Tag Archives: ross’s

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

Ross’s Geese in Flight

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Ross's Geese in Flight
A large group of Ross’s geese in flight above California’s Central Valley.

Ross’s Geese in Flight. © Copyright 2012 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A large group of Ross’s geese in flight above California’s Central Valley.

Recently I shared another photograph of Ross’s geese made on the same day as this one. The two photographs could not be more different! I made that other photograph in fading evening light, and I opted for a rather long shutter speed, resulting in a soft and abstract image of the motion of birds taking off. This photograph was made earlier in good light, and while it also focuses on birds taking to the air, there is no softness in this one!

How many birds? I don’t know. (Though if you are interested and patient you can count birds in a small area and then multiply to reflect those in the rest of the frame!) I took a close enough look to say that the birds are primarily Ross’s geese, which is not to say that there might not be a few stray snow geese sneaking into the party.

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 and Amazon.

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Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Wildlife

Flock In The Fog

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Flock In The Fog
“Flock In The Fog” — A flock of Ross’s geese in tule fog.

By now, these Ross’s geese are long gone from California, going back to the northern shores of North America, where they return each spring to breed. The last time I saw them here was on March 13, the day of my last pre-shelter-in-place trip to the refuges where I ordinarily look for them. It was a strange visit, with a sense of foreboding in the air. I went there alone, self-contained to the point that I would not have to stop anywhere on my nearly 300-mile out-and-back journey. There were almost no remaining Ross’s or snow geese — they had apparently departed just days earlier. There were also almost no other people. I photographed for a few hours and then turned back home.

This photograph was not made on that trip — it was made back on New Year’s Day, in a more innocent time. A group of us met up, gathered for food and camaraderie, spent the day photographing. There was tule fog that morning, which is just what we want. I made the photograph at just about that magical moment on a foggy day, when the soft light of the sun just begins to break through, making the atmosphere luminous.

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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. Blog | Bluesky | Mastodon | Substack Notes | Flickr | Email

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Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Wildlife

Three Ross’s Geese

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Three Ross's Geese In Flight
Three Ross’s geese in flight

Three Ross’s Geese In Flight. © Copyright 2017 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Three Ross’s geese in flight.

During a discussion among attendees at the opening reception for our (David Hoffman and my) exhibit, “Birdscapes,” at the Stellar Gallery in Oakhurst something occurred to me about my bird photographs — something that is perfectly obvious in retrospect. While there are many ways to photograph birds, virtually all of my bird photographs feature birds in groups and birds in flight. There are very, very few photographs of individual birds aside from those that are normally loners, and I nearly always photograph them in action in one way or another.

This trio of Ross’s geese in flight against a bright, foggy sky fits the mold. I had encountered a large flock of the birds feeding in a grassy area near water, and they were surprisingly willing to allow close approach. In fact, there were in a location where avoiding a close approach was essentially impossible. There was a lot of coming and going in the flock as groups departed and arrived, so I set about tracking small groups of the birds as they passed at close range.

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 and Amazon.

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Links to Articles, Sales and Licensing, my Sierra Nevada Fall Color book, Contact Information.

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

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Wildlife

Geese, Pond, Dawn Sky

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Geese, Pond, Dawn Sky
Ross’s geese in a wetland pond on a foggy morning beneath dawn sky

Geese, Pond, Dawn Sky. © Copyright 2019 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Ross’s geese in a wetland pond on a foggy morning beneath dawn sky.

There is often a particular esthetic around bird photography that concentrates on close photographs of individual birds. I’ve often thought that the reasons for this particular approach are several. For some bird photographers – though not so much for me — this work is an outgrowth of “birding,” and in that endeavor being able to view individuals close up is a goal. There’s also an element of the technical challenge. It isn’t easy to get in position to fill the frame with one bird, and it is even more difficult when the bird is in flight. On top of that, we must acknowledge that for at least a subset of bird photographers, the acquisition and use of really big and really expensive lenses has its attractions.

I’m not immune to those things, but I often find myself approaching birds in a somewhat different way. Few of my photographs feature a single bird filling the frame. (I can do that, and I have, just not that often.) More typically, the photographs include a group of birds — a couple of them together or perhaps thousands — and place them in the landscape. The latter is quite likely linked to my long interest in the landscape as a subject. This photograph clearly fits that lineage — it is what I think of as a “birdscape,” a photograph including birds in the landscape they occupy. I made this photograph in a water-filled place on a foggy morning when soft and colorful dawn light briefly lit the sky.

David Hoffman and I have an exhibit of “birdscapes” opening very soon at Stellar Gallery in Oakhurst, California, near the southern entrance to Yosemite National Park. If you’ll be in the neighborhood — going to see the Yosemite Valley snow or to photograph Horsetail Fall? — stop by and take a look at our photographs!

February 16th-March12th. Reception February 16 5-8:00PM. Stellar Gallery, Oakhurst, California

Birdscapes — David Hoffman and G Dan Mitchell
Birdscapes — David Hoffman and G Dan Mitchell

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 and Amazon.

Blog | About | Flickr | Facebook | Email

Links to Articles, Sales and Licensing, my Sierra Nevada Fall Color book, Contact Information.

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