Category Archives: Photographs: Nature

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Ocean & Coast

Bridge, Surf and Fog

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Photograph of fog, surf, and a bridge on the Big Sur coast.
“Bridge, Surf, and Fog” — Black and white photograph of a Big Sur bridge with winter storm surf and fog.

I would love to claim that this photograph was the result of careful planning. But it wasn’t. I arrived too early at Point Lobos, and rather than waiting around, on a whim I decided to drive south. Here I encountered fog clinging to the coastline above huge Pacific winter surf—in fact, it was the surf creating this misty effect as the huge waves lifted spray into the air. This haze was only down by the water, and overhead the sky was crystal clear and the sun was shining. So, it was essentially by coincidence that I found myself in this spot at all, much less with all of these conditions in place.

Because it was morning and because the mist was very shallow, light from above shone into and through the fog, creating the light beams that cut diagonally through the scene. Although this spot is known to other photographers, I had not shot it before nor did I realize that I was there until after I happened to look around a spot this cave.

(This post and photo were revised in January of 2025.)

G Dan Mitchell is a California photographer and visual opportunist whose subjects include the Pacific coast, redwood forests, central California oak/grasslands, the Sierra Nevada, California deserts, urban landscapes, night photography, and more.
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Text, photographs, and other media are © Copyright G Dan Mitchell (or others when indicated) and are not in the public domain and may not be used on websites, blogs, or in other media without advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Ocean & Coast

Pelican Sunset – Point Lobos

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Pelican Sunset

Pelican Sunset. Point Lobos, California. December 30, 2007. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell.

There I was, with a long lens on my camera to photograph something else, when I noticed the flocks of shorebirds flying along the coastline in the dusk light.

(keywords: pelicans, birds, shorebirds, flock, fly, flight, pacific, ocean, coast, sunset, dusk, evening, point lobos, state park, california, usa, carmel, monterey, peninsula, scenic, seascape, landscape, travel, stock)

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: People

Golden Light on Lembert Dome – Tuolumne Meadows

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Golden Hour on Lembert Dome
Golden Hour on Lembert Dome – Tuolumne Meadows. Yosemite National Park, California. July 21, 2007. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell.

I like this photograph because it evokes the quiet and warmth of early evening summer light in the Sierra. This group of university students was bunched together on the summit of Lembert Dome above Yosemite National Park’s Tuolumne Meadows, quietly watching the sunset scene unfold.

(keywords: yosemite, tuolumne, meadows, lembert, dome, summit, hiking, outdoors, scenic, summer, travel, cathedral, peak, national park, california, usa, evening, golden hour, sunset, people, camping, scenic, landscape, stock)

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

Cliffs, Surf, and Fog – California Coastline

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Cliffs, Surf, and Fog
“Cliffs, Surf, and Fog” — Fog and winter light on cliffs and Pacific coast surf south of San Francisco.

I have always been fascinated by light shining directly through the atmosphere, coming straight on towards me – the brighter and more luminous the glow the better. You frequently find me aiming my camera almost straight toward the sun. (I’ve become a master at shading lenses with hands, hat, pieces of paper, you name it.) I also love atmospheric recession, the illumination of distance by the haze, as more distant subjects lose contrast and detail. This scene had all of those things, and perhaps even more.

I had been driving the coast highway (highway 1) between Santa Cruz and San Francisco on this winter day, and in places it was very foggy – but here it was the kind of fog that, while dense near the ground, is shallow enough that the light from the sun shines though and can even make looking at the clouds almost unbearable. I pulled over at a place where it looked like I might be able to walk out onto a shoreline bluff high above the water and see over the edge to the water and cliffs below and beyond. A saw this line-up of receding cliffs dropping to the surf and decided to shoot along them towards the sun. (I was surprised to find later that hidden in the fog is a small creek dropping from one section of the cliff in a small water fall.)

This high key image is a bit different from what I usually do. The fog was backlit by some fairly bright sunlight and, although it is nearly impossible to see in this little jpg image, there is a lot of detail in the frothy white surface of the water on the right side.

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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” (Heyday Books) is available directly from him.
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