Tag Archives: atmospheric

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

Rugged Coastline, Big Sur

Leave a comment
Rugged Coastline, Big Sur
Rugged Coastline, Big Sur

Rugged Coastline, Big Sur. Garrapata State Park, California. May 1, 2010. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Black and white photograph of rough surf and rugged coastal rocks and cliffs along the Big Sur Coastline of California at Garrapata State Park.

This is, to my mind, an astonishingly rugged and wild bit of coastline at Garrapata State Park, south of Carmel, California in the northern section of the Big Sur coastline. I made the photograph from the edge of a bluff above the rocky coast, at a spot where I could shoot south along the shoreline and toward a section of coastline where the contour headed back towards the west. While it was a clear morning with only a bit of fog along the tops of the nearby hills, the surf was big enough to fill the air with a thin mist which created the atmospheric recession effect in this photograph.

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.

G Dan Mitchell Photography | Twitter | Friendfeed | Facebook | Facebook Fan Page | Email

Technical Data:
Canon EOS 5D Mark II
Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6 L IS USM at 360mm
ISO 100, f/16, 1/80 second

keywords: garrapata, state, beach, park, big, sur, rock, island, stack, cliff, outcropping, pacific, ocean, sea, shore, coast, shoreline, rugged, crashing, rough, surf, wave, foam, bird, atmospheric, recession, morning, light, black and white, monochrome, highway, one, seascape, landscape, nature, travel, scenic, stock

Photographs: Northern California, Photographs: San Francisco, Photographs: Urban/Street

San Francisco Skyline, Winter Fog and Haze

Leave a comment
San Francisco Skyline, Winter Fog and Haze
San Francisco Skyline, Winter Fog and Haze

San Francisco Skyline, Winter Fog and Haze. San Francisco, California. December 18, 2009. © Copyright 2009 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Fog and haze obscure the winter skyline of downtown San Francisco, California.

Almost obscured by morning haze and fog, the San Francisco skyline is silhouetted against the backdrop of the morning light coming over east bay hills. This photograph was made from a vantage point in the Marin Headlands across the Golden Gate from the City. A number of downtown landmarks are visible including the Transamerica Pyramid, and beyond the downtown area a bit of the San Francisco Oakland Bay Bridge is barely visible.

The atmosphere above the Bay varies in astonishing ways throughout the year, and it never seems to be quite the same twice. While the summer often brings the familiar banks of ocean fog, winter brings the effects of fog from the other direction in the form of tule fog forming over the inland valleys. It can be completely clear – and, for the season, warm on the coast – yet a few miles inland the lower valleys may be filled with cold, wet, ground fog.

During these conditions, the moist air can move towards San Francisco and the Bay by way of the delta. That is more or less what was happening on this morning when the very most and hazy air from inland had created this soft atmosphere and light above The City, even as higher winter clouds in clear air moved far overhead, catching the morning sun light.

G Dan Mitchell is a California photographer and visual opportunist whose subjects include the Pacific coast, redwood forests, central California oak/grasslands, the Sierra Nevada, California deserts, urban landscapes, night photography, and more.
Blog | About | Flickr | Twitter | Facebook | Google+ | 500px.com | LinkedIn | Email

Text, photographs, and other media are © Copyright G Dan Mitchell (or others when indicated) and are not in the public domain and may not be used on websites, blogs, or in other media without advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

Photographs: Northern California, Photographs: San Francisco, Photographs: Structures and Objects

Golden Gate Bridge Tower, Transamerica Building, San Francisco Skyline

4 Comments
Golden Gate Bridge Tower, Transamerica Building, San Francisco Skyline
Golden Gate Bridge Tower, Transamerica Building, San Francisco Skyline

Golden Gate Bridge Tower, Transamerica Building, San Francisco Skyline. San Francisco, California. December 18, 2009. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

The Transamerica Pyramid above the downtown San Francisco skyline and centered in the north tower of the Golden Gate Bridge on a hazy winter morning.

This is, again, from the iconic location high in the Marin Headlands where the Transamerica Pyramid lines up precisely in the center of the upper portion of the north tower of the Golden Gate Bridge. While this is certainly not an original view of San Francisco skyline, the effect of the thin winter fog is perhaps a bit different from what is usually seen from here. (This fog is related to the tule fog that forms on very cold mornings in the valleys of California. On this morning it was very thick further inland in the Central Valley and delta and some of that moisture was probably responsible for the conditions seen here over San Francisco.)

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.

G Dan Mitchell Photography | Twitter | Friendfeed | Facebook | Facebook Fan Page | Email

keywords: california, usa, travel, scenic, san francisco, bay, area, golden, gate, national, recreation, area, park, stock, transamerica, pyramid, tower, skyline, downtown, urban, hill, mountain, haze, fog, cloud, atmospheric, recession, silhouette, cable, bridge, north, bay, landscape, marin, county, headlands, shoreline, shore, morning, light

Photographs: Mono Lake Basin, Photographs: Sierra Nevada

Clearing Storm, Eastern Sierra Nevada

Leave a comment
Clearing Storm, Eastern Sierra Nevada

Clearing Storm, Eastern Sierra Nevada. Near Mono Lake, California. June 7, 2009. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

The clouds of a late-spring storm along the Sierra Nevada crest clear as evening light illuminates sage-covered high desert slopes near Mono Lake.

Another photograph in this brief series of black and white images, this one was made very close to Mono Lake. If you have been to the famous (at least among sunrise photographers!) South Tufa area at Mono, you may know the road that departs highway 395 and heads east to that wonderful photo location. Between highway 395 and where the road drops down to the lake shore, it crosses a low ridge with good views in every direction but directly south. It was from here that I made this photograph – and a few others that may turn up here eventually.

Shooting Mono Lake late in the day can be a bit tricky since the light disappears behind the Sierra crest earlier than one might think. If the conditions are right an evening shot from Mono can be fine, but often the light is less challenging in the morning. On this afternoon I had first headed out to South Tufa, but decided that it wasn’t looking right – so I headed back up towards the June Lake loop. Once there the clouds over the crest began to break up, so after shooting some images in that area I headed back towards Mono. As I topped this hill before the descent to South Tufa I saw this wonderful back-light on the sage-covered foreground hills so I stopped right at the top of this hill and photographed this scene.

This photograph is not in the public domain. It may not be used on websites, blogs, or in any other media without explicit advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

keywords: sierra, nevada, range, mountains, eastern, slope, escarpment, crest, cirque, valley, snow, yosemite, mono, lake, south, tufa, recession, atmospheric, storm, clouds, flurry, field, sage, high, desert, hill, gully, valley, california, usa, scenic, travel, landscape, sky, evening, light, stock, black and white, clearing, spring, slope, forest