Tag Archives: wildlife

Photographs: Flight, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Wildlife

Cranes, Sunrise

Image November 22, 2018 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Cranes fly above sun rising though fog and haze

The past few weeks have not been kind to California, with yet another very dry fall leading to some extraordinarily serious late-season wildfires. In particular, the historic and tragic toll of the “Camp Fire” is on our minds. In addition to those in the area directly affected by the fire, many Californians who live elsewhere in the state have friends who lost their homes and worse. And all across the state unhealthy levels of smoke have affected millions of Californians. (As I write this, we are finally getting our first real weather front of the season and the smoke levels are diminishing a bit.)

I have long pondered how to deal with these conditions photographically. Some years ago I realized that managed fires are a good thing for our environment (and even help reduce the likelihood of first like we recently experienced), but it has still been a challenge to find ways to make “beautiful” photographs of such things. I recently made this photograph on a morning when the air was still thick with this smoke, combined with fog, almost completely muting the light of the rising sun.

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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” 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

Geese, Clearing Fog, Light

Image September 10, 2018 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

A band of light through thinning fog falls across a flock of geese

I’m often surprised that many people who love the outdoors in the warmer months don’t spend more time outdoors in the winter. At least in my part of the world, the light is often much more varied and compelling this time of year — with dramatic storm clouds, mysterious fog, beams of light appearing, and more. And, in practical terms, I’d rather have to layer up to stay warm than contend with too much heat!

In addition, in much of the United States this is the season to find large flocks of migrating birds. If you only go out in the warm season… you might never see them! Fortunately I learned this lesson a few decades ago. I had lived in California for a long time, but I had no idea about the birds of the flyway until one long drive far up into Northern California in late autumn when I first saw the huge flocks in twilight sky.

See top of this page for Articles, Sales and Licensing, my Sierra Nevada Fall Color book, Contact Information and more.

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

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Wildlife

Blue Goose Among The White

Image September 9, 2018 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

A solitary “blue goose” in a flock of white (mostly) Ross’s geese

A “blue goose” was something I had heard of but didn’t understand — like the “blue moon.” (Yes, I do now know what that is, too!) A few years ago I ran into a wildlife refuge employee while photographing and we got to talking. He remembered that he had seen an unusual bird earlier that day, and he offered to take me to see the “blue goose.”

That sounded crazy. I had never seen or heard of a goose that was blue in color. (That said, in the right light, the whitest geese can appear to be blue in photographs. I’ll explain some other time…) We came to a large flock of the usual white geese and he pointed into the mob of birds and said, “There it is!” At first I couldn’t spot it but eventually I saw that one of the geese was considerably darker than the rest of the flock. I photographed the goose in this photograph on a different occasion — you should be able to spot the anomalously darker blue goose in the middle of the scene. For the record, the “blue goose” is not a separate type of goose — it is one of the common types, but in an unusual color “morph.”

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Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Wildlife

Egret Among Clouds

Image September 5, 2018 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

An egret flies into early morning winter sky with fog and clouds

In some ways the great white egrets seem less special than some of the birds that arrive and depart in huge flocks each season. The first sight of these birds in impressive — whether it is a solitary bird flying past with its characteristic slow wing motion, a bird hunting in grassland or shallow water, or perhaps a small group in a winter field. But eventually you figure out that they are far from rare, and you can find them in many areas that have the right combination of water and food.

However, in flight they have a remarkable degree of gracefulness. They almost always fly alone, and they tend toward slow-moving, steady flying, often coasting or moving wings slowly. There landings are momentarily very beautiful as wings flare just as they hit the ground. This bird took to the air nearby and then flew slowly into a cloudy golden hour sky.

See top of this page for Articles, Sales and Licensing, my Sierra Nevada Fall Color book, Contact Information and more.

G Dan Mitchell Photography

Tag Archives: wildlife

Cranes, Sunrise

Geese, Clearing Fog, Light

Blue Goose Among The White

Egret Among Clouds

Photographer and visual opportunist. Daily photos since 2005, plus articles, reviews, news, and ideas.