Category Archives: Photographs: Northern California

Photographs from Northern California

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

Low Tide, Drakes Estero

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Patterns emerge and reflect the sky at low tide on a foggy morning at Drakes Estero
Patterns emerge and reflect the sky at low tide on a foggy morning at Drakes Estero

Low Tide, Drakes Estero. Point Reyes National Seashore, California. July 23, 2017© Copyright 2017 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Patterns emerge and reflect the sky at low tide on a foggy morning at Drakes Estero

Although I have been visiting the Point Reyes National Seashore, just north of San Francisco, for quite a few years, it has sometimes been a challenging place for me to photograph. Perhaps it is because, with some exceptions, it generally doesn’t feature the same sorts of iconic and spectacular Pacific coast subjects found in places such as the Big Sir coast. instead there are coastal lowlands with most-treeless bluffs, thick and impenetrable forests further inland, and grand vistas across low-lying landscapes. But given enough time and patience and persistence, I think ti begins to be possible to discover a way of seeing almost any landscape, and I’m starting to understand how to see this place.

I knew it that there would be fog on this visit, and my plan/hope was that I could get there at the right time to place myself along the boundary between sun and fog, where interesting things often happen with the light. I decided to take a rather long hike (about 13 miles roundtrip) to a location that I have long wanted to visit, and I arrived at the trailhead just as the fog was beginning to thin there. After dropping through forest I arrived and crossed one arm of Drakes Estero as the tide was at its low point, revealing mud flats along the shoreline. The trail climbed again and I came around another high headland to see a more expansive view toward the fog over the ocean to the west. The low tide revealed remarkable patterns in the estero, and the shallow water reflected the deep blue sky and the thinning fog clouds.

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 and Amazon.
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Photographs: Central California, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Northern California

Shoreline Bluffs, Forest

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Shoreline Bluffs, Forest
Forested bluffs drop straight down to the rugged shoreline along the north shore of Point Lobos

Shoreline Bluffs, Forest. Point Lobos State Reserve, California. July 18, 2017. © Copyright 2017 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Forested bluffs drop straight down to the rugged shoreline along the north shore of Point Lobos

For the second time in less than a week I made it back to Point Lobos State Reserve again. After several days of very hot inland temperatures here in the San Francisco Bay Area, Point Lobos was attractive destination not only for its photogenic scenery but also for the promise of cool morning maritime fog. We encountered the fog well before we arrived, but perhaps an hour later it began to clear from the immediate coast, and I had perhaps a half hour of beautiful mixed light along the boundary between sun and fog.

I made this photograph at a location I know very well along the north shore trail at Point Lobos. When I was there late last week I photographed while it was still foggy and the soft light filled in the shadows. Today the filtered sunlight created more dramatic shadows, but a bit of lingering fog muted the intensity of the light and colors in the forest on the bluff above the rocky cliffs.

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

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

Meadow, Wildflowers, Cove

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Meadow, Wildflowers, Cove
A wildflower-filled meadow drops toward a cove along the north shore of Point Lobos State Reserve

Meadow, Wildflowers, Cove. Point Lobos State Reserve, California. July 14, 2017. © Copyright 2017 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A wildflower-filled meadow drops toward a cove along the north shore of Point Lobos State Reserve

For various reasons it has been a while since I’ve been out to photograph the natural world — perhaps a couple of months, and my last big shoot was in early April when I spent nearly a week in Death Valley. (In the interim I have photographed other subjects, including quite a bit of urban and street photography.) Those reasons are behind me now, and I’m again turning my attention back to photographing the natural world. Today’s first foray took me to an old favorite, the Point Lobos State Reserve just south of Carmel, California.

I live little more than an hour from this area, and I’ve been visiting for decades, but there are still new things to discover about this place. For example, this was the first time that I’ve actually stopped and visited the “whalers’ cabin,” and it was the first time that I left my car behind and spent the entire time wandering the park on foot. At this time of year the weather in California can vary radically between inland areas (where it could easily be in the ninety degree range) and to coast, where it was only in the upper fifties. My plan was to get to the coast at about the time I expected the fog to break up so that I could photograph in the marvelous light on the fog-sun boundary. But it never cleared! Instead, while the temperature rose further inland, I enjoyed hours of cool and damp foggy weather. I eventually made my way — slowly, and stopping to look at many things — to the trail along the north shore of the park, and here I came upon this beautiful little meadow, still green from the past winter’s unusually heavy rainfall and filled with colorful wildflowers. The meadow led down to the edge of a rocky cliff that dropped to the Pacific Ocean 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 and Amazon.
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All media © Copyright G Dan Mitchell and others as indicated. Any use requires advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

Photographs: Northern California, Photographs: Urban/Street

Food Truck

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Food Truck
The food truck vendor behind dark blue glass

Food Truck. San Jose, California. June 21, 2017. © Copyright 2017 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

The food truck vendor behind dark blue glass

There is a bit of a strange story behind this photograph and a few others I made on the same evening. I was at a brewery that isn’t too far from where I live — we had been meaning to visit the place for some time, but when we heard there would be a Fujifilm camera demo event with loaners we decided to go. The Fujifilm representative showed up with a table full of goodies, and they let us check them out for about 15 minutes at a time.

I decided to go with something basic and try the X100f, the new Fujifilm rangefinder style camera. The photographic subjects were a bit limited. There were a couple of models hired to come in for the event, but that’s not really my thing. But the street photography presence of a beaten up old food truck was irresistible.

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 and Amazon.
Blog | About | Flickr | Twitter | Facebook | Google+ | LinkedIn | Email

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