Fog, Trees, Knoll. Point Lobos State Reserve, California. July 18, 2017. © Copyright 2017 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.
Monterey Cypress trees on a rocky knoll above the Pacific Ocean in foggy morning light, Point Lobos
Driving to Point Lobos from the San Francisco Bay Area in the early morning, I was not quite sure what conditions I would find. The forecast was for fog, clearing out before noon, but you can hardly ever tell for sure how this will evolve. A few days early I had been here on a day with a similar forecast and it never cleared. On this morning, however, it turned out that the fog was actually thicker inland, and it turned out that it cleared at the coast first!
We hiked over to the north shore trail, starting at a bluff above Whalers Cove, then climbing up to the higher bluffs that skirt the north shore of the park above steep and rocky cliffs that drop straight down to coastal coves. At first the fog was gray and almost oppressive. One can photograph in such conditions, but it is difficult to work the flat light. But very soon something much better began to arrive. As the fog cleared and the fog/sun boundary moved across the shore, the foggy atmosphere began to glow, and even in this soft light the colors began to intensify.
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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