Tag Archives: coast

Equipment, Photographs: Central California, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Ocean & Coast, Photographs: San Francisco, Photographs: Textures

Detail #1, Rocks, Point Lobos

May 8, 2009 G Dan Mitchell 1 Comment

Detail of rock forms near tidepools at Point Lobos State Reserve, California.

I spent a mostly foggy and cloudy day at Point Lobos State Reserve south of Carmel, California during the last weekend of April. (I wrote elsewhere about the miraculous coincidence of my visit with the Big Sur Marathon, which delayed my arrival at the park a bit but ultimately meant that I was virtually the only person in the entire park!) I started at the actual “Point Lobos” – the punta de los lobos marinos area – and gradually worked my way south along the waterline. After stopping to photograph a family if harbor seals I decided to more closely inspect some of the twisted and colorful rock formations and textures and I ended up making some photographs of them, along with some semi-macro shots of shells and other shoreline detritus.

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: detail, rock, formation, shape, texture, form, geology, brown, gray, shore, shoreline, sea, coast, tidepool, rock, point lobos, state, reserve, park, nature, abstract, stock, monterey, peninsula, carmel, california, usa

Photographs: Central California, Photographs: Nature

Rattlesnake Grass, Spring

May 4, 2009 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Seed heads, stems, and blades of Rattlesnake grass growing in the pine forest at Point Lobos State Reserve, California.

On the last weekend of April I found time to head down to Point Lobos for a half day – that ultimately stretched a bit longer that that – day of shooting. I almost didn’t go. I had the radio on as I drove toward Monterey, and as I drove through Castroville a traffic report announced that Highway 1 was closed for a marathon south of Carmel – a couple miles before Point Lobos. I almost turned around right there, but then they announced that the highway patrol would “convoy” cars through the area about once every two hours. I decided that since I was almost there anyway I might as well go on down and see what would happen. When I arrived at the intersection south of Carmel the road was completely blocked and traffic was shunted into the nearby shopping center parking lot. I saw a sign for “convoy” parking so I drove over – and it turned out that I had about a half hour before the scheduled southbound departure. I had time to grab a cup of coffee and line up.

The convoy finally worked its way onto the “course” (otherwise known as the coast highway) and then slowly started south past hundred or thousands of runners. At Point Lobos I was the only drive to leave the convoy, and when I entered the park the ranger told me I was only the second car to enter that day! If you have visited Point Lobos you may know that on a typical spring day the place will be so packed that it can be hard to find a spot to park – but I did not run into a single person in the whole park until early afternoon! (I did see one other visitor in the distance.) So what started out to look like very bad timing ended up being quite special – I had “my own private Point Lobos” for the day!

In the early afternoon I decided to walk a trail through the pines that traveled away from the shoreline. Lots of lush spring growth was still flourishing and these grass seeds caught my attention.

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: Briza maxima, rattlesnake grass, seed, leaf, stem, blade, head, plant, forest, floor, foliage, flora, point lobos, state, reserve, park, california, usa, monterey, peninsula, carmel, coast, pine, forest, grove, nature, stock

Photographs: Central California, Photographs: Nature

Redwood Forest

March 26, 2009 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Towering trees in the redwood forest of Muir Woods National Monument, California.

This photograph was made very near to the site of the previously-posted photograph of a fern along the creek bank – I moved the tripod to the other side of the creek for this one. It features the wonderful diffused light coming through the overcast of an incoming storm and then being filtered through the canopy of the redwood forest.

G Dan Mitchell Photography | Flickr | Twitter (follow me) | Facebook (“Like” my page) | LinkedIn | Email
Text, photographs, and other media are © Copyright G Dan Mitchell (or others when indicated) and are not in the public domain and may not be used on websites, blogs, or in other media without advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

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

Birds and Winter Surf

February 14, 2009 G Dan Mitchell 2 Comments

Birds congregate along a stream with winter surf and bluffs above the Pacific Coastline in the distance – south of San Francisco, California.

I frequently stop along this section of the Pacific Coast between San Francisco and Santa Cruz, in a location where the road descends to almost the level of the beach. On this winter day the low clouds and fog were backlit by the sun as large winter surf rolled in. These birds appeared to be feeding in the creek near where it entered the surf and were just starting to take to the air as I exposed this photo.

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: seascape, landscape, beach, bluff, surf, wave, pacific, ocean, coast, sand, water, reflection, bird, gull, flock, flight, creek, stream, hill, seaweed, two, people, highway, one, california, usa, fog, mist, cloud, travel, scenic, stock, black and white

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