Category Archives: Photographs: Central California

Photographs: Central California, Photographs: Nature

Foxtails, Autumn

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Foxtails, Autumn

Foxtails, Autumn. Calero Hills, California. November 22, 2008. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Autumn foxtails photographed near a small pond in the Calero Hills in the southern San Francisco Bay Area, California.

This morning I got up very early and headed off to one of my favorite local photography haunts, the Calero County Park south of San Jose, where I like to photograph in the oak grasslands at almost all times of the year. I arrived just as the first sunlight was arriving. There is a small pond perhaps five minutes up the trail from the parking lot, and a white egret often can be found hanging out there in the morning, so I put my 100-400mm lens on the camera and headed up the trail. I approached the lake from below, trying to move slowly and be quiet in case the egret was around. The plan was to use the long lens to shoot this bird before it spooked an took off.

As I arrived at the shoreline of the pond there was no egret. In fact there wasn’t much wildlife at all this morning. However, there was a nice row of foxtails along the fence by the shore of the pond. So, violating just about every “rule” for photographing such a subject I made a few shots. I worked handheld. With a 100-400mm zoom at 400mm. Yes, this bokeh came from a big zoom lens. :-) The background is very blurred pond-side plants and some reflections on the surface of the water.

keywords: foxtail, stem, seed, bokeh, blur, nature, plant, fall, autumn, calero, hills, santa clara county, park, san jose, california, usa, foliage, stock

Photographs: Central California, Photographs: Night, Photographs: Ocean & Coast

Star Trails and Surf, Pacific Ocean

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Star Trails and Surf, Pacific Ocean

Star Trails and Surf, Pacific Ocean. Pigeon Point, California. November 15, 2008 © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Night photograph of glowing surf and star trails above the Pacific Ocean coastline of California at Pigeon Point.

Every autumn the old beacon at the Pigeon Point Lighthouse south of Half Moon Bay, California is re-lighted for one evening. I first heard of this event last year, and I drove over only to arrive late and find that the lighthouse was fogged in. This year the event occurred on an unusually clear and warm evening so I headed over once again to photograph the lighthouse. We arrived early enough to join the throngs of photographers set up to shoot the amazing beacon from the original fresnel lens… but my heart just wasn’t in it when it came to photographing this scene. It happens. So instead of photographing the lighthouse we decided to wander around and just take in the scene.

A bit later I thought it might be interesting to walk up the coastline a bit and try a shot pointed back at the lighthouse from a greater distance. We found a nice flat spot along the top of the low bluffs north of the lighthouse and set up. But I still just couldn’t see the shot I was looking for, so I decided to instead turn my attention to the ocean itself. I thought that a long exposure capturing the star trails heading for the horizon and the foreground cove might be interesting. I set up and made one 15 minute (!) exposure in landscape orientation, but a couple of offshore boats with lights slowly moved across the scene – not what I had in mind. Having time for one more shot I decided to try one in portrait orientation with the same foreground cove. This time I had better luck. First, no boats! But even better, about 4 or 5 minutes from the end of the exposure the nearly-full moon topped the low ridge behind us and began to add its glow to the atmosphere and the surf! I wish I could say I planned this – but the best I can claim is that when I realized what was happening I modified my plans a little and took advantage of the situation.

keywords: night, photography, surf, star, trails, pacific, ocean, coast, coastline, shore, rocks, sky, glow, pigeon, point, mist, rocks, cove, sea, seascape, landscape, travel, scenic, stock, california, usa, highway, one, 1

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

Flock of Pelicans, Sunset

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Flock of Pelicans, Sunset

Flock of Pelicans, Sunset. Pacific Coast, California. September 2, 2008. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A small flock of pelicans at sunset above the Pacific Ocean along the California coast.

A small group of Pelicans flying past the top of a high bluff above the Pacific Ocean coast of California at sunset on an early September evening.

keywords:flock, pelicans, five, flight, fly, sunset, evening, twilight, bird, shore, coast, shoreline, pacific, ocean, california, usa, highway, one, water, orange. gold, nature, seascape, wildlife, wings

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

Pelican in Flight, Sunset

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Pelican in Flight, Sunset

Pelican in Flight, Sunset. Pacific Coast, California. September 2, 2008. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A solitary pelican in flight at sunset over the Pacific Ocean coastline of California.

Yet another in the pelican series I shot along the California coast north of Santa Cruz on a September evening earlier this year. The glow of the sun on back of the pelican’s head and the light shining through its wings intrigue me, along with the very faint dividing line between the pastels shades of the ocean and the sky in the background.

To find out a bit more about where and how I made this series of photographs, take a look at yesterday’s post.

keywords: pelican, bird, sea, shore, pacific, ocean, coast, wildlife, nature, flight, fly, wings, california, usa, highway, one, evening, sunset, stock