Tag Archives: bay

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

Sea Stacks and Surf

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Sea Stacks and Surf
“Sea Stacks and Surf” — Sea stacks in morning light along the rugged Big Sur coastline.

Way back in June I met up with my friends Franka Gabler and David Hoffman to photograph the upper Big Sur area of the California coast. They were there to see an exhibit of photographs by John Sexton and Anne Larsen, so I did the 90 minute drive down to Big Sur to meet them. After some confusion about who was where — and no cell service to sort it out — I finally figured out that they were on the bluffs above this area where Soberanes Creek enters the Pacific Ocean.

This is a particularly rugged section of the Big Sur coast. While it doesn’t feature the high cliffs that make other areas essentially inaccessible, here there are rugged rocky headlands and many sea stacks, especially in the shallow bay between the Soberanes Creek and Soberanes Point.

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” (Heyday Books) is available directly from him. Blog | Bluesky | Mastodon | Substack Notes | Flickr | Email

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Photographs: Scotland, Photographs: Travel

Bay at Oban

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Bay at Oban
“Bay at Oban” — Looking across the bay at the Scottish town of Oban toward distant highland mountains.

They tell me the weather in Scotland is supposed to be gray, wet, and cold. It was anything but that on the first days of our May visit. (OK, it lived up to expectations a few days later.) For most of our first five days in the country it was pleasantly warm and brightly sunny. Some of the natives seemed grateful that we had brought our California weather along with us. Here in Oban the skies were blue with only a few occasional clouds, and views stretched to distant highland mountains.

Following our first night at a Glasgow Airport hotel after a very late arrival, we took the train to Oban for two days of relaxation and jet lag adjustment. The town was just about perfect for this low key part of the trip. It is a lovely place that sits right on the waterfront — fishermen, tour boats, pleasure craft, and ferries come and go constantly. The whole place was walkable. We visited the Oban Distillery and did a little whisky tasting. And we enjoyed the beautiful panorama of mountains and water.

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: Scotland, Photographs: Travel

Oban Harbor, Dusk

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Oban Harbor, Dusk
“Oban Harbor, Dusk” — Dusk sky, smooth waters, and evening lights along the edge of Oban harbor, Scotland.

This might have been the actual moment when we truly entered vacation mode — which is a different thing than travel mode. Travel mode had brought us to Oban, Scotland, where we paused for a couple of days between arriving in the UK and starting our walk on the Great Glen Way. Travel mode meant almost a full day in international transit, a quick overnight a the Glasgow airport, a shuttle ride to the train station, arrival and check-in in Oban, and then a search for dinner. We finished dinner, left the restaurant for our walk back to our accommodations, and were greeted with the lovely, peaceful scene of smooth water and the dusk glow in the sky.

Oban is a fine little town, located right on the water and a center for fishing, water adventures, ferries, and more. We enjoyed out short stay there — and our visit to the Oban distillery and a bit of whisky tasting probably enhanced things — as we devoted a couple of days to just slowing down and starting to overcoming jet lag.

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: Articles, Sales and Licensing, my Sierra Nevada Fall Color book, Contact Info.

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Photographs: Scotland, Photographs: Travel

Oban, Scotland

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Oban, Scotland
“Oban, Scotland” — An elevated view of central Oban, Scotland, from near McCaig’s Tower.

Judging from our brief 2-night stay in this Scottish town, Oban is a charming place. It sits right on the waterfront and, from what I could see, mostly lines the shoreline and nearby hills. My impression is that the town is largely connected to three things: tourism, water-related industry (ferries, tours, and fishing), and whisky. (The well-known and highly-regarded Oban Distillery is right in town). Because we were there before the prime summer season the impact of tourists was perhaps less than it might be late.

We had two nights in Oban, and we walked around a lot on our full day in town. We had seen McCaig’s Tower, the old circular structure on top of the nearby hill, so we decided to do the steep but short walk up there. This photograph comes from that walk, and it looks out over the town from that hillside, with a view towards more distant hills and islands.

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 | Instagram | Flickr | Facebook | Threads | Post | Email

Links: Articles, Sales and Licensing, my Sierra Nevada Fall Color book, Contact Info.

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