Monthly Archives: May 2010

Photographs: Central California, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Northern California

Soberanes Canyon, Morning Light

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Soberanes Canyon, Morning Light
Soberanes Canyon, Morning Light

Soberanes Canyon, Morning Light. Garrapata State Park, Big Sur, California. May 1, 2010. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Morning light and morning fog fill the upper reaches of Soberanes Canyon, Big Sur, California.

I’ve driven past the trailhead for Soberanes Canyon many times. The trail starts at a curve in the Coast Highway above a popular portion of the rugged beach at Garrapata State Park. This time, as I came past heading south I noticed brilliant light in the steep canyon above the trailhead caused by light shining down from the tops of the peaks through the slightly foggy atmosphere. I didn’t stop right away – I had a different objective further down the coast in mind – but I made a mental note to take a look on my way back north, thinking that I’d probably be back within a half hour or so.

I did return shortly. I parked, loaded up the photo gear, and headed up the trail towards the canyon. I wanted to try to make a photograph that captures the intensity of the light-filled atmosphere created when a steep canyon like this is filled with slightly hazy air – the light is so bright that you almost cannot look at it, but when you do look the light seems almost palpable and the receding ridges of the canyon form interesting patterns before the furthest of them virtually disappear into the light. My first stop was at a small footbridge crossing a creek. This might have made a beautiful photograph – with lush green plants and wildflowers lining the small, rushing creek and the mountains beyond – but I couldn’t find a composition that would work, do so I continued on a bit. Soon I came to a more open area where the trail curved above the floor of the canyon near a cactus-covered slope, and from here the view into the upper reaches of the canyon was unobstructed.

As I framed up several compositions of the ridge patterns of the canyon the light continued to change – one moment it was smooth and undifferentiated, but the next a bit of fog would come through and brilliant clouds would sit on top of the ridge. In the end I wasn’t completely satisfied with the result – but I’m going to think of this as work in progress, and I’ll be back to try to photograph this canyon and these conditions again.

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.

G Dan Mitchell Photography | Twitter | Friendfeed | Facebook | Facebook Fan Page | Email

Technical Data:
Canon EOS 5D Mark II
Canon EF 70-200mm f/4 L USM at 84mm
ISO 125, f/11, 1/400 second

keywords: ridge, atmospheric, recession, distance, canyon, mountain, hill, steep, fog, mist, haze, morning, light, back light, upper, reaches, brush, chaparral, garrapata, state, park, california, usa, north america, big sur, coast, pacific, ocean, highway, trail, scenic, travel, landscape, nature, valley, stock

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

Rugged Coastline, Big Sur

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Rugged Coastline, Big Sur
Rugged Coastline, Big Sur

Rugged Coastline, Big Sur. Garrapata State Park, California. May 1, 2010. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Black and white photograph of rough surf and rugged coastal rocks and cliffs along the Big Sur Coastline of California at Garrapata State Park.

This is, to my mind, an astonishingly rugged and wild bit of coastline at Garrapata State Park, south of Carmel, California in the northern section of the Big Sur coastline. I made the photograph from the edge of a bluff above the rocky coast, at a spot where I could shoot south along the shoreline and toward a section of coastline where the contour headed back towards the west. While it was a clear morning with only a bit of fog along the tops of the nearby hills, the surf was big enough to fill the air with a thin mist which created the atmospheric recession effect in this photograph.

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.

G Dan Mitchell Photography | Twitter | Friendfeed | Facebook | Facebook Fan Page | Email

Technical Data:
Canon EOS 5D Mark II
Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6 L IS USM at 360mm
ISO 100, f/16, 1/80 second

keywords: garrapata, state, beach, park, big, sur, rock, island, stack, cliff, outcropping, pacific, ocean, sea, shore, coast, shoreline, rugged, crashing, rough, surf, wave, foam, bird, atmospheric, recession, morning, light, black and white, monochrome, highway, one, seascape, landscape, nature, travel, scenic, stock

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

Rocky Creek Bridge, Big Sur

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Rocky Creek Bridge, Big Sur
Rocky Creek Bridge, Big Sur

Rocky Creek Bridge, Big Sur. Garrapata State Park, California. May 1, 2010. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A natural bridge in front of manmade Rocky Creek Bridge along the Big Sur Coastline, California.

