Tag Archives: yellow

Meadowlark Song #2

As I recently posted, I am not a classic “birder.” I’m just a photographer who counts birds among the many subjects that fascinate me. Years ago I was originally drawn to flocks of birds — often consisting of thousands of geese — but over time I’ve become more interested in individuals. The meadowlark is a beautiful bird, not just visually, but also for its exuberant song.

This one posed on a fencepost near me back on a New Year’s Day adventure with the birds. I had been photographing geese and cranes, and was taking a break from that later in the day. I turned my attention to some of the smaller birds hanging out in brush and alongside the roadway I was using. I came slowly up to this meadowlark, hoping to avoid spooking it. It stuck around, posing and singing its song from its perch.


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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Autumn Chairs, Whitney Museum

As each season passes, the sensations of the previous season fade. But only a short time ago it was about colorful leaves falling from trees, crunching underfoot, and blowing along sidewalks and trails. I made this photograph as we passed the Whitney Museum at the end of a very long Manhattan walk in late November on one of those beautiful autumn days.

Sometimes the question arises: What is this photograph about? It is hard to be too specific about that. But here the colors are pretty important — the bright yellow of the chairs, the warm orange of the leaves, and the overall cool blue tones of the light. I think it is also “about” the juxtaposition of the constructed urban world and the organic forms of the natural world.


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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Submerged Autumn Leaves

A confession: Although these are “submerged autumn leaves,” I photographed them on New Year’s Day. We spent the day in the Central Valley with friends, celebrating the new year and photographing birds and landscape. The location is primarily wetlands terrain, but there are cottonwood trees all around, and their colorful leaves were everywhere.

I stopped here after someone told me that they had spotted a single bird of an interesting and rare sort in an easily accessible spot. I spoke to a fellow who told me the bird had gracioiusly posed on a branch for him for ten minutes before flying away. Of course, it was gone when I got there! As I left I crossed a little bridge right where the bird wasn’t. I looked down into the water and spotted these interesting leaves.


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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Meadowlark Song

Meadowlark Song
“Meadowlark Song” — A meadowlark perches on a post and sings a New Year’s Day song.

We spent New Year’s Day with friends in a natural area full of birds. Mostly we were looking for big flocks of migratory geese along with cranes and ibises, but there were lots of other interesting critters in the neighborhood, too. This little meadowlark took up residence on top of a sign post and sang its heart out… and let me photograph for quite a while without flying away.

I don’t usually say much about photographic equipment in these posts, but I’ll make an exception this time. I have been using Fujifilm APS-C x-trans cameras for my travel and street photography for about a decade. (This gear compliments the Canon full-frame system that I use for things like landscape photography.) Recently I decided to try using the Fujifilm gear for some new things such as bird photography, and this was one of my first outings with a suitable Fujifilm telephoto. I think it works pretty well!


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 | PostEmail

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

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