Tag Archives: california

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Northern California

Farm, Clearing Fog

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Farm, Clearing Fog
“Farm, Clearing Fog” — Soft morning sunlight comes to a small mountain farm as fog clears.

On this summer morning I headed over the mountains for the coast, planning to drive north from Santa Cruz and photograph foggy coastal scenes. However, it turned out that there was too much fog for what I had in mind, so I had to recalibrate. There are many lonely little roads that run inland from the Pacific Coast Highway, and I decided at random to explore one of them. I headed up a small valley, crossed some hills, and eventually wound through a narrow valley whose bottomlands held this small farm.

Today a lot of agriculture takes place on large corporate farms, especially here in California where the Central Valley is filled with those gigantic agribusiness operations . But if you poke around a bit off the grid, there are still these little farms in quiet little places. I pulled over and quietly watched the morning sun start to break through the thinning fog.

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

Two Trees, Fog, and Promontory

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Two Trees, Fog, and Promontory
“Two Trees, Fog, and Promontory” — Two trees stand atop a promontory above a foggy Pacific Ocean view, Point Lobos.

This photograph, the final in a set I’ve shared recently, comes from a half-day visit to Point Lobos one foggy late-July morning. Fog is always fun, but in this case it seemed extra special. California suffered through some extremely hot weather back in July, and I headed to the coast to try to find some relief. I found it! While the temperatures back home were rising into the upper nineties, here at the coast it was in the upper fifties under the overcast. I spent the morning and early afternoon wandering through the park.

These trees are Monterey cypresses, native to this region along the rugged coast. Here they grow along the tops of cliffs that drop steeply into the ocean. The promontory is along the north shore of Point Lobos where some of the higher cliffs are found. While the fog here was high enough to reveal the trees, a short distance offshore it was right on the water.

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: Articles, Sales and Licensing, my Sierra Nevada Fall Color book, Contact Info.

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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 Haze

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Big Sur Haze
“Big Sur Haze” — Summer haze along rugged Big Sur coastline, California.

I drove down the Big Sur Coast on this mid-August morning, traveling as far as the point where the road is currently closed for landslide repair. A bit north of that I pulled out at a popular overlook where I have photographed before — there is a great view down the coast and past a series of big ridges descending to the water. I almost didn’t photograph, but as I looked at the scene I became interested in smaller sections of the larger view.

Typically when I have photographed here I have worked in vertical portrait mode so that I could include the more distant curve of the coast and an interesting “natural bridge” on some rocks to the right. I’ve often trued to exclude the foreground trees, but this time I thought that they might make a good foil to the haze-muted forms and textures of the more distant coastline at the upper right.

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 | Instagram | Flickr | Facebook | Threads | Post | Email

Links: Articles, Sales and Licensing, my Sierra Nevada Fall Color book, Contact Info.

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

Water’s Edge

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Water's Edge
“Water’s Edge” — Blue-green water and surf meet the edge of the continent, Big Sur Coast.

I called this “Water’s Edge,” but I could also have called it “Continent’s Edge.” Beyond and above this little vignette of sand and rocks and water and foam lies the entire Pacific Ocean, and behind it lies the North American continent. The location is some likely-nameless spot along the Pacific Coast Highway as it passes through the Big Sur region of Central California.

I had stopped to consider photographing something else when I happened to walk close enough to the edge of the drop-off to see all the way down to the small, rocky beach. I spent a few moments watching and photographing the constantly changing patterns where the blue-green water meets the beach.

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 | Instagram | Flickr | Facebook | Threads | Post | Email

Links: Articles, Sales and Licensing, my Sierra Nevada Fall Color book, Contact Info.

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