This scene is becoming a sort of personal icon in my photography of the California coastline. I have made a couple black and white photographs of the location that are among my very favorite photographs, but I’ve been meaning to work on a color photograph of this spot. There are at least three general conditions in which this spot gets what I regard as interesting light: fairly early morning when the light slants down toward the ocean from over the coastal Big Sur hills, late afternoon in warm light, and during various types of cloud and fog conditions. This version is from the first of these – photographed relatively early in the day when portions of the scene are backlit but some light hits parts of the scene directly after the sun rises above the tall mountains to the east.

Believe it or not, I still don’t think I’ve fully worked this scene – and I have several other ideas of how I would like to shoot it when the conditions are just right.

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.

G Dan Mitchell Photography | Twitter | Friendfeed | Facebook | Facebook Fan Page | Email

Technical Data:
Canon EOS 5D Mark II
Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6 L IS USM at 360mm
ISO 200, f/11, 1/250 second

keywords: natural, manmade, bridge, rocky, creek, pacific, ocean, sea, shore, shoreline, coast, highway, 1, one, rock, island, surf, wave, arch, beach, spring, morning, light, bird, gull, cliff, hill, steep, ridge, monterey, carmel, landscape, seascape, nature, scenic, travel, road, drive, stock

Photographs: Death Valley, Photographs: Desert, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Southern California

Moving Rock, Racetrack Playa

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Moving Rock, Racetrack Playa
Moving Rock, Racetrack Playa

Moving Rock, Racetrack Playa. Death Valley National Park, California. March 29, 2010. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Black and white panoramic format photograph of a moving rock at Racetrack Playa, Death Valley National Park, California.

This photograph probably belongs in the “trying to turn lemons into lemonade” file. I’ve had wonderful luck with great light on all of my previous visits to the remote Racetrack Playa in Death Valley, the site of the “moving rocks” that have left tracks in their wake across the playa surface. However, my string luck seemed to run out on this late March visit. Earlier in the day as I contemplated whether or not to head out there I noticed some budding lenticular clouds to the north and made the decision to go. My preference is to have some clouds at the Racetrack, as perfectly clear sky isn’t as interesting in my view. Plus I always have in mind a particular previous visit when I photographed the playa at dawn with beautiful lenticulars building over the mountains to the north of the playa, and I think I’m always hoping for similar conditions again.

The plan on this visit was to arrive in the mid-afternoon to shoot the Grandstand, a formation near where the road first arrives at the playa, and to then photograph the beautiful evening light, the full moon (in the evening and then again before dawn) and finally the dawn light. The conditions continued to look great as I did the long washboard drive to the playa, and I arrived and photographed the Grandstand as planned. However, as I finished up here a high band of clouds moved across the sky and flattened out the light. As evening came on I was out on the playa, but the clouds remained and the light was not remarkable. I finally wandered back off the playa after dark, hoping that the clouds would clear and allow full moon photography. This never happened, and when I returned to the playa early in the morning the overcast was still present, with only a thin area of blue sky far to the west.

But I photographed anyway. Softer, overcast light has its potential, and since I was there I was certainly not going to waste the opportunity. In the end, I wasn’t thrilled with what I brought back for the most part, though I do like the effect of the overcast and the softer light on this black and white photograph of one of the more recognizable rocks. (By the way, the rest of my Death Valley visit went much better than this one night!)

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.

G Dan Mitchell Photography | Twitter | Friendfeed | Facebook | Facebook Fan Page | Email

Technical Data:
Canon EOS 5D Mark II
Canon EF 17-40mm f/4 L USM at 170mm
ISO 200, f/16, 1/8 second

keywords: sliding, moving, rock, trail, playa, surface, flat, cloudy, morning, inyo, mountains, hills, sky, clouds, monochrome, peak, snow, geology, nature, landscape, scenic, travel, death valley, national, park, california, usa, north american, remote, mystery, icon, light, flat, crack, earth, dry, desert, stock