Tag Archives: cypress

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

Cypress Trees in Fog

September 9, 2009 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Cypress trees on rocky shoreline cliffs at Pinnacle Point, Point Lobos State Reserve, California.

Not the weather I was expecting…

In the middle of a Saturday afternoon I was trying to decide where in the greater SF Bay Area to shoot. I’d shot in The City a few days ago, and shot Muir Woods at about the same time, so I wasn’t thinking of those kinds of locations. As I frequently do when pondering such things, I went to the NWS web site to see what conditions might be like on the coast. I had a vague notion to go to Point Lobos for an evening shoot, so I checked the weather report for that area. I must have read too fast because I didn’t see anything about fog…

So I quickly loaded up and headed off to the Monterey Peninsula with ideas about photographing beautiful golden hour light at one of my favorite shoreline locations. Oddly, as I approached the Salinas River, there was some fog in the air. In full-on “explain it away” mode I told myself that it was probably remnants left over from the clearing that was certainly underway now. Supporting this notion, by the time I got to Marina the air over the Bay was quite clear, though there were some clouds atop the ridge above Monterey. Again, I told myself, “It is clearing still. I’ll get there just in time for the sun to emerge!”

Passing Carmel it was just plain foggy, and when I entered Point Lobos nothing changed. Still, I told myself – again! – that it must have just not cleared here yet. Any sane person who knows this area would have recognized my delusion at this point. While it is possible – just barely – for the fog to clear at 5:30 along this coastline, that is about as likely as putting your car in first gear and having it go backwards… Nonetheless, I wandered on out to the Monterey Cypress groves along the northern portion of the Reserve, happy to photograph the trees in the soft light of the fog.

As the evening wore on, it eventually became clear – even to me! – that the fog was coming in, not going out. I set about looking for “foggy subjects” to photograph, still working mostly in and around the cypress forest. This photograph is yet another example of how conditions can change the shot completely. Here there was just enough fog to mute the background pinnacle and other rocks and barely reveal a bit of the ocean beyond, but it was not so foggy that the closer tree on the rocky prominence was hidden.

On a clearer evening I would have stayed a half hour after sunset to continue shooting… but the light was really gone long before that.

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.

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Photographs: Central California

Cypress Forest Path

September 11, 2008 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Trail with steps and cypress tree at Point Lobos State Reserve, California.

This is the same location in several other photographs I have posted recently, all shot during a late August 2008 visit to this central California coastal park. In this version I have taken the liberty of doing some (to me, at least) significant post-processing of the photograph in order to create a particular type of mood that seems appropriate for this location.

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Photographs: Central California

Cypress Tree and Steps

September 10, 2008 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Black and white photograph of rock steps leading to a lone cypress tree. Point Lobos State Reserve, California.

I’ve visited this spot many times in the past. It is along a short trail at Point Lobos that leads through the Monterey cypress forest and right along the tops of the coastal cliffs. I’ve always been intrigued by this little section of trail with this carefully constructed stone stairway leading to a small lone cypress right on the edge of the cliff. It was foggy on the day when I made this photo – I set up the camera and tripod and waited for some light to begin to filter through the thinning fog.

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Photographs: Central California, Photographs: Nature

Tree Trunks, Cypress Forest

September 8, 2008 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Black and white photograph of forest floor and cypress tree trunks. Point Lobos State Reserve, California.

This was a tough photograph, and one that I’ll probably return to work on again. It was a foggy morning at Point Lobos and I had arrived in time for the hoped-for clearing that I expected to occur within the hour. I found this composition and set up and waited for the light. I got just a bit of filtered light through the fog but then the transition from fog to sun stopped. While I never got quite the light I was looking for, I am pleased with how this turned out.

It was a bit amusing to see the reactions of other hikers as they walked past. Some perhaps assumed that there must be a “great photograph” there since my tripod supported what probably looked like substantial equipment and I was standing there holding a remote release. Some would walk past and take a sneaky glance along the cameras line of sight – and I could tell they were perplexed. During the wait for decent light, however, I did get to indulge in one of my favorite little hobbies – offering to take group pictures of other visitors with their cameras so that no one would be left out. :-)

keywords: black and white, forest, floor, cypress, tree, trunk, point lobos, state, reserve, california, usa, monterey, peninsula, carmel, bay, nature, landscape, travel, scenic, grass, rock, stock

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