Tag Archives: beach

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

Rocks and Surf, Weston Beach

January 17, 2013 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

A long exposure photograph of shoreline rocks and surf at Weston Beach, Point Lobos State Reserve

I had been a while since I had photographed along the California coast south of Monterey, but I finally made it back down there on this mid-January morning, ending up at the Point Lobos State Reserve. This is a location I shoot frequently since it is barely more than an hour from my home, and I’ve gone there since I was a kid. Today was perhaps not the ideal day to photograph there – it was (literally) freezing cold in the morning and then the skies were almost completely clear. Clear skies are not my favorite for photography. I much prefer some fog or clouds. In this photograph I dealt with that by pointing the camera down and placing the horizon very close to the top of the frame.

Arriving at the reserve, I first headed down to the familiar location of Weston Beach. (I still cannot quite figure out which this place is called a “beach” – rocky slabs slope down to the water and the closest thing to sand is a bit of rocky gravel. But I digress…) When I arrived, the early morning sun was almost back-lighting the islands and sea stacks to the south of here, so I walked back up the road a bit to find higher ground to shoot in that direction. While shooting from there I saw that it could be interesting to shoot below this trail and much closer to the water, using a very wide-angle lens and perhaps a 9-stop neutral density filter to extend the exposure. Rather than hoping the fence to get to the likely spot 20 feet away, I was a “good soldier” and I walked back a hundred yards or so, took the “official” trail down to the “beach,” and then worked my way back to the rocky spot that I had spotted from above. I lined up some shoreline rocks and a crack that allowed a bit of surf to come in closer, positioned the horizon very close to the upper edge of the frame, added that 9-stop neutral density filter, and made several long exposures that would allow the surf to become flat and almost misty. Usually I might not want the very harsh light on the rocks, but here I like the way it contrasts with the smooth and filmy quality of the water.

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

Davenport Bluffs, Sunset

January 15, 2013 G Dan Mitchell 2 Comments

The last light shines on coastal bluffs and Davenport, California

On this early December day I had gone off to try to join a G+ “photowalk” that was purportedly taking place that day. I was looking forward to going to a few favorite local photography locations and to meeting some people who I’ve only known online. But it was not to be! I ended up being delayed at home and couldn’t leave in time to meet the group at their first location, Henry Cowell Park. I went with Plan B and figured I would try to join up with them at lunch in Davenport. I got there and didn’t see anyone, so I figured that I was early and I drove up the coast a bit. I came back to Davenport and thought they might be in one of the two restaurants, so I picked one and went in for lunch… by myself. (I found out later that, yes, they were in the other restaurant a hundred yards south.) After lunch I went across the road to the parking area when I thought folks might meet up, but still no luck – though I did see a few photographers out on the nearby bluff. I headed out there and finally ran into a couple of people from the group… which had gone down to a nearby beach area to shoot.

Finding interesting stuff up here on the bluff, I decide to work the location I found myself in rather than heading off and looking for something else. While the location was interesting, the light was initially unpromising. However, I thought there was a chance that things might improve later so I walked around and began doing some shooting. At one point, I talked to some other photographers about the somewhat bland lighting conditions and pointed out that it seemed to me that there was at least a chance that we might get a bit of interesting light as the sun dropped to the horizon, when the light can sometimes shine in below the clouds and produce some brief but beautiful conditions. This prediction turned out to be right, and I made this photograph just as the show was beginning, and warm-tone light was starting to hit the bluffs, beaches, and water.

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

Beach Walker, Mendocino Coast

October 2, 2012 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

This photograph is from last fall, during a late-October trip to the Mendocino area of the northern California coast. The Mendocino coast is an area I have known about for some time, but which I have not visited that much at all. (It is among a few areas of California that I’ll sometime admit that I have not yet gotten to know. Oddly, there are large swaths of far northern California that are more or less blanks on my map. I need to fix this!) We had about three days in the area, and since it was brand new to use we did a fair amount of more or less aimless exploring.

One one afternoon we decided to head north to and beyond Fort Bragg, which is located just a few miles above Mendocino itself, where we were staying. We continued north a ways until the road turned inland and away from the coastline. After stopping there to make some photographs of a forested area we began to head back towards Mendocino. As we drove the light became more and more interesting. The generally gentler light of late October began to be enhanced to the soft quality of coastal light and by the late hour, and as we descended to this small beach I looked to my right and saw this beautiful bit of light and shadow. We quickly stopped and I pulled out camera and tripod and worked essentially from the back of the car where we had stopped. I had only a few quick moments to photograph this scene before the sun dipped to the horizon and the light was gone.

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.

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

Blue Water, Beach and Bluffs, Mendocino

September 13, 2012 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Beach and shoreline bluffs above the blue water of Mendocino Bay, California.

This photograph was made on the beach along the shoreline of Mendocino Bay, beneath the tall bluffs that line the area. The land extends to the west and curves a bit to the south, allowing me to photograph back along the curving beach, toward the inlet of the river that drains into the bay and the forested hills beyond. The light was interesting – fog was coming in along the coast and was overhead at my camera position, but clear just inland of me. This created soft and somewhat gray light on the foreground water, but allowed the further hills and forest to be in the light. It also made the interesting reflection on the calm water more visible.

G Dan Mitchell Photography

Tag Archives: beach

Rocks and Surf, Weston Beach

Davenport Bluffs, Sunset

Beach Walker, Mendocino Coast

Blue Water, Beach and Bluffs, Mendocino

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