Tag Archives: creek

Photographs: Central California, Photographs: Ocean & Coast

Headlands and Mist

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Headlands and Mist
Morning mist floating among headlands on the Big Sur coast.

Headlands and Mist. © Copyright 2022 G Dan Mitchell.

Morning mist floating among headlands on the Big Sur coast.

This photograph shows of the features that sets the Big Sur coast apart — along much of its length the land drops precipitously from tall headlands directly into the ocean. This cuts off easy access to the ocean in these areas — helping maintain the wild quality of the coast here. These headlands and cliffs also produce an extraordinarily dramatic meeting of land and sea.

Although this photograph comes from a well-known and easily accessible location, similar scenes are found all along this central section of the California coastline. I photographed somewhat early in the morning when the sun was still ascending over the coastal mountains, casting shadows on the cliffs and the edge of the water. A bit of thin fog increases the atmospheric recession between the sections of headland cliffs.

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

Cliffs, Morning Mist

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Cliffs, Morning Mist
Morning mist along the steep headlands cliffs of the rugged Big Sur region.

Cliffs, Morning Mist. © Copyright 2022 G Dan Mitchell.

Morning mist along the steep headlands cliffs of the rugged Big Sur region.

Earlier this week I made a quick trip down the coast to the Big Sur region, getting as far south as Sur Point. This is a short enough drive for me that I can leave home early, photograph all morning, and be home for a late lunch. The conditions can vary greatly at this time of year. Often it is sunny and clear, as it was on this visit, but it can also be foggy and cold. When a big Pacific front rolls through, watch out —huge waves roll in and landslides can close the coast highway. One thing I did not have was the all-too-common summer crowds —a late fall weekday morning is not crowded at all.

The photograph includes a familiar section of the Big Sur coast, and it is visible from another well-known icon. (I think I did all that I could do with that famous subject years ago… and now this nearby terrain interests me more.) Here the road rises to a high point, and tall cliffs drop abruptly to the ocean from the tall bluffs. A bit of fog and mist softened the morning light.

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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Links to Articles, Sales and Licensing, my Sierra Nevada Fall Color book, Contact Information.

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Photographs: Fall, Photographs: Fall Color, Photographs: New England, Photographs: Travel

Silver Cascade

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Silver Cascade
Silver Cascade, New Hampshire

Silver Cascade. © Copyright 2022 G Dan Mitchell.

Silver Cascade, New Hampshire

One of the fun things about photographing in an entirely new area is the opportunity to “discover” subjects for the first time. Don’t get me wrong — I still discover new things in familiar places, just not quite as often. During our New England autumn color trip it seemed like there were new things everywhere we looked. After our first-day visit to a well-known and iconic autumn color location I remembered seeing a side road… so we went back and took it. Eventually it took us past this waterfall, located not from from one of the ubiquitous New Hampshire “notches.”

As we drove up this road we saw people stopped at this location, so we figured there must be something interesting there. We pulled over and saw a cascade coming down a narrow band of rock from the higher mountains. Compared to some of the waterfalls that I see in the Sierra this one seemed pretty small. But it was also quite charming, with water traveling this way and that across the rocks, passing trees and bushes with fall foliage, and finally splashing down in a small pool. I left the roadside stop behind and climbed up a good distance to make this photograph.

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.

Blog | About | Twitter | Flickr | Facebook | Email

Links to Articles, Sales and Licensing, my Sierra Nevada Fall Color book, Contact Information.

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

Photographs: Fall, Photographs: Fall Color, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: New England

Autumn Creek

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Autumn Creek
A rocky creek beneath thinning autumn foliage in New Hampshire’s White Mountains.

Autumn Creek. © Copyright 2022 G Dan Mitchell.

A rocky creek beneath thinning autumn foliage in New Hampshire’s White Mountains.

This is a slightly different perspective on a scene that was also the focus of another photograph I shared in the past few weeks. Both focus on this quiet little New Hampshire creek, a place we came upon serendipitously, after taking a few random turns off of the main highway and driving up a gravel road into the forest. Both photographs — this one and the previous — include the same creek and were made from almost the same camera position. In this one I expanded the field of view a bit and raised the camera to include more of the fall leaves in the canopy.

I often urge folks who ask about the “secret places” they should know about when they visit a new location to instead recognize that in order to understand the place well enough to find those it will take time… and that it isn’t a bad idea to at least start with icons while you keep your eyes peeled for non-iconic spots that appeal to you. That was certainly our approach on this trip, on which we began by photographing in one of the most iconic — and crowded! — regions for New Hampshire fall color. After the first day and a half or so of that, we started to “poke around” a bit, heading up this or that little side road that we noticed and then setting off for more distant places whose names on maps caught our attention.

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.

Blog | About | Twitter | Flickr | Facebook | Email

Links to Articles, Sales and Licensing, my Sierra Nevada Fall Color book, Contact Information.

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