. I notice things that probably would not have registered if I were not carrying a camera. At this point I don’t recall all of the details of this location, but I do know that this mannequin presented a stark and somewhat surprising contrast with the relatively mundane surroundings.

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” from Heyday Books, is available directly from G Dan Mitchell.

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Photographs: Central California, Photographs: Nature

Wetlands Sunrise

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“Wetlands Sunrise” — Tule fog clears above Central Valley wetlands at dawn.

Despite experiencing a couple of brilliant sunrises on our New Year’s photo jaunt, I had not shared any intensely colorful sunrise photographs. It is time. We arrived here in foggy pre-dawn darkness on New Year’s Day, assembled our gear, and headed out on a network of levee roads through wetlands terrain. Before long we came to a spot where the fog had thinned and we had a clearer view to the east. We stopped and photographed the landscape and the intense pre-sunrise sky.

The experience of being out here before sunrise is profoundly removed from our day-to-day experience. Here time moves slowly or even seems to stop. The tule fog thins, leaving behind a faint, soft mist. Flocks of geese and cranes rise and circle, their cries echoing across the landscape. The light gradually increases in the eastern sky and here the outline of the distant Sierra Nevada is visible along the horizon.

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: Central California, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Wildlife

Geese, Morning Clouds

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Geese, Morning Clouds
“Geese, Morning Clouds” — A flock of geese in flight against morning clouds, Central Valley, California.

Sunrise often produces remarkable light, especially when the right sorts of clouds are present. These clouds were a bit unusual for this location, where I usually either encounter thick tule fog or high clouds produced by large scale weather patterns. These morning clouds were lower than usual, but not ground fog, and having a bit of the “mackerel sky” look. I photographed them as the first light arrived and a flock of migratory geese passed overhead.

I photograph a lot of different subjects, but in the late fall and winter months the migratory birds become a major focus. It is easy to miss their arrival if you live in a city, but in rural parts of California their presence, often in astounding numbers, is pretty obvious. I photographed these in an otherwise nondescript agricultural area in the Central Valley.

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 | Instagram | Flickr | Facebook | Threads | Post | Email

Links: Articles, Sales and Licensing, my Sierra Nevada Fall Color book, Contact Info.

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