Category Archives: Photographs: Central California

Photographs: Central California, Photographs: Nature

Creekside Trail, Central California

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Creekside Trail, Central California

Creekside Trail, Central California. Calero Hills, California. February 21, 2009. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A creekside trail through forest of oak and laurel trees at Calero County Park, California.

After a long – but welcome! – bout of rainy weather here in Central California, last weekend I managed to get out for a hike in my favorite local oak/grassland park. It was a cloudy day with very diffused light, but I decided to do a bit of photography with my new camera – but instead of taking my usual complement of lenses I carried only three primes, at 35mm, 50mm, and 85mm. This photograph was made with the 35mm lens and an interesting aspect of the scene for for me was the incredibly rich detail of new growth, old leaves on the forest floor, and the many small branches of trees and brush. (I’m afraid that much of that detail isn’t visible in this small jpg, but there isn’t much to be done about that.)

This photograph is not in the public domain. It may not be used on websites, blogs, or in any other media without explicit advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

keywords: calero, hills, park, santa clara, county, public, path, trail, creek, brook, water, reflection, oak, laurel, tree, forest, grove, leaf, trunk, branch, hike, winter, california, usa, nature, landscape, green, new, plants, growth, damp, stock, foliage, vegetation, root

Photographs: Central California, Photographs: People, Photographs: Sports

Floyd Landis Warms Up

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Floyd Landis Warms Up

Floyd Landis Warms Up – Tour of California 2009. Sacramento, California. February 14, 2009. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Floyd Landis warms up before the prologue time trial of the 2009 Amgen Tour of Califoria, Sacramento, California.

Floyd warms up his body – and puts on his “race face” –  before the prologue time trial of the 2009 Amgen Tour of California professional bicycle race in Sacramento, California.

This photograph is not in the public domain. It may not be used on websites, blogs, or in any other media without explicit advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

keywords: floyd, landis, ouch, bicycle, bike, racer, race, professional, stage, prologue, prolog, amgen, tour of california, trainer, warm up, spin, headphones, intense, face, portrait, sacramento, california, usa, time trial

Photographs: Central California, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Ocean & Coast, Photographs: Wildlife

Birds and Winter Surf

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Birds and Winter Surf

Birds and Winter Surf. South of San Francisco, California. January 12, 2008. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Birds congregate along a stream with winter surf and bluffs above the Pacific Coastline in the distance – south of San Francisco, California.

I frequently stop along this section of the Pacific Coast between San Francisco and Santa Cruz, in a location where the road descends to almost the level of the beach. On this winter day the low clouds and fog were backlit by the sun as large winter surf rolled in. These birds appeared to be feeding in the creek near where it entered the surf and were just starting to take to the air as I exposed this photo.

This photograph is not in the public domain. It may not be used on websites, blogs, or in any other media without explicit advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

keywords: seascape, landscape, beach, bluff, surf, wave, pacific, ocean, coast, sand, water, reflection, bird, gull, flock, flight, creek, stream, hill, seaweed, two, people, highway, one, california, usa, fog, mist, cloud, travel, scenic, stock, black and white

Photographs: Central California, Photographs: Night, Photographs: Structures and Objects

Shipyard Structure and Star Trails

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Scaffold and Star Trails

Shipyard Structure and Star Trails. Mare Island Naval Shipyard, California. February 7, 2009. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Shipyard scaffolding illuminated by artificial light and moonlight with star trails – Mare Island Naval Shipyard, California.

One more night photograph from Mare Island, this one being the last frame I exposed before my shutter went to shutter heaven. (Well, actually it went to the Canon Factory Service Center a day later…) This was shot with the camera pointing almost straight up, with the north star just outside the frame at the lower right, and the star trails rotating around that position. The illumination is from a combination of light from the nearly-full moon and nearby artificial lighting – and a very long exposure. I don’t understand exactly how this massive steel structure was used, but it is part of the shipbuilding facilities at the historic Mare Island Naval Ship Yard. These structures tower over the old shops and other buildings at the facility.

This photograph is not in the public domain. It may not be used on websites, blogs, or in any other media without explicit advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

keywords: shipyard, structure, equipment, truss, steel, beam, scaffold, overhead, above, sky, night, star, trails, yellow, blue, moon, light, artificial, mare island, naval shipyard, minsy, vallejo, california, usa, historic, bay area, nocturnes, nocturnal, photography, stock