Lands End Dusk, The Golden Gate. San Francisco, California. November 23, 2007. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell.
Lands End Dusk, The Golden Gate
Lands End Dusk, The Golden Gate. San Francisco, California. November 23, 2007. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell.
Category Archives: Photographs: Ocean & Coast
Pigeon Point, Fog
Pigeon Point, Fog. Pescadero, California. November 17, 2007. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell.
There is a little story behind this photograph and another one taken the same night that should turn up on this page soon.
Every November there is a special event at the Pigeon Point Lighthouse on the Pacific coast south of San Francisco. In the evening the original lighting system is fired up for a couple hours. It is nothing like the lighting used in modern lighthouses – those are more like what you might see in an old airport control tower – but instead uses a fresnel lens to break the light into many beams that point out in all directions at once.
When this historic light is turned on they leave it in a fixed position for about five minutes so that photographers will have time to make long exposures. (After this short period, the light begins to rotate.) Needless to say, this event attracts a lot of photographers. This year I decided to head over and try my hand at photographing this event.
Things went wrong for me in a bunch of ways. First, I got a late start and only just barely arrived at Pigeon Point at the schedule time for the lighting. Then, although the air had been fairly clear as I drove in along the coast, right at the lighthouse an incredibly think fog bank obscured the view. Finally, much to my surprise, when I arrived I found that this event is so popular that hundreds or perhaps thousands of people show up!
To make a long story short, I couldn’t get anywhere near the lighthouse to shoot the fancy light itself. I quickly came up with a “plan B” and found a spot on a bluff perhaps a quarter mile south of Pigeon Point and set up for some long exposure night photography. I ended up with two photographs that I think are interesting and somewhat mysterious – both are exposures of several minutes and include both the surf and the think fog along with some light coming from the lighthouse.
(For those who wonder, the far left light is coming from the lighthouse tower.)
Pigeon Point Lighthouse, Fog
Pigeon Point Lighthouse, Fog. Pescadero, California. November 17, 2007. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell
Shot last night at the annual Pigeon Point Lighthouse open house. Although the historic fresnel lens lighting system was turned on, the fog came in and obscured the view.
A little background and story about this photo. As posted a few days ago on this web site, I had heard about this event by way of a post at Andy Frazer’s Night Photography Blog. Based on what I read and saw there I was interested in photographing the interesting star-like pattern of the old lighthouse fresnel lens.
When I arrived at Pigeon Point last night several things caught me by surprise. First, I had no idea that this event was such a big deal! There were hundreds of cars parked in every direction: along highway 1 both north and south and on side roads. The CHP had set up flares and was directing traffic. There were people everywhere. I also didn’t know until later that the evening event is not the whole show – special activities were scheduled at the lighthouse throughout the day.
As I drove up the coast from Santa Cruz, I was impressed by the colorful post-sunset sky. Yes, it was quite clear. Although I could see a distant fog line far offshore, Monterey Bay was completely clear and it was almost as clear along the coast. Until about a quarter mile before the lighthouse, that is. A dense line of fog had moved in almost right at the lighthouse – so my plan for a clear shot of the lights was no longer going to work.
I set up just a bit south of the lighthouse on a low bluff – along with quite a few other people – and made a few test shots. (It can be difficult to compose a night shot like this since you can’t really see everything in the dark and gloom, especially with the fog so thick.) In the end, I got one photograph that I like, the one posted here.
Shorebirds, Point Reyes
Shorebirds, Point Reyes. Point Reyes National Seashore, California. September 18, 2007. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell
During my recent visit to Point Reyes I drove out to Limantour Beach and spent a bit of time wandering there with my camera. The distant land is the actual “Point Reyes” on the far side of the bay, backlit by afternoon sun and partly obscured by haze from the ocean spray.