Tag Archives: big sur

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

Layered Fog, Big Sur Coast

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Layered Fog, Big Sur Coast
Layers of thin, low-level fog hug the rugged Big Sur coastline of California

Layered Fog, Big Sur Coast. © Copyright 2020 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Layers of thin, low-level fog hug the rugged Big Sur coastline of California

Over the course of many trips down through the Big Sur coast of California I have gotten acquainted with a range of weather, atmosphere, and light conditions. My favorites come during part of the year that starts now — late fall through early spring. It can be bright and sunny with warm temperatures, but more often there is wind, big surf, a passing weather front, or fog. One of my favorite conditions sometimes arises when there is a combination of sun and big surf from distant storms far offshore. The light is brilliant, but low fog and spray hugs the immediate coast.

It was that kind of weather during our early December day trip partway down this section of the coast. We could see new travel restrictions coming, and we wanted to get out before they arrived. (Because we can do this as a day trip, with no stops for food or gas along the way, it is safe for us… unlike overnight travel.) As we headed south the low coastal fog was usually backlit, as it is here, producing very dramatic effects.

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: Ocean & Coast

Autumn Surf and Fog, Big Sur Coast

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Autumn Surf and Fog, Big Sur Coast
Big waves from a distant Pacific storm pound the rugged Big Sur coast.

Autumn Surf and Fog, Big Sur Coast. © Copyright 2020 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Big waves from a distant Pacific storm pound the rugged Big Sur coast.

Two things led us to make a quick trip down to the Big Sur coast this week. First, weather reports were predicting unusually large surf, generated by a distant storm to the north in the Pacific. Second, additional pandemic lockdowns are about to be instituted here, starting on Sunday — so we felt like this might be our last opportunity to make a drive like this one for a month or more. Since we’ve spent so much of our time during the past months on our own property or, at most, within walking distance of our home, the chance to get out and look at long views was therapeutic. (It was also pretty safe, since didn’t stop for food or anything else — though passing our favorite Big Sur bakery wasn’t easy.)

This is a location I’ve photographed quite a few times in the past. These days I usually don’t stop there to photograph, though I may stop briefly just to enjoy the scene. I’ve seen it in special conditions, so there’s really no need to make another sunny day photograph there. As we approached this time, again I had no thoughts of stopping — but they I saw this backlit spray/fog thrown up by the wild surf and almost obscuring the view of the distant bridge. Believe it or not, this is a color photograph! The brilliant backlight and the mist and fog drained almost all of the color from the scene.

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: Ocean & Coast

Precursors to a Storm

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Precursors to a Storm
High clouds over the Pacific Ocean herald an incoming weather front.

Precursors to a Storm. © Copyright 2020 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

High clouds over the Pacific Ocean herald an incoming weather front.

To be honest, the storm whose arrival was heralded by these clouds did not turn out to be much of a storm at all. It rained a bit further north in the state, but not much happened south of San Francisco. Unfortunately, it looks like California is headed for another very dry winter, with virtually no rain so far as we start into December, the heart of our rainy season. And there is no rain on the horizon according to long term forecasts.

Nonetheless, thinking that the sky might be interesting, I took a day trip down the Big Sur coast to see what I could find. It was, as is typical when a Pacific front is on its way, a lovely, sunny, and relatively warm day. These precursor clouds extending out ahead of the weather front were beautiful, and this particular formation convinced me to stop and make a series of photographs juxtaposing it above the calm ocean extending to the horizon.

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 | Flickr | Facebook | Email

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

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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

Autumn Haze, Big Sur Coast

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Autumn Haze, Big Sur Coast
Autumn haze hugs the rugged Big Sur coastline.

Autumn Haze, Big Sur Coast. © Copyright 2020 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Autumn haze hugs the rugged Big Sur coastline.

One of the things that I’ve missed during the past few months is the opportunity to experience landscape on the grand scale. Given the impediments to long-distance travel during the pandemic, a lot of my photography has been done very locally — on daily walks, on hikes in nearby natural areas, and so forth. For this reason — in addition to all of the other usual reasons — a recent day trip down the Big Sur coast was a special joy.

I think of this as a fairly “quiet” image. Yes, this is a stupendously rugged coastline and, yes, that is the Pacific Ocean. But it was a mostly quiet and calm day, without the crowds that are often found along this section of the California coast, and here the coastal haze muted the colors and the outlines of the headlands and buttresses along this section of the Pacific Coast Highway.

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 | Flickr | Facebook | Email

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

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