Tag Archives: clearing

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Sierra Nevada

Clearing Storm, Sierra Crest

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Clearing Storm, Sierra Crest
A late-spring storm clears along the Sierra Nevada crest near Bloody Canyon.

Clearing Storm, Sierra Crest. © Copyright 2022 G Dan Mitchell.

A late-spring storm clears along the Sierra Nevada crest near Bloody Canyon.

This photograph comes from an early-season trip across the Sierra crest a few years ago. It must have been quite a day. The first photographs from the set were in springtime Yosemite Valley. By the end of the day I had crossed Tioga Pass and headed out to the east of the range and into high desert near Mono Lake, the location from which I made this photograph late in the afternoon.

If only I kept a diary of these things! My hunch is that this was my “first trip of the season” across recently-cleared passes, on which I often take stock of the conditions at the beginning of a new summer season. From the looks of the clouds hugging the crest along the eastern Yosemite boundary, winter had not yet quite let go. There was still a decent amount of snow, clouds draped the crest, and it looks like there is some active precipitation.

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

Clearing Coastal Fog

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Clearing Coastal Fog
Morning coastal fog begins to break up over the Pacific Ocean off the California coast.

Clearing Coastal Fog. © Copyright 2022 G Dan Mitchell.

Morning coastal fog begins to break up over the Pacific Ocean off the California coast.

Conditions were both odd… and very normal for June on this recent visit to the Pacific coastline between Santa Cruz and San Francisco. The odd? In some spots the drizzle was heavy enough to almost count as rain, something quite unusual in these parts of California in June. The usual? We have a term for it here: “June Gloom,” when the influence of cooler ocean waters creates a lot of coastal fog, often sufficient to spread inland throughout the Bay Area.

The three things that will usually bring me to the coast to photograph are fog, a storm, and/or high surf. This was obviously a foggy day, and my general strategy is to photograph in the moody, murky fog until it begins to clear. At that point I chase the fog line, where all kinds of wonderful things happen with light and color. The blue of the sky intensifies the color of the water, and the contrasts grow between shaded ocean and the places where it is either still in fog or catching the first sun.

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

Winter Sky, Birds, Sun

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Winter Sky, Birds, Sun
Winter sunlight momentarily breaks through winter high clouds and tule fog as migratory birds pass, Pacific Flyway.

Winter Sky, Birds, Sun. © Copyright 2022 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Winter sunlight momentarily breaks through winter high clouds and tule fog as migratory birds pass, Pacific Flyway.

This photograph holds one brief instant of nearly miraculous light… from a morning on which the light was generally much less than miraculous. I was in California’s Central Valley largely because I wanted to photograph in foggy conditions. These are common here at this time of year, when tule fog rises overnight and creates a thin but often very dense layer of fog. Most people prefer to not be out in these conditions — the driving can be nerve-racking — but the landscape can be very beautiful when it all works out just right.

The potential was certainly there as I drove to my destination. The fog suddenly became very dense perhaps twenty minutes before I arrived, but it was shallow enough that the setting full moon was clearly visible in the pre-dawn sky. However, a higher layer of clouds spread over the sky and fog that might have glowed in sunrise light simply went gray. Eventually the thinning tule fog lined up with a few momentary breaks in the higher clouds and some light shone through. During this one brief instant the sun was visible, surrounded by a halo of lighter clouds, and a pair of geese flew past, barely visible in the photograph.

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 to Articles, Sales and Licensing, my Sierra Nevada Fall Color book, Contact Information.

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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, Photographs: Travel

Edge of the Pacific

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Edge of the Pacific
Boulders and surf under clearing fog along the Big Sur coast.

Edge of the Pacific. © Copyright 2021 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Boulders and surf under clearing fog along the Big Sur coast.

This photograph likely looks a bit… ambiguous. In fact, it was that sort of day along this section of the California coast. I’m generally a fan of fog when I go to photograph there, but getting just the right amount of fog in the right places takes a bit of luck — we don’t control that! I was hoping for the kind of day that starts with thick, mysterious fog but then transitions to clearing, gradually revealing features as the sun begins to appear. But that fog never fully cleared. (At one point as I was photographing a disappointed tourist stopped and more or less asked me where the Pacific Ocean was and whether or not he might be able to see it.)

Later in the afternoon the fog did begin to diminish a bit, but it remained right up against the coast. In many places when I positioned myself to photograph over the ocean, the sun was shining on the hills directly behind me as I pointed the camera into the murk at the edge fo the land. In this spot the fog had sufficiently thinned right at the coast and I was able to make out rocks right at the water’s edge… but the fog obscured and muted the more distant ocean. That distant, fuzzy line near the top of the frame is some vague, opaque combination of the horizon and 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.

Blog | About | Flickr | Facebook | Email

Links to Articles, Sales and Licensing, my Sierra Nevada Fall Color book, Contact Information.

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