Tag Archives: central

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

Colorful Pebbles, Weston Cove

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Colorful Pebbles, Weston Cove
Colorful Pebbles, Weston Cove

Colorful Pebbles, Weston Cove. Point Lobos State Reserve, California. October 23, 2010. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Colorful pebbles washed up near the water line at Weston Cove, Point Lobos.

This is another “wandering around on the beach with my eyes open” photograph, made at Weston Cove at Point Lobos. This little circular cove has a pebble beach so there are lots of small pebbles of all colors and shapes along the edge of the water. As I wander about this spot I find the pebbles fascinating, both visually and for the sound they make as they are dragged back toward the sea by the retreating waves. While there are pebbles everywhere – in every small hollow or crack, at the surf’s edge, even further up the “beach” where they were left by higher tides and storms – interesting juxtapositions of the pebbles are a bit harder to find. I was fascinated by this little collection, both because of the linear and curving relationships between their positions and because of the very different and colorful types of rock against the background of sandstone.

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

Cliffside Forest, Point Lobos

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Cliffside Forest, Point Lobos
Cliffside Forest, Point Lobos

Cliffside Forest, Point Lobos. Point Lobos State Reserve, California. July 10, 2010. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Thick forest growth along the top of cliffs along the Northside Trail at Point Lobos State Reserve.

The bit of thick forest with a carpet of green plants and yellow flowers grows on the edge of the cliff above the Pacific Ocean along the north shore of Point Lobos State Reserve. The soft and diffused light from coastal fog allows the colors of the plants to come out, but it also makes for a complex image since even the normally shaded areas are well lit. The idea here was to try to create a very complex image that is somewhat held together by the vertical patterns of the tree trunks.

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 70-200mm f/4 L USM at 140mm
ISO 100, f/16, 1/20 second

keywords: point, lobos, state, reserve, park, california, usa, north america, cypress, pine, tree, forest, grass, plant, flower, cliff, rock, north, side, trail, nature, landscape, scenic, travel, monterey, county, peninsula, big, sure, carmel, coast, highway, one, pacific, shore, line, side, central, stock

Photographs: Central California, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Northern California

Winter Fog and Oak Covered Hills

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Winter Fog and Oak Covered Hills
Winter Fog and Oak Covered Hills

Winter Fog and Oak Covered Hills. Calero Hills, California. January 9, 2010. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Winter morning fog settles over the oak covered Calero Hills landscape of central California.

On this early-January winter morning I headed to my “photographic backyard” in the Calero Hills area, knowing that I’d get to shoot my favorite hills, oak trees, and grasslands in fog, clearing fog, and perhaps even sunlight. Things didn’t pan out exactly as I expected, but it was a good morning of photography anyway.

After starting out by photographing a tree in the “lowlands” of the park, I could tell that the tule fog was starting to clear a bit along the ridges – the brighter light from above was one hint, and the occasional faint sight of blue sky and clouds through the low fog was another. So I decided to finish up my work on that tree and follow a trail that ascends to one of the many minor ridges running through the park.

Arriving at a familiar point on the ridge along a valley that drops away to the south, the fog began to clear from my location. I soon discovered that it wasn’t going to be a day for sunlit photographs – a weak weather system was approaching and high clouds muted the sunlight. In addition the fog didn’t exactly clear – it was more a case of the fog sort of washing back and forth. One moment my position and nearby ridges would clear and I’d see the overcast sky above (as in this photograph), but a few minutes later another wave of fog would expand out of the valleys and I’d be socked in again. So I set up and waited and watched and ended up with several photographs that I like.

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: calero, county, park, santa clara, california, usa, hills, oak, tree, grove, grass, brown, golden, valley, fog, mist, clouds, silhouette, nature, ridge, mountain, sky, winter, season, central, grassland, emerge, clear, settle, landscape, soft, light, rock, plant, stock

Photographs: Central California, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Northern California

Cattail and Grasses, Morning Light

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Cattail and Grasses, Morning Light

Cattail and Grasses, Morning Light. Castillero Pond, Calero Hills, California. August 14, 2009. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A cattail stands among dry summer grasses at Castillero Pond, Calero Hills, California.

The next in the series – and, yes, there will likely be more! – of photographs of cattails and grasses from a recent morning shoot at Castillero Pond, not far from where I live in the San Francisco Bay Area.

In these photographs I was playing with a whole series of ideas: the color and form of the late-season summer cattails in the warm morning side-lighting, the effect of blurring out the background of grasses and pond water, and the interesting color palette of yellow/gold, green, and blue. To a certain extent, I was also “going with the flow” since I had arrived at this pond with no strong preconceptions about what I would shoot- I had vague ideas concerning oak trees and open grassland and possibly photographing birds as I passed the pond – and then ended up being distracted by well over an hour by the subject of this series.

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

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