Tag Archives: california

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Sierra Nevada, Photographs: Yosemite

Morning Light, Trees and Granite

August 11, 2017 G Dan Mitchell 2 Comments

Morning sun backlights a grove of trees growing on granite slabs

One of my Sierra Nevada photographic obsessions has to do with back-lit trees. There is something about that light that I find compelling — possibly the halo effect of the brilliantly lit ends of branches, perhaps the possibility of photographing something that is very difficult to actually look at in person, or maybe the contrasting effects of sharply defined close details juxtaposed with bright and haze backgrounds. For me, this light, along with the granite slabs and boulders, provide definitive features of the Yosemite high country.

On this morning I was out early, driving along Tioga Pass Road as the sun came up. (Driving was required this time, as I had to camp outside the park and drive in very early.) I had stopped in Tuolumne meadows, nearly empty of people since it was early and the campground was still closed, and had worked in the still and quiet morning to photograph the early light coming over the Sierra crest. I happened to notice this little granite and tree vignette as I turned away from my main subject for a moment.

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: Northern California, Photographs: Ocean & Coast

Trees, Bluffs, Whalers Cove

August 9, 2017 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

The view across Whalers cove toward tree-covered coastal bluffs and hills

Point Lobos is the small but beautiful (and often quite over-crowded) state “reserve” located just below Carmel, California at the base of the Monterey Peninsula. I’ve gone there for decades, beginning when I was a child, and I continue to visit, explore, and photograph. These days I’m more likely to go during off-season times, or at least on odd days and at odd hours during the peak tourist season. I made this photograph on a weekday morning, before the tourist traffic built up and on a day when foggy conditions may have discouraged some visitors.

The photograph looks across Whalers Cove, a sheltered inlet along the northern edge of the park which opens toward the shallow bay around the outlet of the Carmel River. Beyond the rocky bluffs immediately above the smooth, kelp-filled waters of the bay forested coastal hills rise. The building is a monastery that gives a nearby beach its name.

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

Photographs: Northern California, Photographs: Ocean & Coast

Pier, Low Tide

August 7, 2017 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

A pier extends across tidal flats at the edge of Tomales Bay, Inverness, California

In late July I took a day to visit Point Reyes. My main goal was a long hike over the barren bluffs above Drakes Estero, with my plan being to follow a route all the way to the coast at Drakes Bay, hopefully arriving at just about the time the fog cleared. It was a wonderful hike, with some clearing early on, but ultimately it never did clear at the coast. On a day when merely a few miles inland the temperatures rose into the 90 degree range, here in the fog and wind it never got out of the fifties, and it was almost like enjoying a winter day in July.

Before I began my hike I drove along the shore of long, narrow Tomales Bay, where the road mostly travels right along the shoreline, often only feet from the water. This bay is very sheltered, with a narrow entrance and then a long distance from there to its inner reaches. At the upper end the tides regularly turn the bay into a mudflat. I always am on the lookout for photographs as I drive this route, and as I passed this spot I caught a glimpse of the stark backlight and the brilliant reflections on the mudflat — so I turned around and headed back to make a few pictures of this pier and the building out over the way.

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

Whalers Cabin, Point Lobos

August 6, 2017 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Hidden behind a grove of trees, the Whalers Cabin sits on a bluff above Whalers Cove at Point Lobos

For may years I have visiting Point Lobos, the increasingly popular (and sometimes over-run) California coastal reserve along the Pacific Coast just south of Carmel. Decades ago my family visited when I was a child — I recall picnicking there, but most of all I remember exploring the tide pools and descending a steep old trail to a small beach that is now closed. While I knew limited areas of the reserve very well, there were other sections that I simply never visited: some of the forest trails, a few areas close to Monastery Beach and others.

One of the places that, oddly, I never visited was the little “Whalers Cabin” set back on the bluff above Whalers Cove, a sheltered and often placid bay that is protected from the surf of the open ocean. I visited the cove, and I’ve photographed there in the past, but I always went right past the cabin without stopping. This summer I finally stopped in and looked around a bit. As I understand it, whalers may have used the place, but so did fisherman. Today it is a small museum, and (as far as I know) the only very old historic structure still remaining in the park.

G Dan Mitchell Photography

Tag Archives: california

Morning Light, Trees and Granite

Trees, Bluffs, Whalers Cove

Pier, Low Tide

Whalers Cabin, Point Lobos

Photographer and visual opportunist. Daily photos since 2005, plus articles, reviews, news, and ideas.