Tag Archives: conglomerate

Patterns in Rock

Patterns in Rock
Complex patterns in rocks along the California coast.

Patterns in Rock. © Copyright 2022 G Dan Mitchell.

Complex patterns in rocks along the California coast.

If you are hoping for a scientific explanation of what you are seeing in this photograph, I’m not qualified to provide it. I’ve visited this little area of small geographic wonders at Point Lobos for decades, and much of it remains a mystery to me. I know bits and pieces of information, but far from the whole story.

I find something new every time I visit this spot, even after all of these years. This little vignette impresses me with its variety of features. The underlying rock seems to be some kind of sandstone, in vertically oriented layers that must have been uplifted and distorted at some point. Other rocks are embedded in it, and in this spot there is this odd bit of angular patterns.


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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Rocks and Fog, Point Lobos

Rocks and Fog, Point Lobos
Rocks and Fog, Point Lobos

Rocks and Fog, Point Lobos. Point Lobos State Reserve, California. July 21, 2011. © Copyright 2011 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A rocky peninsula drops into the ocean on a foggy morning at Point Lobos State Reserve.

On this morning it was foggy and drizzling at Point Lobos and there was a surprising amount of surf for a summer morning. When I arrived shortly after the park opened, there were few other people about. With the moving water and the low light conditions, I decided that this was a good time to do some work with long daytime exposures, so I got out my 9-stop neutral density filters and went about looking for compositions.

After shooting down closer to the water in the cove to the left of these rocks, I wandered up a trail along the shoreline that took me to a point that was a bit higher above the water. As I looked back I saw that the rocks that defined the cove that I had been shooting appeared to head straight out into the water towards a distant peninsula and then submerge – a rather different take on this feature.

By using this filter I was able to get an eight-second exposure in this light. Longer would have been better, but the light was beginning to come through the fog a bit and I didn’t have much choice. With an exposure this “short” I had to be a bit careful about timing the shots, trying to get the right amount of water breaking over the rocks.

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Gull on Rock

Gull on Rock

Gull on Rock. Point Lobos, California. November 30, 2008. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A gull rests on the point of a shoreline rock at Point Lobos, California.

I thought I was finished shooting for the day and I was hiking back to my car to head home when I walked past this gull. It obligingly stood on this picturesque pillar of conglomerate rock for at least 15 minutes, as if posing for me – so I could hardly pass up the opportunity to stop and photograph.

And isn’t that an amazing rock!

keywords: gull, seagull, bird, pelagic, shore, sea, conglomerate, rock, perch, beak, bill, orange, white, surf, coast, wildlife, nature, california, usa, point lobos, state, reserve, park, monterey, peninsula, big sur, pacific, ocean, stock