Tag Archives: coast

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

Coastal Cascade

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Coastal Cascade
“Coastal Cascade” — A Big Sur creek forms a small waterfall just before it reaches the Pacific Ocean on a foggy morning.

We were on the upper Big Sur coast on this June morning, photographing large surf along with sea stacks and steep cliffs. I first worked that subject from some distance using long lenses, then moved right down to the edge of the water for intimate landscape/seascape images. Eventually I decided to head back up and away from the immediate coast, and as I walked I came across this little cascade.

I thought that the angle of the falling water below the little gully was interesting, and I like the back light an rim light on the edges of the rocks. The combination of thin fog and ocean spray added a muted quality to the atmosphere. The biggest challenge here was that the primary subject, the falling water, was in shadow, and this muted its brightness a bit.

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” (Heyday Books) is available directly from him. Blog | Bluesky | Mastodon | Substack Notes | Flickr | Email

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

Sea Stacks and Surf

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Sea Stacks and Surf
“Sea Stacks and Surf” — Sea stacks in morning light along the rugged Big Sur coastline.

Way back in June I met up with my friends Franka Gabler and David Hoffman to photograph the upper Big Sur area of the California coast. They were there to see an exhibit of photographs by John Sexton and Anne Larsen, so I did the 90 minute drive down to Big Sur to meet them. After some confusion about who was where — and no cell service to sort it out — I finally figured out that they were on the bluffs above this area where Soberanes Creek enters the Pacific Ocean.

This is a particularly rugged section of the Big Sur coast. While it doesn’t feature the high cliffs that make other areas essentially inaccessible, here there are rugged rocky headlands and many sea stacks, especially in the shallow bay between the Soberanes Creek and Soberanes Point.

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” (Heyday Books) is available directly from him. Blog | Bluesky | Mastodon | Substack Notes | Flickr | Email

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(All media © Copyright G Dan Mitchell and others.)

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

Morning Light, Big Sur Coast

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Morning Light, Big Sur Coast
“Morning Light, Big Sur Coast” — Morning light, haze, and surf along the Big Sur Coast.

After a period of travel (Portugal, Spain, Belgium, NYC this time) it is always great to get back to photographing the natural world here in California. This week I heard that a couple of friends were in the Carmel area, less than an hour-and-a-half away, so we decided to meet up for some morning photography along the Big Sur coast. There’s no cell service where we were going, so we agreed to some coordinates on Google maps and set an early arrival time. I showed up, but couldn’t find them, so I made some photographs while waiting…

…including this one of the surf, morning light, and thin fog. As I photographed I noticed a couple of figures moving out onto the headland at the far right. I don’t usually include people in my landscape photography, but I’m not against it either, so I changed the framing a bit to incorporate them. It was only later in the evening, at home and working on photographs at my computer, that I zoomed in on the figures and realized that they are Franka and Dave, the friends I was searching for! (We did eventually connect, by the way.)

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” (Heyday Books) is available directly from him. Blog | Bluesky | Mastodon | Substack Notes | Flickr | Email

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(All media © Copyright G Dan Mitchell and others.)

Photographs: Croatia, Photographs: Europe, Photographs: Travel

Adriatic Coast, Dubrovnik

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Adriatic Coast, Dubrovnik
“Adriatic Coast, Dubrovnik” — dubrovnik, Croatia and its famous wall on the Adriatic coast, see from Fort Lovrijenac.

During the summer of 2023 we went on a very long trip in Europe. Over a 10-week period we were in France, Portugal, Spain, Italy, Kosovo, and Croatia — with very brief visits/transits in Germany, Hungary, Serbia, Albania, and Montenegro. Many of the photographs from the trip sat in my raw file archive since then, never being worked up into final versions. (I suspect that in some cases I didn’t quite “see” them at first, and in some I moved on to other projects, intending to return.) This week I’ve been going through photographs from the Balkans.

We drove directly from Kosovo to Dubrovnik. I really liked Kosovo on a number of levels, perhaps more so because we stayed in the home of people who live there and who have a family connection. But there are few contrasts greater than that between Kosovo and the walled city of Dubrovnik, which has become quite the hot travel destination. (Evidence: many prices there are surprisingly close to those in the US.) Dubrovnik is a remarkable city, sitting on the beautiful Adriatic coast. The old city is completely surrounded by impressive walls, and much of the city is constructed of stone.

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” (Heyday Books) is available directly from him.

G Dan Mitchell: Blog | Bluesky | Mastodon | Substack Notes | Flickr | Email


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