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Events, Locations, News, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Wildlife, Shows

Lodi Sandhill Crane Festival

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Every November there is a Sandhill Crane Festival in Lodi, California, celebrating the return of these marvelous birds. I’ve been meaning to enter some of my crane photographs for the past few years, and this year I finally did. Here are the three photographs appearing in the art exhibit at the festival.

I made the first one, “Cranes and Geese, Winter Fog” on a marvelous February morning a while ago. I had never seen so many birds at once, nor seen them quite this active. On top of that, the tule fog was just beginning to break up, and the atmosphere was luminous.

Cranes and Geese, Winter Fog
A foggy San Joaquin Valley winter landscape filled with geese and cranes

The second is “Two Sandhill Cranes in Flight,” a juxtaposition of two of the birds against the blue winter sky.

Two Sandhill Cranes in Flight
A pair of lesser sandhill cranes in flight above California’s San Joaquin Valley

Finally, “Taking Flight, Sandhill Cranes” is a photograph of a group of cranes taking off from a shallow pond and heading toward the faint light of the rising sun on a very foggy morning.

Taking Flight, Sandhill Cranes
A group of sandhill cranes takes to the morning sky above foggy marshland

If you are curious about these birds and want to know more and you life in Central California, a trip to the Lodi Sandhill Crane Festival this weekend can get you started. In addition to the art exhibit, there are lectures and guided tours to some of the nearby locations where you can find these birds. And the birds are there — I saw thousands of them this morning.

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

Birds, Sunset Clouds

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Birds, Sunset Clouds
Birds fly in a cloud-filled winter sky

Birds, Sunset Clouds. © Copyright 2017 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Birds fly in a cloud-filled winter sky.

This seems to be largely a photograph of sky, but if you look a bit closer you’ll see lines of birds spread across its width. It is a winter sky, looking west very late in the day, just after the sun has set, and the birds are departing in that direction. Surprisingly, the largest group of them are white pelicans, birds that I usually don’t encounter in quite such large numbers. There are a few sandhill cranes mixed in here and there.

As with some much “nature” photography (here I’m also thinking of landscape subjects) a lot happens very quickly at the margins between day and night, the time when arguably the most interesting light is available. Closer to the middle of the day things tend to change more slowly and there may be more time to contemplate. But during that time between not-enough-light-for-photography and middle-of-the-day stability, the conditions are in constant flux, and it is “now or never” for many photographs. In this image an additional dynamic element was added as I timed the exposure to place the birds beneath the curving shapes of the clouds.

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

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Wildlife

Approaching Cranes, Dawn Fog

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Approaching Cranes, Dawn Fog
Sandhill cranes approach through thin morning fog under dawn sky

Approaching Cranes, Dawn Fog. © Copyright 2018 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Sandhill cranes approach through thin morning fog under dawn sky.

Mornings in places such as this are a combination of stillness and solitude… and the sounds of many thousands of birds, often quite raucous as they greet the start of a new day. I usually arrive while it is still to dark to photograph, but quickly the light grows and I get to work, since the most interesting opportunities often come quickly as birds fly out and as the light changes.

I love foggy mornings in such places, preferring those that are much foggier than this morning. In fact, the foggier the better! Ideally I’ll start out in thick fog, watch it slowly clear as I work, see the faint directional light of the winter sun emerge. This morning wasn’t quite that foggy, though there was a bit of it around at first light. I stopped to look back towards a grove of cottonwoods, and a flock of sandhill cranes flew straight toward my position.

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

“Birdscapes” — An exhibit of photography featuring birds in the Pacific Flyway landscape featuring work of David Hoffman and G Dan Mitchell opens this weekend at the Stellar Gallery, 40982 Hwy. 41, Oakhurst, CA near the southern entrance to Yosemite National Park. Opening reception at 5-8:00pm at the gallery. Show runs though mid-March.

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.

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Wildlife

Cranes, Fog, Island

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Cranes, Fog, Island
A small flock of sandhill cranes at the edge of a small island and reflected on a pond on a foggy morning

Cranes, Fog, Island. © Copyright 2018 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A small flock of sandhill cranes at the edge of a small island and reflected on a pond on a foggy morning.

Sometimes I photograph birds (and other subjects) accompanied by various friends and fellow photographers. Other times I go alone. I enjoy both, though there is something special about being “out there” in the wilds on my own as I was on the morning when I made this photograph. Working alone (and sometimes working with kindred spirits, too) allows a kind of intense focus on the subject that borders on obsessions. But, perhaps ironically, it also permits a sort of slow and aimless work that simply allows things to happen.

This was that kind of morning. I was, indeed, quite focused on locating and photographing birds and the foggy morning landscape, and an observer might have wondered when I occasionally stopped and worked one subject for extended periods of time. These cranes were standing in shallow water, and I watched them for some time until they finally seemed to have had enough of me, and they took flight and departed for some distant location.

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.