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

Beach Monument, Lost Coast

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Beach Monument, Lost Coast
A monument of driftwood lumber on a Lost Coast beach.

Beach Monument, Lost Coast. © Copyright 2021 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A monument of driftwood lumber on a Lost Coast beach.

On our recent visit to the far Northern California redwood country, we did a bit of exploring in places that were new to us. (While there are no hard and fast rules about this, I often enjoy trips that combine the discovery of new subjects with repeat visits to more familiar places.) One reason was simply that it is useful to head off in a different direction when the thing you thought you might photograph is not in an ideal state. But we also made some specific advance plans concerning locations like the one in this photograph.

Roughly between the Fort Bragg and Eureka areas there is a remarkable section of the Pacific Coast that is nicknamed the “Lost Coast.” Here the main highways (101 and 1) divert inland to avoid some particularly rugged sections. Few roads make it to the coast, and those that do tend to be narrow, twisty, and a bit less traveled. We drove one of those roads on a large loop that took us to and along this section of almost completely deserted coastline.

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

Fiesta Flower

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Fiesta Flower
A high key rendition of a blue fiesta flower, Pholistoma auritum.

Fiesta Flower. © Copyright 2021 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A high key rendition of a blue fiesta flower, Pholistoma auritum.

This photograph comes from one of my spring wildflower rambles at a nearby park, a place I visit every year to celebrate the start of the season. It isn’t a national park. It is not a famous place. It isn’t even a well-known place in a little-known local park — but it is mine! Here the trail passes through a small, narrow valley where there is space for flowers that prefer the sun and those that thrive in shade.

I decided to interpret this subject a bit more liberally than sometimes, going for a high-key rendition. The question of what it means to interpret a subject via a photograph leads in all sorts of interesting and complicated places that I cannot possibly address in this paragraph. Suffice it to say that while photography carries the burden of the presumption of realism, photographs are anything but “reality,” and the question of whether or how to interpret what the camera captures has many possible answers.

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

Crescent City Sunset

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Crescent City Sunset
The sun sets beyond evening clouds and sea stacks along the Pacific Coast at Crescent City, California.

Crescent City Sunset. © Copyright 2021 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

The sun sets beyond evening clouds and sea stacks along the Pacific Coast at Crescent City, California.

Earlier this month we got away for a few days of photography in far Northern California — the redwood country, but also the never-far-away coast. We stayed in Crescent City the first couple of nights, just below the Oregon border, since this place provides good access to several of the redwood parks. The days are very long in far Northern California at this time of year, and even with several hours of morning photography and several hours of work in the evening, there is a lot of “in between time.” On this day we decided to enjoy an early dinner in town before heading out for evening photography. Eventually we worked our way to this spot along a bluff at the edge of town.

I had a particular subject in mind when we arrived, but the conditions were evolving in a somewhat unexpected way. A weak weather front was approaching from the northwest, and it was clear that its cloud shield was going to block the sun as it descended toward the horizon. I made a few quick exposures in pseudo-evening light, and then the light went gray. It was difficult to say for sure, but it looked like there might be a gap between the bottom of the clouds and the ocean, and in anticipation of the sun’s light coming through that gap right at sunset I quickly moved to a different location that placed this sea stack with its small tree in line with some more distant rocks and the likely position of the setting 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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Photographs: Fall, Photographs: Fall Color, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Sierra Nevada

Aspen Leaves and Stone

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Aspen Leaves and Stone
Branches of an aspen tree with autumn leaves against the stone of an Eastern Sierra cliff.

Aspen Leaves and Stone. © Copyright 2021 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Branches of an aspen tree with autumn leaves against the stone of an Eastern Sierra cliff.

Since summer is about to start… it seems like time to start thinking about autumn. I have written before that my mind is usually as much on the season that it isn’t as on the season that it is, perhaps because I’m always conscious of the cyclical and transitional nature of things. A few weeks ago I had a brief discussion with a friend about fall photography plans, and since then I’ve been considering where I may want to go this September and October. And as those subjects come to mind I cannot hep but be aware of the likely effects that the West’s current extreme drought and heat are likely to have on conditions.

But enough of that musing for the moment. This photographic vignette of a few aspen branches extending across cracked and lichen-covered granite focuses on one of the many little personal spots in the Sierra that I return to every year. There’s a good chance that you would pass this spot and not even see it, but that may be part of what draws me to it. While all of us own the iconic parts of the Sierra, each of us can have his or her own personal Sierra consisting an accumulated set of personal subjects and experiences.

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.

Photographer and visual opportunist. Daily photos since 2005, plus articles, reviews, news, and ideas.