Tag Archives: black and white

Photographs: Mono Lake Basin, Photographs: Nature

Tufa, Wildfire Smoke, Mono Lake

December 2, 2016 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Tufa formations, the vast expanse of Mono Lake, and smoke covered desert mountains

This nowhere near the first time I have photographed from this location, though it is the first time I have worked with conditions like these. Quite a bit earlier this morning I began to photograph before dawn, quickly realizing that the thickening smoke from a nearby wildfire was blanketing Mono Basin and creating atmospheric effects ranging from very dark sky, to clouds illuminated from behind, to drifting layers. After photographing near the lake I headed to a higher elevation area to the north, photographed there, and then headed back down toward Mono Lake.

As I descended I soon began to enter the fringes of the drifting smoke clouds. Lit from behind, the clouds glowed from within and softened the edges of elements of the landscape. Coming past this spot along the edge of the lake I noticed that some tufa structures formed a near semicircle near the shore, giving a bit of definition to a scene that was otherwise quite soft.

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

Monolith, Storm Surf

November 25, 2016 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Winter surf breaks against a monolith on a Northern California Beach

On this day we gradually worked our way up the coast from Mendocino, through the town of Fort Bragg and on to where the coast highway, very narrow at this point, turns inland, leaving the coast behind as it travels up narrow, forested canyons. We had a particular spot in mind for photographs, a place where we have previously photographed pale, lichen-covered tree trunks in deep forest. The ideal light of this comes from overcast conditions and we certainly had that — but the lovely overcast soon turned into serious rain, and we decided to head back to the coast.

This was the sort of post-frontal rain that comes and goes. One moment there might be a bit of blue sky and some sunshine on the surface of the ocean; the next dark clouds would approach and we could see the approaching rain heading our direction. We stopped at this overlook as the rain let up a bit, giving us a more open view back up the dramatic coastline toward the mountains from which we had just retreated.

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

Bluffs, Autumn Storm

November 24, 2016 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

An autumn rain storm and coastal bluffs, Mendocino

The surf, the clouds, and the light continually changed our plans on this mid-November day — not that our plans were all that set, in any case. But several times we thought we had come up with something resembling a plan, only to have the scene distract us. We had finally made it back into town for coffee, thinking that afterwards we might head out of town and look for more distant sights. Yet we soon realized that there were things to see and photograph right here, and we headed to the bluffs along the south side of the town.

The surf was up, with large waves associated with a passing weather front and lingering rain and wind. The light was constantly changing — atmosphere filled with mist and spray one moment, and patches of blue sky and sunlight the next. From the top of these bluffs we could look south across the bay to the next peninsula, where large waves were rolling up on the rocks, and beyond to where the sun shone through breaks in the clouds.

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

Near-Shore Islands, Clearing Storm

November 22, 2016 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

An autumn storm clears above the Pacific Ocean and a group of near-shore islands

We were up on the Northern California coast for a few days this past weekend, to celebrate Patty’s big birthday. This meant that the main goals involved drinking wine and enjoying some excellent dinners, and even allowed for more than a bit of sleeping-in, something that landscape photographers typically don’t do.

On this birthday morning we got up late and headed down to the town of Mendocino, perhaps considering a leisurely breakfast, but with no other specific plans in mind. But looking across the bay to the south we saw gigantic surf, clouds, fog, spray, and intense light — and photography distracted us. We traveled out to the edge of the headlands where there is a group of what must have once been coastal bluffs but which are now off-shore islands. The surf roared as the moving clouds cast alternating light and shadow across the seascape and dramatic clouds, some still dropping rain, passed by to the west.

G Dan Mitchell Photography

Tag Archives: black and white

Tufa, Wildfire Smoke, Mono Lake

Monolith, Storm Surf

Bluffs, Autumn Storm

Near-Shore Islands, Clearing Storm

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