Tag Archives: big sur

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

Beach, Mouth of Little Sur River

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Beach, Mouth of Little Sur River
Cloud shadows on water as fog dissipates above Point Sur and beaches near the outlet of the Little Sur River

Beach, Mouth of Little Sur River. © Copyright 2018 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Cloud shadows on water as fog dissipates above Point Sur and beaches near the outlet of the Little Sur River

In many locations along the Big Sur coast on this mid-summer morning, the fog was breaking up as I drove south from the Monterey area, heading for the newly reopened section of the Pacific Coast Highway near the small town of Gorda. I stopped as I came to this familiar sight — a place where the road descends and provides a series of evolving views of the beaches near the mouth of the Little Sur River near Point Sur.

As the clouds begin to thin, alternating bands of light and shadow move across the landscape, and from moment to moment this changes to scene. I tried to time this photograph for a moment when key features of the landscape were illuminated — the curving beach, sections of the shallow ocean, and some of the more distant headlands.

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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 and Amazon.
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Land And Sea

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Land And Sea
Big Sur coast meets the Pacific Ocean

Land And Sea. © Copyright 2018 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Big Sur coast meets the Pacific Ocean

I live close enough to the Big Sur coastline that I can visit on day trips, and I can visit at times when it is relatively quiet and uncrowded. A winter weekday can be ideal, and right now it is even less busy since the route is still blocked by a giant landscape perhaps fifty miles or so below the Monterey Peninsula.

Most often I prefer to photograph fairly early in the morning, when the light skims down across the coastal hills, creating patterns of shadow and light, or else in the evening, when the warm light of the late-day sun colors the ocean and the hills. But on some almost perfectly clear winter days, perhaps with a few high clouds and some atmospheric haze, the air almost glows and I can photograph right through the middle of the day. This was such a day. The haze and mist, partly atmospheric and party from spray thrown up by surf, accentuated the bluffs and headlands as they dropped into the Pacific, and the brilliant sun made the water so bright that it was difficult to look at it.

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 and Amazon.
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Photographs: Central California, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Ocean & Coast

Natural Bridge, Evening Fog, and Coastal Mountains

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Natural Bridge, Evening Fog, and Coastal Mountains
Evening light on the mountains, coast, and incoming fog along the Big Sur coast

Natural Bridge, Evening Fog, and Coastal Mountains. Big Sur Coast, California. July 20, 2015. © Copyright 2015 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Evening light on the mountains, coast, and incoming fog along the Big Sur coast

Yesterday I shared a Big Sur Coast photograph — looking north and in black and white. Today’s post is a counterpoint to that one — it looks south and is in color. Both were made late on the same day, and in the same general central area of this rugged coast. It was late in the day and I was looking for an ideal last photographic location of the day, and from this particular overlook I could see down the coast… and the light was going to go before I had time to find another spot!

In many ways I suppose the view is typical. The view extends into the distance where it disappears into fog and coastal haze, and the coastline is an alternating landscape of shallow bays and jutting peninsulas where mountain ridges drop into the ocean. Here and there are the remnants of ridges and bluffs that lost their battle with the ocean long ago, and which now remain only as isolated rock and sea stacks set off from the shoreline. One of the most impressive of them in this photograph is right below the camera position where a large rocky formation is cut through by a natural bridge.

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

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

Sea Stack, Bluffs, Coastal Mountains

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Sea Stack, Bluffs, Coastal Mountains
A quiet evening along fog shrouded the Big Sur coastline

Sea Stack, Bluffs, Coastal Mountains. Big Sur Coast, California. July 20, 2015. © Copyright 2016 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A quiet evening along fog shrouded the Big Sur coastline

I think my favorite times along the Big Sur coast are in the supposed off-season, the non-summer months when the ocean tends to be a bit wilder, the winds blow stronger, and the visitors are fewer in number. Summer is often busy and not as scenic, with thick coastal fog in the morning and evening a frequent occurrence. Especially during fall and winter the passing Pacific weather fronts periodically scour out the clouds and the bring spectacular surf conditions.

Yet this photograph comes from summer. We had started back up the coast late in the day, a process that always has me contemplating a plan for the brief evening light interval — where do I want to be and what do I want to photograph. My plans often don’t play out exactly as I expected: the fog might block the sun, I might get held up photographing some unexpected subject. I made this photograph before the time for the last photograph of the day — those came a very short time later. From this spot the view overlooked a big action of the coastal waters, unusually calm and quiet, as the late afternoon light fell on the coastal bluffs and the afternoon haze turning into fog.

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 and Amazon.
Blog | About | Flickr | Twitter | Facebook | Google+ | LinkedIn | Email

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