Evening Clouds and Rocks, Point Lobos. Point Lobos State Reserve, California. January 8, 2011. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.
Evening clouds over the Pacific Ocean and offshore rocks at Point Lobos State Reserve.
It always strikes me as odd that at the most beautiful time of day at Point Lobos, almost all of the park visitors have left. In the evening as the sun goes down over the Pacific and the fog may or may not roll in, there are often only a handful of people left in the park, a good number of them photographers. On this Sunday evening it may have been that some were discouraged by the low clouds that had come in earlier in the afternoon, but sometimes these clouds dissipate or are lit up from behind at sunset – at that is precisely what happened on this evening. The low clouds began to thin and as they did so beams of light came through the breaks in the clouds and painted the surface of the Pacific with patchy light. A bit later, after I made this photograph, the clouds thinned even more and high, pink sunset clouds appeared briefly. And there was not another person anywhere near me to see it.
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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Text, photographs, and other media are © Copyright G Dan Mitchell (or others when indicated) and are not in the public domain and may not be used on websites, blogs, or in other media without advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.
Michael and Gary, thanks to both of you for “dropping by.”
I’m working, bit by bit, on a long term project based on “minimalist seascapes” like this one. As I’m sure both of you understand, it is a bit trickier than it looks. (At first I was almost embarrassed about the idea of “just pointing my camera out to sea and shooting, but I quickly realized that it ain’t quite that easy!)
I’m interested that the “mood” may have come through in the photograph, because the scene and circumstances certainly have that association for me – which you may have gathered a bit through the brief description. (Part of the internal mood may also have been influenced by going straight from Charlie Cramer’s show at the CPA to shoot here. Charlie’s work always makes me think… as does the work that the two of your do.)
I like the layers of cake analogy, Gary. These were really interesting clouds. Atypically, they had come in during the midday and were thinning as the sun set – I almost didn’t go out there at all because of the clouds, but in the end thought I saw the sky lightening out that way and thought, “What the heck. Might as well go see what happens.” (Which is generally a good motto, among many others, for a landscape photographer.) I set up and as I waited the clouds nearer the shoreline began to thin, and I waited to time this shot so that some brightness was on the water in the center, the taller clouds were in the middle, and the water was just beginning to fill in over the rocks.
Take care,
Dan
The line of clouds work so well here. Like layers of a cake…
Nice mood to this one Dan!