Tag Archives: Cloud

Photographs: Central California, Photographs: Ocean & Coast

Coastal Rocks, Surf, and Rain

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Coastal Rocks, Surf, and Rain

Coastal Rocks, Surf, and Rain. Near Davenport, California. December 15, 2008. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Coastal rock formations glisten in the rain as an evening squall approaches the Pacific Coast north of Davenport, California. (Black and white version)

Late on a rainy afternoon earlier this week it seemed like the sky might clear enough to make for some spectacular evening shooting along the California coast near Davenport. I headed over the hill to Santa Cruz and started north up the Coast Highway in post-storm clear air with a few puffy clouds offshore. However, as I passed through Davenport I could see a squall line to the northwest, just beginning to move between me and the bright sky to the west. Being either brave or foolish I kept heading north until near Greyhound Rock where the cold rain started. I headed back south, almost to Davenport, before pulling over along a beach where the road descends to near sea level. Although it wasn’t raining here yet, the clouds were clearly heading this way. I grabbed my camera pack and tripod and put on some extra clothes and headed across the beach to the waters edge before turning north toward some low rocks at the end of the beach. Soon it started raining, but at this point I wasn’t about to go home empty-handed so I continued up onto the rocks and managed to make a few exposures in the rain as the squall line approached, the wind picked up, and the rain increased.

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.

keywords: black and white, rock, formation, pool, evening, squall, storm, cell, rain, cloud, downpour, shower, pool, tide, wave, surf, shore, coast, beach, strata, reflection, sun, light, pattern, moss, pacific, ocean, coast, sea, wet, santa cruz, davenport, highway, one, scenic, weather, landscape, seascape, travel, stock

Photographs: Central California, Photographs: Ocean & Coast

Winter Surf and Rocks, Point Lobos

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Winter Surf and Rocks, Point Lobos

Winter Surf and Rocks, Point Lobos. Point Lobos State Reserve, California. November 30, 2008. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Black and white photograph of winter surf crashing on rugged coastal rocks in backlit fog and spray at Point Lobos, California.

I never get tired of watching and photographing these rugged rock formations as they are overrun by huge winter surf at Point Lobos – and, for that matter, just about anywhere else along the central and northern California coast. If you look closely you can just make out the forest covered hills of the Carmel Highlands area in the upper left corner.

This is another of the "long lens landscapes" I shot last weekend using the 100-400mm lens, in this case at about 180mm. I shot almost straight into the sun, which was brightly backlighting the fog and spray.

keywords: point lobos, reserve, park, state, california, usa, big sur, monterey, peninsula, pacific, ocean, coast, sea, seascape, landscape, surf, wave, rock, fog, mist, cloud, spray, silhouette, recession, atmosphere, scenic, travel, stock, tree, layers

Photographs: Central California, Photographs: Ocean & Coast

Fog and Surf, Point Lobos

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Fog and Surf, Point Lobos

Fog and Surf, Point Lobos. Point Lobos State Reserve, California. November 30, 2008. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Black and white photograph of winter surf, fog, and coastal hills at Point Lobos, California.

When I heard that there would be huge surf along the coast today I headed straight for the Monterey Peninsula and Point Lobos. I was not disappointed! The first – for me at least – winter surf of the year brought huge offshore swells that crashed against and over the rocky shoreline at Point Lobos. A light coastal fog, augmented by spray from the surf, completed the picture.

I used a 9-stop neutral density filter and a polarizing filter on a long focal length lens so that I could get a very long exposure that would allow the waves and surf to diffuse to produce the misty effect you see here.

Obviously, our eyes don’t get to make 10 second exposures during the daylight! I think of a photograph like this one as being “subjectively accurate” rather than objectively accurate. In other words, while this exact image can’t exist in our real world experience, I think it evokes something about our response to such a scene that is true.

keywords: point lobos, fog, mist, cloud, surf, wave, ocean, sea, bay, rock, stacks, hill, mountain, forest, shore, state, park, preserve, reserve, california, usa, monterey, peninsula, big sur, coast, landscape, seascape, scenic, travel, stock, black and white

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

Oak Branches and Rain, Yosemite Valley

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Oak Branches and Rain, Yosemite Valley

Oak Branches and Rain, Yosemite Valley. Yosemite National Park, California. November 2, 2008. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Colorful fall foliage on branches of a Yosemite Valley oak tree with walls of the valley seen faintly though rain.

This tree is an often photographed landmark in the meadow just to the north of Curry Village and along the roadway to the campgrounds in upper Yosemite Valley. I stopped here initially to photograph the tree with Yosemite Falls very faintly visible through the rain and mist beyond. Finishing that, I decided to try a few detail photograph of the tree itself. Here the upper edge of the Valley walls are just barely visible through the light rain.

I think this will be the last – at least for awhile – in the long series of photographs from my early November rainy weekend in Yosemite Valley earlier this year.

keywords: oak, tree, meadow, leaf, leaves, branch, cliff, wall, mountain, face, fog, cloud, rain, mist, yellow, gold, fall, autumn, season, yosemite, valley, national park, california, usa, landscape, scenic, travel, nature, foliage, stock