A flock of pelicans skims inches above the surface of the Pacific Ocean off of Waddell Creek Beach, Big Basin State Park, California.
Low flying pelicans skim just inches above the surface of the water near the shoreline at Waddell Creek Beach in Big Basin State Park along the California coastline. Having spent some time staring at these birds as they fly along the coast, I’m more and more amazed by their ability to closely track contours of beach and waves as they fly so low – they flow over this moving “terrain” like water over rocks. In this photograph the water picks up subtle light reflected by the slightly foggy evening sky beyond.
Black and white photograph of a flock of pelicans in flight just above Pacific Ocean surf at Waddell Creek Beach, Big Basin State Park, California.
Every five or ten minutes another flock of northbound pelicans descended to the water just offshore at Waddell Creek Beach at Big Basin State Park along the California coast just north of the town of Davenport. It was late and the light was diffused and subdued by high clouds and the incoming fog bank a this flock skimmed just above the surf.
A flock of low flying pelicans above the Pacific Ocean turns toward the horizon at Waddell Creek Beach, Big Basin State Park, California.
As I spend more time along this section of the California coast I have started to understand the “pelican highway” that these birds follow as they fly along the coastline. Just south of Waddell Creek Beach they fly along the edge of coastal bluffs (or sometimes skim along the water’s surface not far from the shoreline) before they pull in for a rest stop at this beach. Sometimes they seem to come down along the freshwater creek that arrives here from the Santa Cruz Mountains and Big Basin Redwoods State Park. On this June evening they seemed to be making only a quick stop. Several flocks came north along the waterline and when they arrived at my position they briefly stopped in the water just offshore before taking off once again and continuing north along the coast.
Black and white panoramic format photograph of a moving rock at Racetrack Playa, Death Valley National Park, California.
This photograph probably belongs in the “trying to turn lemons into lemonade” file. I’ve had wonderful luck with great light on all of my previous visits to the remote Racetrack Playa in Death Valley, the site of the “moving rocks” that have left tracks in their wake across the playa surface. However, my string luck seemed to run out on this late March visit. Earlier in the day as I contemplated whether or not to head out there I noticed some budding lenticular clouds to the north and made the decision to go. My preference is to have some clouds at the Racetrack, as perfectly clear sky isn’t as interesting in my view. Plus I always have in mind a particular previous visit when I photographed the playa at dawn with beautiful lenticulars building over the mountains to the north of the playa, and I think I’m always hoping for similar conditions again.
The plan on this visit was to arrive in the mid-afternoon to shoot the Grandstand, a formation near where the road first arrives at the playa, and to then photograph the beautiful evening light, the full moon (in the evening and then again before dawn) and finally the dawn light. The conditions continued to look great as I did the long washboard drive to the playa, and I arrived and photographed the Grandstand as planned. However, as I finished up here a high band of clouds moved across the sky and flattened out the light. As evening came on I was out on the playa, but the clouds remained and the light was not remarkable. I finally wandered back off the playa after dark, hoping that the clouds would clear and allow full moon photography. This never happened, and when I returned to the playa early in the morning the overcast was still present, with only a thin area of blue sky far to the west.
But I photographed anyway. Softer, overcast light has its potential, and since I was there I was certainly not going to waste the opportunity. In the end, I wasn’t thrilled with what I brought back for the most part, though I do like the effect of the overcast and the softer light on this black and white photograph of one of the more recognizable rocks. (By the way, the rest of my Death Valley visit went much better than this one night!)
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.
Technical Data:
Canon EOS 5D Mark II
Canon EF 17-40mm f/4 L USM at 170mm
ISO 200, f/16, 1/8 second
keywords: sliding, moving, rock, trail, playa, surface, flat, cloudy, morning, inyo, mountains, hills, sky, clouds, monochrome, peak, snow, geology, nature, landscape, scenic, travel, death valley, national, park, california, usa, north american, remote, mystery, icon, light, flat, crack, earth, dry, desert, stock
Photographer and visual opportunist. Daily photos since 2005, plus articles, reviews, news, and ideas.
Manage Consent
To provide the best experiences, we use technologies like cookies to store and/or access device information. Consenting to these technologies will allow us to process data such as browsing behavior or unique IDs on this site. Not consenting or withdrawing consent, may adversely affect certain features and functions.
Functional
Always active
The technical storage or access is strictly necessary for the legitimate purpose of enabling the use of a specific service explicitly requested by the subscriber or user, or for the sole purpose of carrying out the transmission of a communication over an electronic communications network.
Preferences
The technical storage or access is necessary for the legitimate purpose of storing preferences that are not requested by the subscriber or user.
Statistics
The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for statistical purposes.The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for anonymous statistical purposes. Without a subpoena, voluntary compliance on the part of your Internet Service Provider, or additional records from a third party, information stored or retrieved for this purpose alone cannot usually be used to identify you.
Marketing
The technical storage or access is required to create user profiles to send advertising, or to track the user on a website or across several websites for similar marketing purposes.
