Fog, Surf, and Rocks Near Rocky Creek

Fog, Surf, and Rocks Near Rocky Creek
Morning light on fog and mist over the Big Sur coast near Rocky Creek.

Fog, Surf, and Rocks Near Rocky Creek. © Copyright 2021 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Morning light on fog and mist over the Big Sur coast near Rocky Creek.

This post begins with a confession. I have probably photographed this particular scene too many times. I first photographed it quite a few years ago, on a morning when I happened to stop along the Big Sur coastline and notice this particular juxtaposition of features. On that first visit I came up with images that I still regard as quite good, perhaps even among my best from this area. At that point I figured that I was more or less done with the subject, though I continued to pause there and look. Which of course meant that eventually a day came when something new and different appeared there… and I made different sort of photograph of the location that also seems pretty good.

At about this point I started to consider the dangers of going back and re-photographing the same familiar subject. (Among other things, it can distract a photographer from finding new subjects since re-shooting the familiar thing can be easier.) I continued to stop and occasionally make a casual photograph, but mostly did nothing with those images, preferring to work on new subjects in the area. But when I visited on this early November morning the scene seemed particularly spectacular, with a combination of high surf, thin fog, and intense backlight… and I could not resist. So, here it is… yet another take on this scene.


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, Amazon, and directly from G Dan Mitchell.

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2 thoughts on “Fog, Surf, and Rocks Near Rocky Creek”

  1. So beautiful! Coincidentally.right before looking at your email, I happened to read this in the previous message, and it was very fitting caption for this striking photograph:

    In slack wind of November
    The fog forms and shifts.
    All the world comes out again
    When the fog lifts.
    –Christina Georgina Rossetti (1830–94)

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