Tag Archives: basin

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

Three Pelicans Skimming the Beach

January 28, 2010 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Three pelicans skim just above Waddell Beach along the California Pacific coast.

Considering just how many of the motion-blur pelican shots I’ve posted, I should probably have titled this one “Three MORE Pelicans Skimming the Beach.” ;-)

Besides the in-motion quality from the blur from camera motion, bird motion, and flapping wings, one thing that really struck me about this set of three pelicans was just how close to the sand they were flying. The lead bird was about as close as it could come without touching the sand with its wingtips.

A sight like this often makes me recall other encounters with animals in which they seemed to be doing something for the sheer joy of it: a bear I once saw travel across alpine rock fields to a high point on a ridge, where it stopped to take in the view for a minute or two before racing back down into a valley; a coyote in a high canyon in the eastern Sierra singing duets with its echo at dawn; and more. Of course I have no proof of this, but I like to imagine that these birds must find this low level flight to be exciting.

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.

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

Beach Walker, Evening, Waddell Creek Beach

December 31, 2009 G Dan Mitchell 2 Comments

A solitary beach walker at sunset approaches a flock of gulls at Waddell Creek Beach with clouds reflected in foreground pond.

This seemed like a good “last day of the year” photograph.

Just as the sun dropped to the horizon a lone beach walker came across this strand between this reflecting pond and the surf beyond and approached a flock of sea gulls. If I look at this photograph just right I can imagine that it is wholly a photograph of sky with a narrow “beach bridge” crossing through the middle.

This is one of a short sequence of photographs I made on this evening. I had spent the entire afternoon more or less looking for the right photographic subjects and had come up with nothing. I had just made what I figured would be my last stop for the day at the “official” beachfront parking lot at Waddell Beach. I got out, looked around, enjoyed the wind and sound of surf, but didn’t see anything that quite inspired me to take out the camera. I got back in the car, turned south on Highway 1… and a few seconds later as I crossed the bridge over the creek I saw the pool reflecting the sky. I quickly turned around and parked the car and made a few exposures in the fading light.

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.

keywords: waddell, creek, beach, big, basin, california, usa, state, park, pacific, ocean, stock, person, man, hiker, walker, sand, pond, pool, reflection, sky, cloud, sunset, dusk, evening, sky, colorful, wave, surf, ripple, nature, seascape, landscape, gulls, birds, flock, sea, shore, shoreline, coast, bluff, cliff, headland, seaweed, kelp, spray, stock

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

Winter Sunset, Waddell Beach

December 21, 2009 G Dan Mitchell 2 Comments

Pacific Ocean coastal winter sunset at Waddell Beach, Big Basin State Park, California.

Getting this photograph was a long story with a surprise ending.

Late this morning my sons asked me if I would drive them to San Francisco and to their respective apartments. I didn’t have any other concrete plans so I said yes and decided to pack a lighter than usual selection of camera equipment and a tripod on the off chance that I’d find something to photograph. By the time we finished lunch in the Mission and drove through the Haight out to the Richmond and I finally traversed 19th Avenue to the south and got out of urban traffic… it was 3:00 p.m… and starting to rain – not exactly what I had in mind for photography.

I figured I might as well drive down the coast through Pacifica, and as I did so the rain began to increase a bit. Photography was looking less likely. But then I noticed that this seemed to be one of those northern California storms that cuts off fairly abruptly south of San Francisco and that the rain was diminishing as I drove down the coast. With this in mind I decided to get past Half Moon Bay and then see how far south I could get while the light was still good. I finally ended up in the large parking lot by the Beach where Waddell Creek emerges from the mountains of Big Basin State Park and merges with the ocean. Unfortunately, nothing was striking me as especially photogenic about the scene – there were interesting clouds, but there are often clouds this interesting and the light was otherwise not inspiring me.

So I got decided that it had been a fun drive and that I’d get back in the car and head home via Santa Cruz without any photographs. I pulled out of the parking lot… and about five seconds later as I crossed the Waddell Creek bridge I happened to glance down and toward the water… and I had one of those “Whoa!” moments as I saw this reflection in the pool where the creek reaches the beach. I quickly did a u-turn, came back and parked the car, grabbed my gear, and headed back across the road… hoping the light would hold long enough to make a few exposures of this thin strand of beach suspended between the real and reflected skies.

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.

keywords: winter, sunset, dusk, evening, pond, lake, creek, waddell, beach, cliffs, bluffs, clouds, pink, blue, waddell, big, basin, state, park, california, usa, coast, highway, one, ocean, shoreline, seascape, reflection, clouds, pattern, wave, sand, sky, landscape, nature, season, pacific, birds, tree, surf, stock

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Sierra Nevada

Aspen Grove, North Lake Road

October 26, 2009 G Dan Mitchell 3 Comments

Brilliant fall colors come to an aspen grove along the road to North Lake with Sierra Nevada crest peaks in the distance.

I have long been attracted to this grove that grows in a bend on the road to North Lake just before a section of road that switchbacks and climbs steeply. I often photograph in and around this grove, and several other times I’ve stopped along the road above it to try to photograph it with the high peaks above Sabrina Basin in the background.

On this visit in early October 2009 I found that the grove had turned to gold and yellow, so I decided to stop on my way up to North Lake (where I photographed only briefly on this day). The challenge was that the grove is in a low area that doesn’t get the sun until later in the morning, while the peaks beyond were in almost full sunlight and even had a bit of snow on them – quite an exposure challenge! Fortunately some clouds – and a bit of careful post-processing – came the rescue. The cloud shadow fell across the rocky slopes behind the trees, providing a background that set off their color. At about the same time the most direct sun on the peaks was also interrupted by some clouds, so the only tricky spot was the left face of the peak near the side of the frame.

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.

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