“Trees and Rising Sun” — The sun, slighlty diffused by clearing fog, rises behind Point Lobos trees.
Sometimes I arrive at a location with no specific plan in mind beyond “making photographs.” That was the case on this morning when I drove down toward the Big Sur area very early. Before Monterey I encountered thick fog, and I started contemplating fog photographs, perhaps at Point Lobos. The fog continued as I passed Monterey, skirted Carmel, and started down Highway 1 beyond Carmel Valley. It looked like I would get foggy conditions at Point Lobos… until a moment later when the fog inexplicably cleared.
“Evening Forest and Hill” — Early evening light streams between forest trees on a Sierra Nevada hill.
I have long been a sucker for backlight. I’m attracted to the glow of light coming straight at me, and I’m intrigued by the dark shadowed sides of objects and by the beams of light that lead toward the camera. Put a forest full of trees in front of me in that light and I cannot resist.
“Meadow and Young Trees, Morning” — A meadow interspersed with young trees ascends toward forest and ridges in morning light.
I have passed this spot on Tioga Pass Road for years and thought about making a photograph. I could only catch a brief glimpse while driving by since it is along a section of the roadway with no obvious pull-out. In mid-September it caught my eye again, especially with I saw haze and light beams in the trees. So I turned around, went back, and finally located a place to pull over a short walk away.
This part of the Yosemite High Sierra is full of little meadows like this one, stretching upwards along streams that descend from higher peaks. This one is full of young trees that are gradually filling in the meadow, and I suppose someday the meadow will be gone and the stream will flow through the forest.
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“Oak Tree, Sun and Fog” — Sunlight streams through thinning fog on a hillside behind an old oak tree.
This is the third and final photograph from my recent local “foggy morning” photography. To recap, when low fog stuck around here for hours (it usually dissipates very early) I headed out to the local rural landscape to make some photographs. This tree is in an area south of San Jose that was once destined to be a technology park. There’s a lot of history there, but the short story is that after the local government gave in to developer pressure there were no takers for the technology park. Today it remains relatively rural and is increasingly protected. I’d call that a victory!
The tree is on private land, from what I can tell, though clearly visible from a nearby roadway. The hills in the background form a low ridge that roughly parallels the edge of the valley for miles. At the moment I made the photograph the tree was out of the fog, but it was just thinning in the hills, and beautiful slanted columns of light formed between the shadows of trees.
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.
Photographer and visual opportunist. Daily photos since 2005, plus articles, reviews, news, and ideas.
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