Tag Archives: urban landscapes

Photographs: Flight

Space Shuttle Endeavour Flyover #3

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Space Shuttle Flyover - Moffett Field
Space Shuttle Flyover – Moffett Field

Space Shuttle Endeavour Flyover #3. NASA/Ames Moffett Field, California. September 21, 2012. © Copyright 2012 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Space Shuttle Flyover – Moffett Field

This is the third in my four-photograph sequence of the Space Shuttle Endeavour and its transport aircraft doing a slow and low pass over the NASA/Ames Research Center Moffett Field Facility in the southern San Francisco Bay Area is it continued on its trip to its new home in Los Angeles.

In this photograph the shuttle has passed by my position and was departing. The angle here gives one of the clearest views of the shuttle, with only the tip of the 747 wing obscuring the area behind the shuttle cockpit. In my view, the light here is a bit better as well, as the shuttle is not quite as directly front-lit as in the previous image in the sequence. This brings up a surprise to all of us who were there to watch the flyover. Everything was set up to suggest that the shuttle would fly down the runway of Moffett Field: fences were set up facing the runway, chairs were lined up in that direction, and the crowd mostly pushed up against the fences. I had spent some time thinking about how to best photograph the event with it being back-lit. As we first caught sight of the shuttle at some distance out over the bay, it seemed to be making a slow turn that would, in fact, bring it down the runway. But then it became apparent that it was not going to do this, but that it instead seemed to be over flying the actual Ames Research Center, located on the far side of the Hangar One facility and behind us as we were set up. At this point I was glad that I had decided to not lug along a tripod since I could easily turn and track it as it followed this unexpected route.

G Dan Mitchell is a California photographer whose subjects include the Pacific coast, redwood forests, central California oak/grasslands, the Sierra Nevada, California deserts, urban landscapes, night photography, and more.
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Text, photographs, and other media are © Copyright G Dan Mitchell (or others when indicated) and are not in the public domain and may not be used on websites, blogs, or in other media without advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

Photographs: Central California, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Northern California, Photographs: Wildlife

Ross’s Geese Taking Flight, Sunset

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Ross's Geese Taking Flight, Sunset - A large flock of Ross's geese takes flight in sunset light, Merced National Wildlife Refuge, California
A large flock of Ross's geese takes flight in sunset light, Merced National Wildlife Refuge, California

Ross’s Geese Taking Flight, Sunset. Merced National Wildlife Refuge, California. February 8, 2012. © Copyright 2012 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A large flock of Ross’s geese takes flight in sunset light, Merced National Wildlife Refuge, California.

Every time I go back to this location, it seems to just get better. On this early February evening I had quickly driven over the hill from the San Francisco Bay Area – well, OK, it is a two-hour drive – in time to arrive shortly before sunset and join a group of friends who had come down from the Mariposa, California area to photograph the same subject. I drove out around the “auto tour” route to a spot where I had shot just a week ago, near a viewing platform. Just past this point, there were thousands and thousands of (mostly, I presume) Ross’ geese filling a large pond right next to the gravel road. I set up and gradually, bit by slow bit, moved myself closer to the pond, working carefully to avoid spooking the birds. Eventually I got into position perhaps 20 feet from the pond.

Initially I photographed the birds that were settled in on the pond. As we did this, more birds flew overhead, and some joined this gigantic flock. But the light still wasn’t quite great. As actual sunset approached, the geese began to lift off in large groups. It seemed like there would be some momentary electricity in the air – perhaps I was just sensing a change in their calls – and suddenly a few hundred would simultaneously take off in a large group. I knew I wanted to try to get some photographs of these groups, and I also figured that ideally I would like a bit of cross-light from the very low and warm-colored sun and, if I could manage to pull it off, I would want to get some sort of landscape-ish background of trees and ponds and the distant hills in the golden evening light. I made several attempts before I captured this moment during which the group had just risen enough to mostly clear the trees across the pond.

G Dan Mitchell is a California photographer whose subjects include the Pacific coast, redwood forests, central California oak/grasslands, the Sierra Nevada, California deserts, urban landscapes, night photography, and more.
Blog | About | Flickr | Twitter | Facebook | Google+ | 500px.com | LinkedIn | Email

Text, photographs, and other media are © Copyright G Dan Mitchell (or others when indicated) and are not in the public domain and may not be used on websites, blogs, or in other media without advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.