Green wall with green door and window in an urban industrial area of San Jose, California.
This is another urban landscape from my New Years Day walk and shoot. This photograph and the one that follows (a yellow building with a “For Lease” sign) are almost directly across the street from one another – a colorful bit of industrial neighborhood for sure! Despite the weathered and repainted character of this detail, the overall building is actually in decent shape. There is something mysterious about it though with the green color(s) and the boarded up windows and the door with no handle.
This photograph is not in the public domain and may not be used on websites, blogs, or in other media without advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.
The front porch of an old suburban home with a row of flower pots and a garden hose.
Switching gears more than a bit from the recent Big Sur photographs, here comes a series of urban landscapes shot on a New Years Day walk not far from my home. I shot these in old-school style, wandering around carrying only a full-frame body with a 50mm prime. (OK, I don’t have a Leica, but this comes close enough for me.) I’m not really a big fan of the one-lens approach, but I do find it to be a fun diversion sometimes, partly because it makes me look at photographic subjects a bit differently and partly because it makes for a much smaller and lighter kit.
I’m not quite certain what caught my attention about this house, though several things might have contributed. You cannot see it from the photograph, but this one residence sits on a very busy four-lane thoroughfare among a bunch of businesses – that may have been one thing that drew me to it. The color caught my eye as well, as did the row of flower pots on the porch and the very bright green of the hose. I also like the overall geometry of the scene.
This photograph is not in the public domain and may not be used on websites, blogs, or in other media without advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.
Black and white photograph of winter surf and rugged cliffs and rocks along California’s Big Sur coastline at the Rocky Creek Bridge.
I have photographed this scene before, so it was on my list of places to check out as I drove down the Big Sur coast on the second day of the new year. When I arrived I found very different lighting from that in the linked photograph – that one was shot in the morning with back-light and heavier mist. On this afternoon the surf was big (but not huge) and some mist was being thrown up by the waves, but the late afternoon light more clearly illuminated the rocks and the bridge. I also found a slightly better spot for seeing the natural arch in the foreground rocks. The only difficulty was that a herd of cattle was grazing on the top of the bluff right in front of this scene, and I had to wait for them to move before I could shoot – they were obstructing the arch!
I first thought this would be a color photograph, but the more I worked on it the more I liked the monochrome rendition. To me it seems to take the focus away from the colors and force it more towards the abstract and overlapping forms of the rocks, surf, bridge, and hill beyond.
This photograph is not in the public domain and may not be used on websites, blogs, or in other media without advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.
The last sunlight of the day gently lights the winter surf and coastal bluffs along highway one on the Big Sur coast of California.
This photograph is the result of a bit of good luck and a bit of planning. On this morning I heard a weather report that included a high surf warning for the northern and central California coast. I’m always alert to this in the winter since this can create some amazing photographic opportunities. With that in mind I decided somewhat spontaneously to finish up a few other tasks and then try to get to Point Lobos for some late afternoon and early evening photography there.
As I approached Point Lobos in the mid-afternoon it became apparent that I wasn’t the only person out and about on this last weekend of the holiday season! The entrance to Point Lobos itself was closed because all the parking lots were full, and scores of cars were filling the roadside pullouts near the park. Since I can go there when it isn’t so crowded I decided to change my plans and head south down the coast, ultimately going almost to Granite Creek.
At one point where the road made a broad curve to the right I was able to look back and see this panorama. I stopped only long enough to take a quick look and spot a use trail heading down toward the edge of the bluff. I made a mental note that this might be an interesting scene to shoot in the last light of the day, and then I got back in the car and continued south.
After finishing up a final shot shortly after 4:00 I decided to head back to this location. On one hand the light didn’t look too promising, as some high clouds were thickening and moving down the coast. However, it looked to me like it might remain clearer right above the horizon – I thought there was a chance of some “surprise light” just before sunset, and it seemed like this spot might catch a bit of it. With that in mind I drove back here, loaded up my gear, and wandered out to the edge of the bluff where I found this panorama.
With or without photography, it was a spectacular spot. The large Pacific swell was coming straight in to the beach below me to the right, and bluffs and sea stacks and surf stretched back up the coastline toward the Carmel Highlands and the Point Lobos area and interesting clouds were forming above. Now all I needed was a bit of luck with that sun peeking under the clouds at last light – and for about a minute or two I got the soft, warm light I had hoped for.
This photograph is not in the public domain and may not be used on websites, blogs, or in other media without advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.
