Category Archives: Photographs: Northern California

Photographs from Northern California

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

Moving Water

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Moving Water
A small wave crosses kelp and sand in shallow water at the Pacific Ocean shoreline.

Moving Water. © Copyright 2022 G Dan Mitchell.

A small wave crosses kelp and sand in shallow water at the Pacific Ocean shoreline.

This is the second of a pair of somewhat abstract water photographs I made on a quick visit to the California coast last week. I just had a few hours, so I went up the coast from Santa Cruz to Half Moon Bay, then over the coast range and returned to Silicon Valley. It was an “extremely typical” day in this part of the world, by which I mean that the conditions were “typical” (cool and foggy) for this time of the year, but even more so to the point that I encountered coastal drizzle heavy enough to feel like rain.

I paused at one overlook high above the Pacific, hoping to photograph pelicans that often coast past on updrafts from the incoming ocean winds. I just missed oen flock as I arrived, but I quickly attached the long lens and… waited… for the next flock… which never showed up. Since I had that lens on the camera I decided to point down rather than up and photograph the shallow water at the edge of the ocean far below.

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” is available from Heyday Books, Amazon, and directly from G Dan Mitchell.

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

Clearing Coastal Fog

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Clearing Coastal Fog
Morning coastal fog begins to break up over the Pacific Ocean off the California coast.

Clearing Coastal Fog. © Copyright 2022 G Dan Mitchell.

Morning coastal fog begins to break up over the Pacific Ocean off the California coast.

Conditions were both odd… and very normal for June on this recent visit to the Pacific coastline between Santa Cruz and San Francisco. The odd? In some spots the drizzle was heavy enough to almost count as rain, something quite unusual in these parts of California in June. The usual? We have a term for it here: “June Gloom,” when the influence of cooler ocean waters creates a lot of coastal fog, often sufficient to spread inland throughout the Bay Area.

The three things that will usually bring me to the coast to photograph are fog, a storm, and/or high surf. This was obviously a foggy day, and my general strategy is to photograph in the moody, murky fog until it begins to clear. At that point I chase the fog line, where all kinds of wonderful things happen with light and color. The blue of the sky intensifies the color of the water, and the contrasts grow between shaded ocean and the places where it is either still in fog or catching the first sun.

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” is available from Heyday Books, Amazon, and directly from G Dan Mitchell.

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Links to Articles, Sales and Licensing, my Sierra Nevada Fall Color book, Contact Information.

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All media © Copyright G Dan Mitchell and others as indicated. Any use requires advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

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

A Small Wave

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A Small Wave
On a day of quiet seas, a small wave crosses a kelp bed along the California coast.

A Small Wave. © Copyright 2022 G Dan Mitchell.

On a day of quiet seas, a small wave crosses a kelp bed along the California coast.

My recent photographs from Point Lobos have mostly used the grand landscape as the subject, focusing on central subjects set in expansive surroundings. If you are familiar with those locations you might have been able to identify the specific places where I photographed, and you might have recognized the actual subjects of the images. This is not one of those photographs.

This photograph could be from any of an uncounted number of places along the coast of California — or any other coastal zone for that matter. I think this photograph can work in at least two ways. On one level it is a “capture” of a real thing that happens in these places: we see the submerged sand and kelp through clear water, while the more turbulent water that follows the little wave reflects more sky color. But I like the fact that it also woks as an abstraction of shape, color, and form.

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” is available from Heyday Books, Amazon, and directly from G Dan Mitchell.

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Links to Articles, Sales and Licensing, my Sierra Nevada Fall Color book, Contact Information.

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Photographs: Architecture, Photographs: Northern California, Photographs: Structures and Objects, Photographs: Urban/Street

West Coast Rebar Company

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West Coast Rebar Company
The “West Coast Rebar Company” building, San Jose

West Coast Rebar Company. © Copyright 2022 G Dan Mitchell.

The “West Coast Rebar Company” building, San Jose

This photograph probably makes this subject look a bit nicer than it is in reality. It is an old industrial building in an area of such things, these days mostly occupied by auto body repair shops and similar. I’m not at all certain that it is still an actual rebar company — for example, it appears that parts of the facility now house gigantic pots containing young trees.

I have walked past this place many times. (In fact, I’ve known the small street on which it is located for decades.) I’ve also thought about photographing it many times. I’m intrigued by these old metal shop buildings, a type that used to be very common around here and, I would imagine, elsewhere in the country. I see them in older towns and in older areas of more modern communities here in Silicon Valley, but they are gradually being replaced by fancy new office buildings and urban housing developments.

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” is available from Heyday Books, Amazon, and directly from G Dan Mitchell.

Blog | About | Flickr | Facebook | Email

Links to Articles, Sales and Licensing, my Sierra Nevada Fall Color book, Contact Information.

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All media © Copyright G Dan Mitchell and others as indicated. Any use requires advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.