Trees and Cliffs, Morning Fog

Trees and Cliffs, Morning Fog
Morning fog drifts among cliff-dwelling Monterey cypress trees above the Pacific Ocean.

Trees and Cliffs, Morning Fog. © Copyright 2022 G Dan Mitchell.

Morning fog drifts among cliff-dwelling Monterey cypress trees above the Pacific Ocean.

This camera position offered an unusual perspective on the landscape and the atmosphere. When photographing on the West Coast, I often stand on the land and look west (or a bit north or south of west) and toward the ocean — in other words, “looking out to sea” when viewing the water. But in this location the land curves sharply to the west and the views point to the north, and in places like this one I can look back toward the land to my east, viewing surf against the cliffs and early morning light coming toward the camera.

This was a beautifully foggy morning. A popular misconception about California’s coast is that it is a place of endless warm sunshine. Those conditions do happen, especially in the late summer and very early autumn (hint!) — but quite often the coast is foggy and cool or even cold. While some distance inland the temperatures reached well into the ninety degree range, here I photographed drifting fog in morning light as the temperatures hovered in the mid-fifties.


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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