Tag Archives: big

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

Cliffs, Morning Mist

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Cliffs, Morning Mist
Morning mist along the steep headlands cliffs of the rugged Big Sur region.

Cliffs, Morning Mist. © Copyright 2022 G Dan Mitchell.

Morning mist along the steep headlands cliffs of the rugged Big Sur region.

Earlier this week I made a quick trip down the coast to the Big Sur region, getting as far south as Sur Point. This is a short enough drive for me that I can leave home early, photograph all morning, and be home for a late lunch. The conditions can vary greatly at this time of year. Often it is sunny and clear, as it was on this visit, but it can also be foggy and cold. When a big Pacific front rolls through, watch out —huge waves roll in and landslides can close the coast highway. One thing I did not have was the all-too-common summer crowds —a late fall weekday morning is not crowded at all.

The photograph includes a familiar section of the Big Sur coast, and it is visible from another well-known icon. (I think I did all that I could do with that famous subject years ago… and now this nearby terrain interests me more.) Here the road rises to a high point, and tall cliffs drop abruptly to the ocean from the tall bluffs. A bit of fog and mist softened the morning light.

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: Nature, Photographs: Northern California, Photographs: Sierra Nevada, Photographs: Yosemite

The Big Trees

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The Big Trees
Giant sequoias at Mariposa Grove, Yosemite National Park

The Big Trees. © Copyright 2022 G Dan Mitchell.

Giant sequoias at Mariposa Grove, Yosemite National Park

With the Washburn fire in the news, many of us have been thinking about that fire, the fact that the Mariposa Grove has been in its path, the recent destruction of a significant percentage of Southern Sierra sequoias, the role of fire in forest life, and the changes wrought by human-caused climate change. This grove, along with almost all Sierra forests, has a symbiotic relationship with periodic wildfires. A disruption of that cycle — either through complete suppression or the resultant hot and destructive fires that feed on too much undergrowth, enhanced by the changing climate — is dangerous to the long-term health of forests.

Figuring out how to feel about wildfires is complicated. If you were brought up on Smokey the Bear telling us that all fires are bad, it was a revelation to later learn that this isn’t the whole truth. More recently, as we were coming to terms with the idea that fire plays a role in forest health, Sierra fires have become more frequent, larger, and far more destructive. The duration of the fire season is expanding, and the forests are being so badly damaged that some seem to not be coming back.

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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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

Mouth of the LIttle Sur

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Mouth of the LIttle Sur
Sun breaks through morning fog along the Big Sur coast at the Little Sur River on a spring morning.

Mouth of the LIttle Sur. © Copyright 2022 G Dan Mitchell.

Sun breaks through morning fog along the Big Sur coast at the Little Sur River on a spring morning.

Try as I may, I cannot pass this spot without at least a brief stop. The hill (a future sea stack?) sits at the terminus of the Little Sur River, where it takes a meandering route across the beach before emptying into the Pacific Ocean. Backed by the rugged cliffs of the Big Sur coast, it is a remarkable little scene, especially on a day like this when I found myself at the edge of the fog bank, and light came and went as the fog oscillated back and forth. Beams of light traversed the face of the distant faces and raced across the beach.

If you follow my posts you know that I live close enough to the Pacific Coast to go there and photograph for the morning, and that I’ve been going there for decades. The coast is as beautiful as always, especially when I arrive early enough to beat the tourist traffic, but it is showing some rough edges these days. The extent of recent wildfires is concerning, and areas still suffer from washouts that occurred during flooding. Given that last fact, it is ironic that drought is also affecting the landscape, and places that should be in the middle of their intensely green spring growth are already turning brown.

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

Big Sur Morning Surf

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Big Sur Morning Surf
Pacific Ocean surf crashes ashore on a foggy autumn morning along the Big Sur coast.

Big Sur Morning Surf. © Copyright 2021 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Pacific Ocean surf crashes ashore on a foggy autumn morning along the Big Sur coast.

This photograph comes from my early November visit to the upper portions of California’s rugged Big Sur Coast, an area I can visit on short notice. On this visit I left home before dawn, photographed there a few hours, and returned home for a late lunch. Yeah, I’m trying to rub it in… These visits usually feature a combination of stops at familiar locations, where I look for new or different conditions, and the ongoing search for new locations and perspectives that I have not previously photographed.

This photograph mostly fits the first of those two categories. I made the photograph at a location where I frequently stop. The spot features a long view of a beautiful subject beyond rugged rocks and a small bay that is often full of agitated water. On this morning the surf was so wild that I decided to focus on it instead of the larger view. Every few moments a huge wave would crash against this outcropping sending water and spray up into the line of sunlight coming over the tops of the mountains to my left.

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.