Tag Archives: coast

Photographs: Flight, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Northern California, Photographs: Wildlife

Ross’s Geese, Late November Fly-In

July 12, 2013 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Ross’s geese settling in for the night at last sunset light, San Joaquin Valley, California.

Now that I have finally (it was about time!) discovered the migratory bird populations in the Central Valley of California, I’ve become addicted to photographing them. Among my favorites are the huge flocks of Ross’s geese that can appear at times in certain places out there, and which are most active during the morning “fly out” and the evening” fly in” periods.

This was my first “wild goose chase” of the current season, and I had arrived very early that morning… to find thick tule fog obscuring the views of the birds. Early in the morning, I could hear them but barely see them at all, with the exception of one flock settled in close enough to the access road that I could barely make out a few of them in the murk. As things cleared a bit in the morning I could confirm that there were decent numbers of these birds about, but they seemed to be settled in on water that was inaccessible to me for photography. I photographed some other subjects, and eventually moved on to check out some other areas. Late in the day, I realized that I probably had time to swing back through the refuge for about an hour in the evening. When I arrived I found a few birds in the same inaccessible location where I had seen them in the morning, but I also was able to see some flocks passing by and even circling over along the far corner of the area. With this in mind, I began to work my way over there, and was rewarded with a good-sized flock that had settled into a grassy area not too far from the access road. As these geese will do, from time to time they spontaneously all rose into the air and the giant, thick flock circled for a few minutes before settling back in more or less where they were before. I photographed these against the dusk sky about the Coast Range as the last of them came back to rejoin the group on the ground.

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

Rocky Coastline and Haze

June 26, 2013 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Low fog and spray from surf mute the morning view of coastal rocks and bluffs along the rugged California coastline

This photograph was made on a beautiful early spring morning along the Pacific Coast Highway in the upper section of the Big Sur area, just below Carmel. On many days when the weather is nice elsewhere in California, fog covers the coastline – but on this morning the fog was barely there and the morning sun came across the summit of the coastal mountains to shine down into the very thin coastal mist. To my surprise, winter having ended so recently, I found myself shooting in shirtsleeves!

This is a particular spot that I return to quite often since I live close enough to this area to visit frequently. A few years ago I made some photographs of a fisherman sitting on a rock above astonishingly wild surf. I recalled the general area where I made the shot, but I hadn’t made an effort to remember the exact location, so I was surprised when I looked at this scene more closely and realized that this is the exact spot from which I shot, give or a take a few feet of walking along the coastal bluffs.

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

Pacific Ocean, Evening Sky and Fog

June 24, 2013 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Thin evening fog clouds drift above the Pacific Ocean along the California coastline.

This is a favorite sort of view of mine along California’s coastline – a calm (almost) summer evening near dusk, but only a few wisps of fog trying to collect themselves along the shoreline, but not quite making it. So much of what I photograph has at least some green in it – so this palette limited to shades of blue and pink seems special.

Although it was not quite so still when I made this photograph – I was along the edge of a bluff not far from the highway – the visual image captures for me the feeling of timelessness that I sometimes experience at the coast. I’ve lived in these areas almost my entire life, so I’m no stranger to the coast and beaches. (Though I continue to see and learn new things. But most such experiences are tied to roads and parking lots and even to urban areas. A few years ago, believe it or not, I had a very different experience with the ocean when I walked perhaps four miles to a point along the sheltered waters of Point Reyes, and coming to the coast on foot I felt, for the first time at the ocean, this sense of deep time and I felt that what I was seeing had probably changed little, if at all, in millennia. I can literally count the number of times that I’ve had the profound realization, and I was alone on each occasion – the Point Reyes experience, on a still evening away from camp above timberline in the Upper Kern River region of the Southern Sierra, and on one memorable day on my first (two-week!) solo backpacking trip when I found myself sitting on top of a 12,000′ Sierra pass for several hours.

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

Beach and Rocks

June 20, 2013 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Late afternoon light on a rocky beach near Pescadero, California

Last week I finally was able to get out and do a bit of landscape photography along the California coast south of San Francisco. (Various other obligations and activities have minimized time in the field recently, and may continue to do so for a few more weeks – but then… lots of time “in the field!”) This area is one of my quickest “gotta get out and shoot” locations, as I can be there in less than an hour, and “there” is one of the most spectacular coastlines I can imagine, ranging from calm and peaceful to towering cliffs and raging surf.

On this visit, things were relatively quiet – nothing like the winter surf of a few months ago. My hope was to find a coastal location in that border zone between fog and sunlight, where interesting and variable things can often happen with light. Starting from the Santa Cruz area, where it was almost perfectly clear, we headed north while keeping a watch on the fog bank hanging just off shore and appearing to get closer to the coast to the north. Eventually, near the Pigeon Point lighthouse, it looked like we might get to the point where the fog and the coast converged, but as soon as we arrived the fog pulled back a bit. In this late afternoon photograph, the sun was low enough that its light was beginning to be somewhat softened and warmed by passing through the thin layer of mist and fog.

G Dan Mitchell Photography

Tag Archives: coast

Ross’s Geese, Late November Fly-In

Rocky Coastline and Haze

Pacific Ocean, Evening Sky and Fog

Beach and Rocks

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