Tag Archives: snow

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

Winter Geese, Morning Fog

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Winter Geese, Morning Fog
“Winter Geese, Morning Fog” — Winter geese fly above foggy wetlands in morning light.

This was not the photograph I planned to make when I stopped here. The area was blanketed with tule fog, and no birds were visible. So I got out my tripod and turned my attention to making landscape photographs. As I worked the fog began to thin, and the sky above became faintly visible though the shallow fog. I heard geese approaching, and as the first group passed I grabbed my camera off the tripod, quickly reset things for handheld photography, and framed this subject as the next large group passed overhead.

There is a lot of this “gear switching” when I photograph migratory birds. One moment I might be photographing an individual bird in flight — which requires some specific camera settings. A moment later my attention may turn to a tree or clouds or the sky, and that sort of landscape photography uses entirely different settings and sometimes different lenses… or even a different camera!

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

Final Approach

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Final Approach
“Final Approach” — A trio of snow geese lining up to land in a Central Valley pond.

Snow geese and Ross’s geese were my first interest years ago when I began paying serious attention to photographing birds. I had been tuned into California’s natural world for decades, but somehow I had missed the annual bird migrations, so “discovering” them was a thrill. Eventually the geese didn’t like the only thing worth photographing, and I no longer chase after them reflexively. But they still can be compelling — and there’s nothing quite like the sight and sound of thousands of them taking to the sky at once!

I photographed this trio on a late-December day when the numbers of geese were steadily increasing. There are more things to attend to when photographing these birds than you might think. Exposure can be tricky, as their brilliant white plumage can blow out in bright light or turn gray against the sky. Light needs to shine on them from the right direction or their features get lost in shadows. And, of course, you hope that the geese aren’t facing away from you! For this photograph I was in just the right spot as the birds turned toward me and into the breeze to land.

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

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Photographs: Birds, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Wildlife

Two Snow Geese Landing

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Two Snow Geese Landing
“Two Snow Geese Landing” — Two snow geese in the final moments before landing in a Central Valley wetlands pond.

The larger migratory birds often are graceful or powerful in flight, individually or in flocks. But that tends to break down in some ways as they land. They approach the ground, slow to stalling speed, crane necks forward, extend feet downwards, orient their bodies more vertically… and sometimes look downright silly at the last moment. (An exception can be the angle-like uplifted winds of geese in descending groups.) This pair is just at that moment then they transition from flight to landing.

This is a challenging moment to photograph the birds, but knowing a few tings about their behavior can increase your odds. Like airplane pilots, they come around to land facing the wind. If you can position yourself upwind from their likely landing point you get bird faces instead of bird butts. Also, at the last moment they tend to appear in front of distracting backgrounds. Here a larger aperture can blur the background, and looking for backgrounds that don’t include things that you don’t want in your photo — automobiles, buildings, power lines, etc.

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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Photographs: Fall, Photographs: Fall Color, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Sierra Nevada

Aspens, Peaks, and Evening Shadows II

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Aspens, Peaks, and Evening Shadows II
Autumn aspen groves, lengthening early evening shadows, and snow-dusted peaks in the Eastern Sierra Nevada.

Aspens, Peaks, and Evening Shadows II. © Copyright 2023 G Dan Mitchell.

Autumn aspen groves, lengthening early evening shadows, and snow-dusted peaks in the Eastern Sierra Nevada.

Seeing a photograph here with the Roman numeral “II” attached you may wonder if there is a version “I.” There is, of course, and the first of the pair was posted a few days ago. In this case, the only significant difference is that this is a “landscape” orientation view of the scene and the other version used the “portrait” orientation. When the subject allows it I often photograph in both orientations — partly for practical reasons and partly because they both seem to work!

The scene is a type that I like a lot, at the elevation where the forests we expect in the high country meet high desert sagebrush country. The aspen trees seem to like both, and they are frequently a bridge between the two types of terrain. Here it is late in the afternoon (or perhaps early in the evening?) and long shadows are starting to stretch across the landscape.

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

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