Tag Archives: big basin

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

Edge of the Surf

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Edge of the Surf
Waves retreat from a Pacific Ocean beach north of Santa Cruz, California.

Edge of the Surf. © Copyright 2022 G Dan Mitchell.

Waves retreat from a Pacific Ocean beach north of Santa Cruz, California.

This just might be my final “old year” photograph of 2022, though most of you won’t see it until a few days into 2023. Back on the day after Christmas I headed over the coastal mountains to the Pacific shoreline north of Santa Cruz, California. It was kind of a strange day. A storm was working its way toward California from the North Pacific, producing large surf and a building cloud deck. The clouds were still thin enough to allow some sunlight in, but coastal haze and thin fog produced odd, pinkish colors.

Before I made this photograph I had been photographing the impressive surf just off this beach. Here the slope into the ocean is gradual, and even during this season when surf often erodes beaches the shallows stretches quite a ways out from the surf line. These objects (old, worn pieces of driftwood) were right at the edge of the water, and the shallows beyond reflected the color of the cloudy sky.

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

Shorebirds, Winter Surf

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Shorebirds, Winter Surf
Shorebirds on a California beach backed by winter surf from an incoming storm.

Shorebirds, Winter Surf. © Copyright 2022 G Dan Mitchell.

Shorebirds on a California beach backed by winter surf from an incoming storm.

On the day after Christmas I headed over the hills to the nearby coast north of Santa Cruz. I knew that a big Pacific storm was on its way, and I expected that the increasing clouds would produce interesting conditions. I was right — high clouds muted the light but occasionally allowed beams of sunlight through, and the air was filled with mist and thin fog. All of this gave the landscape an unusual tint and muted the colors, producing a soft effect.

As I photographed the ocean, this flock of very active sandpipers appeared on the beach. They are fun birds to watch. They feed right at the edge of the surf, racing into the wet sand between waves, then racing back to escape the incoming surf. The whole time they stick together in fairly dense flocks. I saw this group about to be inundated, and I managed a few frames before the next wave chased them back onto the beach.

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 | Twitter | Flickr | Facebook | Email

Links to Articles, Sales and Licensing, my Sierra Nevada Fall Color book, Contact Information.

Scroll down to leave a comment or question. (Click this post’s title first if you are viewing on the home page.)

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

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

Pelicans Skimming the Waves

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Pelicans Skimming the Waves
Pelicans Skimming the Waves

Pelicans Skimming the Waves. Waddell Creek Beach, California. June 23, 2010. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A flock of pelicans skims inches above the surface of the Pacific Ocean off of Waddell Creek Beach, Big Basin State Park, California.

Low flying pelicans skim just inches above the surface of the water near the shoreline at Waddell Creek Beach in Big Basin State Park along the California coastline. Having spent some time staring at these birds as they fly along the coast, I’m more and more amazed by their ability to closely track contours of beach and waves as they fly so low – they flow over this moving “terrain” like water over rocks. In this photograph the water picks up subtle light reflected by the slightly foggy evening sky beyond.

G Dan Mitchell Photography
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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.

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

Pelicans and Surf

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Pelicans and Surf
Pelicans and Surf

Pelicans and Surf. Waddell Creek Beach, California. June 23, 2010. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Black and white photograph of a flock of pelicans in flight just above Pacific Ocean surf at Waddell Creek Beach, Big Basin State Park, California.

Every five or ten minutes another flock of northbound pelicans descended to the water just offshore at Waddell Creek Beach at Big Basin State Park along the California coast just north of the town of Davenport. It was late and the light was diffused and subdued by high clouds and the incoming fog bank a this flock skimmed just above the surf.

G Dan Mitchell Photography
About | Flickr | Twitter | Facebook | Google+ | 500px.com | LinkedIn | Email

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.

(Basic EXIF data may be available by “mousing over” large images in posts. Leave a comment if you want to know more.)