Oaks and Hills, Winter Fog. Calero Hills, California. January 9, 2010. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.
Winter morning fog clears over northern California hills and oak forest.
When it comes to photography, there is a long list of subjects that I cannot resist. Included on this list are: morning sunshine across the shoulder of a grassy hill, oak trees, clearing, high clouds from an approaching weather front, hills receding into the haze-shrouded distance, stacked diagonal forms, a bit of a trail. This is, of course, a list that corresponds pretty much to what is found in this scene.
I was out hiking in my “photographic backyard” in the Calero hills on this early-January morning. I initially went out looking for fog, and I found that in abundance earlier in the morning when I photographed a solitary oak tree in a fog covered valley. Soon, however, the fog began to hold light that suggested clearing above, so I headed up a trail to a nearby ridge that commands a good view of surrounding oak-filled valleys and ridges. When I arrived there the fog was still quite thick, but I felt it would soon start to clear so I went ahead and unpacked my gear and set up my tripod… and waited. Soon I was rewarded with this scene to my south, mostly backlit by the morning sun as the fog washed in and out of the valleys and finally the sun became bright enough to light this foreground ridge and cast shadows from the oak trees.
This photograph is not in the public domain and may not be used on websites, blogs, or in other media without advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.
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keywords: california, usa, landscape, winter, stock, calero, county, park, santa clara, tree, oak, fog, mist, cloud, grass, nature, oak, forest, grove, meadow, trail, grass, silhouette, ridge, mountain, haze, atmosphere, recession, light, clearing, bush, valley, hike
Interesting observation. These clouds came from a winter cold front that was just beginning to arrive above this part of California. They were part of what attracted me to the scene – they showed through in a somewhat muted way as the fog below began to dissipate. I also was attracted to the way that their lower edge roughly paralleled the upper portion of the ridge in the center and leading to the right, perhaps extending the solid forms of the peaks and ridges on into the more ephemeral forms of the clouds.
But this was one of the most difficult parts of the image to work with. The exposure problem was a challenge since the clouds were brightly backlit while the foreground was much darker.
In the end, I didn’t have a lot of choice about the clouds – they were there, so they become part of the scene!
Thanks,
Dan
Dan, the overall effect and atmosphere conveyed is very good. My only quibble is the patch of white sky (cloud) in the upper-centre and upper-left of the frame. It seems distracting/busy/loud and somewhat at odds with the otherwise serene feeling exuded by the rest of the composition. Perhaps you intended it to be so?