Light and Dark Sandstone. Point Lobos State Reserve, California. April 27, 2014. © Copyright 2014 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.
A bit or remaining red sandstone sits on top of an underlying layer of lighter rock, Point Lobos State Reserve
Near the end of April I found time for a quick visit to Point Lobos State Reserve, south of Carmel in the Monterey Peninsula/Big Sur region. This is a place I have photographed for many years, so I know specific rocks and trees quite well. Photographing here often provides a sort of tension between continuing to refine how I see things that I have known for decades and trying to locate new subjects. In addition to the constantly changing patterns of the Pacific Ocean itself and the mostly stable elements of the rocky shoreline and forests, the weather always changes and the wildlife provides unending variations.
When I decided to go there on this morning I should have remembered that this is the weekend of the annual Big Sur Marathon, which mostly closes sections of the coast highway in the area for an hour or more at a time. But I didn’t remember… until I got to the Carmel Valley road block. I lined up for the periodic car caravans that were scheduled to leave every 90 minutes, picked up a cup of coffee and waited. Eventually we followed a highway patrol vehicle down the highway, and I soon turned off into an almost entirely deserted Point Lobos State Reserve. The solitude I found on this day when few others came to the park made up for the delay in getting there! Because the light was filtered through high clouds I decide to spend some time photographing these beautifully sea-sculpted sandstone formations along the rocky shoreline.
G Dan Mitchell is a California photographer and visual opportunist whose subjects include the Pacific coast, redwood forests, central California oak/grasslands, the Sierra Nevada, California deserts, urban landscapes, night photography, and more.
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