Tag Archives: atmosphere

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

Fog, Trees, Meadow

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Fog, Trees, Meadow
Foggy hills, a grove of tall trees, and a meadow above the Big Sur coast.

Fog, Trees, Meadow. © Copyright 2023 G Dan Mitchell.

Foggy hills, a grove of tall trees, and a meadow above the Big Sur coast.

During a break in California’s string of atmospheric river storms I managed to make a quick trip to the upper Big Sur coast this week. It is quite a scene there right now with numerous flooded areas, downed trees, washouts, slides, and closed roadways. This also means, of course, that the usual crowds are absent, so it was a fine time to go, even if some places I like to visit were off limits. (State parks were closed, and the lower half of the route was completely shut down.)

I stopped at this location, a spot where I have photographed for years, though this time I chose to make a photograph that focuses on something other than the obvious subject at this location. (That “obvious subject” may be just barely visible if you know where to look.) Often when I photograph in this spot I try to avoid including this lovely grove of big old trees and the meadow at its base, but they became the main subject in this photograph.

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

Trail, Winter Haze

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Trail, Winter Haze
A trail winds past oak trees on a hazy winter day.

Trail, Winter Haze. © Copyright 2022 G Dan Mitchell.

A trail winds past oak trees on a hazy winter day.

This is not a place where I typically stop to make landscape photographs. It is along a trail that I often head to when I want to get out for a local hike, and this section of the trail is one that I usually think of as “on the way to other interesting places.” The trail is actually a fire access road, and off to the left and out of the frame there is a ramshackle farm and beyond that a roadway. But the winter atmosphere can make almost anything look better!

The sun was just barely out when I made the photograph on Christmas Eve Day. It was very hazy day of the sort that develops in the Bay Area in the winter when air circulation is poor. In many cases it isn’t exactly an attractive effect. However, when the sun is behind subjects the haze can glow and produce fascinating silhouette effects — and sometimes turn a familiar scene into something quite different.

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

Two Winter Oak Trees

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Two Winter Oak Trees
Two oak trees, on opposite sides of a dormant meadow, with hazy winter light.

Two Winter Oak Trees. © Copyright 2022 G Dan Mitchell.

Two oak trees, on opposite sides of a dormant meadow, with hazy winter light.

If you recall another recent oak tree photograph I shared, you might recognize the form of the more distant tree on the right. In that previous photograph my camera position put the sun almost directly behind the tree, thus accentuating the day’s atmospheric haze. For this photograph I moved to a spot from which I could include two trees and highlight the mass of the tree on the left along with its shadow.

I know I’ll be thrilled in a few months when this meadow is again full of tall, green grasses. (And given our recent — and welcome! — California rain, there’s a good chance that the grass will be tall this spring!) But I also love this early winter time, when the air is cool to cold, the trees have lost their leaves, and the meadows have gone dormant.

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 | Twitter | 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.

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

Shorebirds, Winter Surf

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Shorebirds, Winter Surf
Shorebirds on a California beach backed by winter surf from an incoming storm.

Shorebirds, Winter Surf. © Copyright 2022 G Dan Mitchell.

Shorebirds on a California beach backed by winter surf from an incoming storm.

On the day after Christmas I headed over the hills to the nearby coast north of Santa Cruz. I knew that a big Pacific storm was on its way, and I expected that the increasing clouds would produce interesting conditions. I was right — high clouds muted the light but occasionally allowed beams of sunlight through, and the air was filled with mist and thin fog. All of this gave the landscape an unusual tint and muted the colors, producing a soft effect.

As I photographed the ocean, this flock of very active sandpipers appeared on the beach. They are fun birds to watch. They feed right at the edge of the surf, racing into the wet sand between waves, then racing back to escape the incoming surf. The whole time they stick together in fairly dense flocks. I saw this group about to be inundated, and I managed a few frames before the next wave chased them back onto the beach.

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 | Twitter | Flickr | Facebook | Email

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

Scroll down to leave a comment or question. (Click this post’s title first if you are viewing on the home page.)

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