Tag Archives: birds

Photographs: Northern California, Photographs: San Francisco, Photographs: Structures and Objects, Photographs: Urban/Street

“Ublic” – Imaginary Landscape with Clouds

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"Ublic" - Imaginary Landscape with Clouds
"Ublic" - Imaginary Landscape with Clouds

“Ublic” – Imaginary Landscape with Clouds. San Francisco, California. July 12, 2010. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

An imaginary landscape photographed in San Francisco.

It has been a while since I’ve posted an “imaginary landscape” photograph – so here goes. This is a single exposure, everything that appears in the frame was there when I made the exposure. Some significant post processing was done to this image, but it was not constructed in post.

Beyond that, I’ll leave it to your imagination to think about what is going on here.

This photograph is 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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Technical Data:
Canon EOS 5D Mark II
Canon EF 50mm f/1.4 USM
ISO 200, f/11, 1/320 second

keywords: san francisco, california, usa, north america, city, urban, sky, clouds, birds, billboard, wall, light, pole, pigeon, picture, imaginary, landscape, urban, ublic, blue, lamp

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

Beach Walker, Evening, Waddell Creek Beach

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Beach Walker, Evening, Waddell Creek Beach
Beach Walker, Evening, Waddell Creek Beach

Beach Walker, Evening, Waddell Creek Beach. Waddell Beach, Big Basin State Park, California. December 20, 2009. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A solitary beach walker at sunset approaches a flock of gulls at Waddell Creek Beach with clouds reflected in foreground pond.

This seemed like a good “last day of the year” photograph.

Just as the sun dropped to the horizon a lone beach walker came across this strand between this reflecting pond and the surf beyond and approached a flock of sea gulls. If I look at this photograph just right I can imagine that it is wholly a photograph of sky with a narrow “beach bridge” crossing through the middle.

This is one of a short sequence of photographs I made on this evening. I had spent the entire afternoon more or less looking for the right photographic subjects and had come up with nothing. I had just made what I figured would be my last stop for the day at the “official” beachfront parking lot at Waddell Beach. I got out, looked around, enjoyed the wind and sound of surf, but didn’t see anything that quite inspired me to take out the camera. I got back in the car, turned south on Highway 1… and a few seconds later as I crossed the bridge over the creek I saw the pool reflecting the sky. I quickly turned around and parked the car and made a few exposures in the fading light.

This photograph is 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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keywords: waddell, creek, beach, big, basin, california, usa, state, park, pacific, ocean, stock, person, man, hiker, walker, sand, pond, pool, reflection, sky, cloud, sunset, dusk, evening, sky, colorful, wave, surf, ripple, nature, seascape, landscape, gulls, birds, flock, sea, shore, shoreline, coast, bluff, cliff, headland, seaweed, kelp, spray, stock

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

Winter Sunset, Waddell Beach

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Winter Sunset, Waddell Beach. Big Basin State Park, Pacific Coast, California. December 20, 2009. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Pacific Ocean coastal winter sunset at Waddell Beach, Big Basin State Park, California.

Getting this photograph was a long story with a surprise ending.

Late this morning my sons asked me if I would drive them to San Francisco and to their respective apartments. I didn’t have any other concrete plans so I said yes and decided to pack a lighter than usual selection of camera equipment and a tripod on the off chance that I’d find something to photograph. By the time we finished lunch in the Mission and drove through the Haight out to the Richmond and I finally traversed 19th Avenue to the south and got out of urban traffic… it was 3:00 p.m… and starting to rain – not exactly what I had in mind for photography.

I figured I might as well drive down the coast through Pacifica, and as I did so the rain began to increase a bit. Photography was looking less likely. But then I noticed that this seemed to be one of those northern California storms that cuts off fairly abruptly south of San Francisco and that the rain was diminishing as I drove down the coast. With this in mind I decided to get past Half Moon Bay and then see how far south I could get while the light was still good. I finally ended up in the large parking lot by the Beach where Waddell Creek emerges from the mountains of Big Basin State Park and merges with the ocean. Unfortunately, nothing was striking me as especially photogenic about the scene – there were interesting clouds, but there are often clouds this interesting and the light was otherwise not inspiring me.

So I got decided that it had been a fun drive and that I’d get back in the car and head home via Santa Cruz without any photographs. I pulled out of the parking lot… and about five seconds later as I crossed the Waddell Creek bridge I happened to glance down and toward the water… and I had one of those “Whoa!” moments as I saw this reflection in the pool where the creek reaches the beach. I quickly did a u-turn, came back and parked the car, grabbed my gear, and headed back across the road… hoping the light would hold long enough to make a few exposures of this thin strand of beach suspended between the real and reflected skies.

This photograph is 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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keywords: winter, sunset, dusk, evening, pond, lake, creek, waddell, beach, cliffs, bluffs, clouds, pink, blue, waddell, big, basin, state, park, california, usa, coast, highway, one, ocean, shoreline, seascape, reflection, clouds, pattern, wave, sand, sky, landscape, nature, season, pacific, birds, tree, surf, stock

Photographs: Northern California, Photographs: San Francisco, Photographs: Structures and Objects, Photographs: Urban/Street

Beneath the Bay Bridge

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Beneath the Bay Bridge

Beneath the Bay Bridge. San Francisco, California. September 16, 2009. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A pier beneath the west end of the San Francisco Oakland Bay Bridge with downtown San Francisco, California.

The light was a challenge in this photograph, but I found the dense and somewhat out of kilter lines and forms of the pier, bridge, and downtown buildings interesting. The photograph was made from one of the piers along the Embarcadero that is used as a parking lot – extending out into the Bay a bit it gave me a view back toward the City over and through the intervening structures.

This photograph is not in the public domain and may not be used on websites, blogs, or in other media without advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

G Dan Mitchell Photography | Twitter | Friendfeed | Facebook | Facebook Fan Page | Email

keywords: san francisco, california, usa, travel, tourist, scenic, city, urban, downtown, skyline, buildings, embarcadero, plaza, oakland, bay, bridge, concrete, steel, pier, doors, pilings, water, birds, latter, flag, cable, freeway, highway, 80, deck, upper, lower, windows, fog, sky, urban, city, waterfront, architecture, stock