Tag Archives: beach

Photographs: Architecture, Photographs: Northern California, Photographs: San Francisco, Photographs: Structures and Objects, Photographs: Urban/Street

Columbus Tower

August 16, 2012 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

The green exterior of Columbus Tower, San Francisco.

This striking “flatiron” style building stands on a thin corner along Columbus Avenue which angles across San Francisco between the financial district, through North Beach, and eventually toward the waterfront. I had seen the building for many years, but hadn’t stopped to wonder about its story at all until I made this photograph. It was apparently constructed right after the 1906 earthquake, making it now over a century old. Much later in its interesting history it apparently begin to fall into disrepair. Eventually it was purchased by Francis Ford Coppola, who used it for his businesses.

On one of my “personal photo walks” though sections of San Francisco, I passed by after stopping for coffee in North Beach and heading back toward Market Street. The building is striking in many ways. The flatiron design always stands out, as the building is very narrow and very tall and stands at the end of a very narrow block of buildings. The intricate exterior would be worthy of attention even without its striking copper green color. I photographed the building from very close – an approach that I’ve been working with recently – placing a street lamp in front of the building and allowing the perspective distortion to remain in the shot.

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

Seaweed and Sandstone, Weston Beach

July 28, 2012 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

A twisted piece of seaweed tossed onto sandstone rocks at Weston Beach, Point Lobos State Reserve.

Bits of sea life-like this illustrate one of the great reasons to walk slowly and carefully along the shoreline with eyes wide open. I photographed this section of dried seaweed just as I found it, lying on this stratified bit of sandstone on Weston Beach at Point Lobos. It is hard to imagine how a plant that, I presume, might have been fairly straight underwater, ended up in such a wonderfully twisted shape and to sit on this bit of rock with its own shallow curve.

I was a bit surprised to find this and some similar nearby examples on this beach. I’m used to coming here in the high-wave months of winter, when storm surf can cast all sorts of interesting things far up on the beaches and beyond the usual high-water line. But at this time of year the surf is often a lot calmer, as it was on this day, and I don’t expect to see nearly as much “stuff” washed up.

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

Seaweed and Pebbles, Weston Beach

July 24, 2012 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Shoreline debris, including pebbles and seaweed, at Weston Beach, Point Lobos State Reserve.

During virtually every visit to the Point Lobos State Reserve I end up shooting at Weston Beach (named after photographer Edward Weston) at least once. Perhaps the Weston name is part of what attracts me… though the easy parking might have something to do with it, too. ;-) But seriously, this beach is a special place that I have visited for decades, starting when my family went to Point Lobos so that I can my siblings could wander about and inspect the tide pools.

Weston Beach has always seemed to me to barely qualify as what I think of when I hear the word “beach.” That word, to me, suggests a strand of fine sand that runs along the edge of the ocean. But this beach is more of a cove, and the its shore is emphatically not that kind of “sand.” Instead, it is mostly rocky with broken ledges full of channels that run down and into the water. It is separated from the open ocean by another wall of rocks that almost closes it off from the rougher water, though wave spill in through the gap. Instead of fine sand, there is gravel, consisting mostly of smooth rocks that are almost golf ball sized. During much of the year, but especially in winter when Pacific storms bring the highest surf, all sorts of interesting stuff washes up on this beach – shells, drift wood, seaweed – and I love to walk here slowly, looking for seemingly random juxtapositions and forms that might make a photograph.

Photographs: Desert, Photographs: Mono Lake Basin, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Northern California, Photographs: Owens Valley

Sand Tufa, Mono Lake

July 19, 2012 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Early morning light on details of sand tufa formations, Mono County.

I have wanted to photograph this subject for some time. The sand tufas are not found in the same location as the better-known “tufa towers” that are so often photographed, and they are smaller and somewhat subtler (if that is the right word) subjects. If you weren’t aware of what you were looking for, it would be very easy to pass right by them and barely notice their presence at all. They also appear to be very fragile, so great care should be taken if you ever happen to come across them. Walk around, not over or through them, and minimize your impact on them to the greatest extent possible. If you come across examples, it is probably best to not blast a lot of specific information to the world. I don’t know all of the details of their formation, but judging by their locations and by the recent history of lower lake levels, I suspect that they may have been underwater before the historically recent extraction of water from the eastern Sierra by Los Angeles.

If you are thinking of looking for an interesting and easy to shoot photographic subject, don’t bother with the sand tufa. You’ll probably have much better luck and more fun shooting the impressive and better known and larger “tower” features at other areas. These small structures do not tower above anything. Some are only inches tall, and the largest are just a few feet tall. Their natural color is a muted and, let’s be honest, boring gray color. Their location does not particularly allow them to be paired with more impressive and distant large-scale landscape features such as the expanse of the lake’s surface or the surrounding mountains and hills, with the possible exception of certain kinds of cloud formations. When I went there I had some pre-conceived ideas about I might photograph them, perhaps including the Sierra’s eastern escarpment in the images, but these ideas did not pan out. However, by shooting in the first few minutes of light and working with a long focal length to crop tightly I found some interesting fluted patterns to work with.

G Dan Mitchell Photography

Tag Archives: beach

Columbus Tower

Seaweed and Sandstone, Weston Beach

Seaweed and Pebbles, Weston Beach

Sand Tufa, Mono Lake

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