Coastal Forest, Fog. Point Lobos State Reserve, California. January 24 2016. © Copyright 2016 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.
Fog obscures a coastal forest at Point Lobos State Reserve
Many people who don’t know the California coast imagine it to be a warm and sunny place. It can be, but often it is actually foggy and damp and cold — and not a place where you’d want to lie on your towel trying to work on your tan! That iconic sunny weather does occur, especially if you go farther south, but the cold and foggy weather is more typical. Surprisingly, I much prefer the cool and foggy to the clear and sunny, and I don’t think I’m the only photographer who would rather see almost any conditions other than blue sky clear days.
On this January day I headed over to Point Lobos after hearing that there would be both clouds and big surf. In many places in this part of California the coastal hills drop precipitously and directly (or nearly so) straight into the ocean. Here at Point Lobos there is an area of flat, forested headland between the ocean and the mountains, but right behind the park the mountains do rise in layers, and on a day like this one the details of the successively higher ridges often disappear into the fog.
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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