Tag Archives: winter

Photographs: Birds, Photographs: Flight, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Wildlife

An Eruption of Geese

Image February 25, 2023 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

A large flock of migratory geese takes flight in early evening light.

The first time I witnessed one of these mass lift-offs, quite a few years ago, I could not. believe what I was seeing — the density of the flock, the sound of their wings and their calls, the tumult. I’ve seen hundreds of these events since then —sometimes many on a single day. But the thrill and astonishment remains. This group of (mostly) snow geese was settled in a field very close to us, and they would periodically take off in groups ranging from a few hundred individuals up to nearly the entire flock.

The light was fortuitous. Due to where the geese had settled, late afternoon and early evening light came from the right. (Full front or back light can be quite challenging with this subject.) Although rain had threatened earlier in the day, it cleared in the afternoon… and tremendous winds arrived. In nearby locations they were sweeping up large dust clouds, but not here — yet the slightly milky atmosphere softened the light just a bit.

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

Cranes, Sunrise, Winter Sky

Image February 24, 2023 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

For weeks I have been thinking about how little time remains before many of our migratory birds depart. I have been eyeing my schedule and the weather conditions looking for the right time to go look for the birds. Ideally I want fog, but that has been missing, first due to a string of very warm days and more recently to unusually cold and wet weather. So I stopped waiting for the perfect conditions that might not arrive, and I headed out to the Central Valley before the cold arrived.

I never know precisely what conditions I’ll encounter. On this visit I knew that forecasts predicted an incoming weather system. Fortunately the early clouds only improved the visual conditions. (Later it clouded up, but then it cleared well before sunset — sometimes I get lucky!) It is easy to point the camera at the rising sun out here, but usually that isn’t so productive since the light overwhelms everything else. But on this morning the sun rose into clouds that muted its intensity. I made this photograph as a flock of sandhill cranes flew past.

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Photographs: Central California, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Ocean & Coast

Coastal Rocks, Surf, and Horizon

Image January 27, 2023 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Pacific Ocean surf breaks over coastal rocks, backed byt the distant horizon.

This may be the final photograph in a recent series of images from a short visit to the upper Big Sur Coast during a brief break between our recent storms. It was just one morning, but after being kept mostly inside by a stream of closely-spaced storms, it seemed like time to get out!

While there were no storms on this day, the effects of the past storms were everywhere — downed trees, landslides, damaged roadways. And the next one was already starting to arrive, muting the light, sometimes making the atmosphere a bit murky, and generating large surf from the northwest.

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Photographs: Central California, Photographs: Nature

Morning Clouds, Dormant Tree

Image January 26, 2023 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Morning sky filled with blue clouds behind a winter-dormant tree, Central Valley, California.

This photograph is from New Yea’s Day morning, when a small group of us met in a wild place to photograph birds and, a bit later, to break out goodies and champagne to toast the arrival of 2023. The day was a rousing social success… which made up for the overall less-than-thrilling photographic conditions. It was far from a “bust,” but moments of good light were separated by many more with gray skies and wind.

This complex tree is an “old friend” of mine — a tree that I see many times each year. Every time I pass I think about how to photograph it and realize that it isn’t an easy subject! My most successful efforts have been in fog, when details of the scene are muted and the background disappears. On this day I had some unusual colors and light to work with — the blue-toned sky and the more colorful breaks in the clouds.

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G Dan Mitchell Photography

Tag Archives: winter

An Eruption of Geese

Cranes, Sunrise, Winter Sky

Coastal Rocks, Surf, and Horizon

Morning Clouds, Dormant Tree

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