Oak, Valley, and Ridge. Calero Park, California. November 25, 2006. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell. (Sales)

The story: I was out for a short morning hike at this nearby park when everything came togehter for this shot. Before this moment the light had actually been fairly lifeless but, anticipating that the clouds would break up soon, I had aimed to be on this ridge as the light came through – and this time I was lucky. The spot is actually nothing all that special and you might easily walk right past it on a hike. However, the back light behind the oak created interesting highlights on the grass, there was a beautiful light on the oaks and grass in the valley beyond, and the clouds were just breaking up over the distant ridge.
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Morning Light, Oaks and Grass (color). Calero Park, California. November 25, 2006. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell. (Sales)

The story: This was taken from nearly the same spot as the black and white photo posted above. I was interested in the complexity of the textures of the oak trees and the grass, the backlight on the grass, and the line of three oak trees receding from the tree at the right.
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Mount Diablo, Fog. Mission Peak, California. September, 2, 2006. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell. (Sales)

The story: This September morning on the ridge near Mission Peak was astonishing, with deep blue sky filled with mares tail clouds and coastal fog filling the valleys below and Mt. Diablo and other peaks rising above the fog. I originally saw this as a black and white photo (and it is presented that way elsewhere on this site) but after someone aske be for a color print I went back and came up with this version.
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Mission Peak and Mount Diablo, Sunrise. November 23, 2006. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell. (Sales)

The story: A small group of Bay Area hikers responded to Tom Mangan’s (Two-Heel Drive) call for a Thanksgiving morning hike to the top of Mission Peak, and were surprisingly agreeable to my crazy suggestion that we start the hike at 5:30 a.m. so that we could be at the summit for the sunrise. We arrived, in cold and extremely windy conditions, just before the sun came up, and this photograph shows the very first light striking the summit rocks of Mission Peak and illuminating Mt. Diablo in the distance.
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