Category Archives: Photographs: Central California

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

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

Two Pelicans, Sunset

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Two Pelicans, Sunset

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

Two pelicans fly above the Pacific Ocean along the California coast at sunset.

I’ve posted photos from this set before, but since it has been a while I’ll share the story again. I had taken by son over to Santa Cruz, where he goes to school, and we decided to drive north up the coast in the early evening and look for photo opportunities. Although this section of the coast is always interesting, on this evening the first few places we stopped just didn’t present any obvious photographic opportunities. Finally I decided to just head for a roadside turnout that I had visited before. It is located right at the edge of the steep bluffs above the ocean, and large sea birds often fly right along the edge, apparently catching the updraft from the wind coming in off the ocean. You can see the birds coming for hundreds of yards in either direction, track them as the approach, and if you are lucky they will pass by mere feet from your position.

Making this setting more interesting and/or more challenging on this evening, the sun was setting behind a bit of off-shore fog – and as I panned to follow the birds the exposure went from fairly normal light on either side of my position to the intensely colorful and very bright light coming through the fog when I was aiming directly out to see as in this photo.

Yes, it really was this color.

keywords: pelican, two, bird, wildlife, fly, wing, sunset, fog, orange, gold, ocean, pacific, coast, light, highway, one, scenic, travel, flight, california, usa, davenport

Photographs: Central California, Photographs: Nature

Last Day of Summer, Last Flowers of Summer

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Last Day of Summer, Last Flowers of Summer

Last Day of Summer, Last Flowers of Summer. Calero Hills, California. September 21, 2008. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Last day of summer with new and old buds on early autumn foliage in the Calero Hills, California.

I was out early in the morning on the last day of summer 2008, photographing at one of my favorite nearby locations in the Calero Hills, when I found these interesting plants for a small pond. They show an interesting range of colors, from the yellow of a few remaining buds to the browns of the old and dried flowers – and seem to sort of capture this transitional time of the year.

keywords: calero, park, santa clara, county, summer, last day, nature, california, usa, plant, flower, bud, brown, green, new, old, dry, foliage

Photographs: Central California, Photographs: Nature

Poison Oak Leaves, Last Day of Summer

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Poison Oak Leaves, Last Day of Summer

Poison Oak Leaves, Last Day of Summer. Calero Hills, California. September 21, 2008. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Poison oak leaves on the last day of summer against a backgrouind of branches and early autumn colors – Calero Hills, California.

My last-day-of-summer morning hike at Calero Park began early and in cloudy weather – but the overcast saturated the colors on some of the early fall colors, including the leaves on this poison oak bush on a grassy hillside.

Yes, I was careful not to get too close! I shot this with a telephoto lens…

keywords: calero, park, santa clara, county, summer, last day, nature, california, usa, plant, flora, poison oak, leaf, branch, seed, nature, autumn, red, fall, branch, twig, hills, stock