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Photographs: Abstract, Photographs: Birds, Photographs: Central California, Photographs: Flight, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Wildlife

Sudden Flight

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Sudden Flight
“Sudden Flight” — A flock of Ross’s geese takes to the air at the end of the day.

As an afternoon of migratory autumn/winter migratory bird photography runs on into sunset and then twilight, it is inevitable that there will eventually be too little light to photograph as I do during the day. But I usually continue until it is virtually dark — to the point that I may need a headlamp to stow my equipment when I finish. During that final low-light period I often end the cycle of increasing ISO and pushing shutter speed, and instead I drop ISO down to the minimum and let the exposure times lengthen, working with motion blur of birds in flight.

We had positioned ourselves near a large flock of geese in a pasture, and they were gradually become more restless, beginning to take off in small groups and leave for parts unknown. Groups tend to depart together, and as they do they take to the air en masse with little or no warning. It is hard to say what makes a photograph “realistic,” but I often feel that these masses of blurry birds suggest the quality of these departing flocks as truthfully as stop-motion photographs.

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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” (Heyday Books) is available directly from him. Blog | Bluesky | Mastodon | Substack Notes | Flickr | Email

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Photographs: Nature, Photographs: The Southwest, Photographs: Utah

Cliff Detail

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Cliff Detail
Diverse fractures and surface patterns on the sandstone walls of a Utah canyon.

Cliff Detail. © Copyright 2012 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Diverse fractures and surface patterns on the sandstone walls of a Utah canyon.

On this late-October day, a cold one in this part of Utah, our little band of photographers took a long drive on a gravel road. Eventually we stopped at an inauspicious pull-out — I don’t recall a sign, though there may have been a small one. We loaded packs and set out across some dry terrain, and soon entered a small canyon at the base of tall hills, a canyon that looked much like many other such canyons.

This was not a large canyon, and our walk into it was shorter than the walk into some longer canyons we had investigated. It was also a rough little place, and it did not give up photographs as easily as some other more-picturesque places. Near the far point in our exploration we came upon this remarkable bit of sandstone canyon wall, with patterns on the surface of the rock that reminded me of sunbursts.

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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Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Sierra Nevada, Photographs: Yosemite

Recovering Forest

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Recovering Forest
A recenty-burned Yosemite forest shows signs of regeneration.

Recovering Forest. © Copyright 2020 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A recenty-burned Yosemite forest shows signs of regeneration.

Wildfires have recently been on our minds here on the west coast. In the San Francisco Bay Area the bad fires began about a month ago when an unusual and very active series of electrical storms set off dozens of fires and shrouded the area in smoke. Shortly after that our extremely dry summer and unusually hot August temperatures set off huge fires from California to Oregon, historic in size and intensity. (As of this date one of these fires has set a record for the largest fire ever in California, doubling the size of the previous record fire.) We’ve had a month of “spare the air” days now.

September and October are traditionally the fire season here, though not on the scale that we are experiencing this year. It is a time of hazy skies and, if you go to the mountains, active fires. Over the years we’ve moved from regarding fire as something to be avoided to thinking of it as something to be managed — it is a natural component of healthy wildlands. I’ve changed my attitude as well, at least when it comes to normal, modest fires, and I’ve been trying to see the beauty in burned landscapes. In early September I had planned a short Yosemite backpack trip, but (ironic!) I had to back out at the last minute due to smoke. I was on my way home when I stopped at this location, a place where I stop and photograph every year, especially when dogwoods bloom. Last season a fire burned over this spot and, blackening many of the largest trees and destroying undergrowth. But a few trees survived and they are now thriving.

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.

Blog | About | Flickr | Facebook | Email

Links to Articles, Sales and Licensing, my Sierra Nevada Fall Color book, Contact Information.

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

Photographs: Central California, Photographs: Fall, Photographs: Fall Color, Photographs: Nature

Autumn Wetlands

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Autumn Wetlands
Late-autumn colors in California Central Valley wetlands.

Autumn Wetlands. © Copyright 2012 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Late-autumn colors in California Central Valley wetlands.

As I continue my pandemic project of reviewing years of raw files — and discovering and rediscovering all sorts of interesting things — I have now arrived at the very end of 2012. I’m currently working on the final week or so of autumn and about to move into winter and then on to 2013. One silver lining behind the dark coronavirus cloud is that I have had the time and inclination to revisit these old images and relive some of the experiences I had as I made them.

Every fall migratory birds return to overwinter in California’s Central Valley. Starting in about November I turn my attention that way and start to anticipate visits to this landscape — one that I don’t tend to photograph during the warmer months of the year. But in the cooler and wetter seasons, when the birds can be abundant, this part of California calls to me. I made this photograph on a cold and foggy late-autumn morning as the tule fog was beginning to thin, casting soft light on the autumn foliage of the scattered trees.

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.

Blog | About | Flickr | Facebook | Email

Links to Articles, Sales and Licensing, my Sierra Nevada Fall Color book, Contact Information.

Scroll down to leave a comment or question.

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