Tag Archives: edge

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

Boulder and Eroded Cliff Face

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Boulder and Eroded Cliff Face
Boulder and Eroded Cliff Face

Boulder and Eroded Cliff Face. Big Sur, California. May 1, 2010. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Morning sun backlights receding eroded ridges and boulder in the coastal mountains of California’s Big Sur coast.

I now am not quite certain where this exact spot was… but somewhere along the Big Sur coast in the area of Garrapata State Park – there is a pretty good chance that it is just a bit north of Rocky Creek bridge and just south of the actually Rock Creek. (Where there is a restaurant which has, or so I hear, a wonderful view and very high prices.) As I probably mentioned in photos I posted earlier from this May 1 shoot, one subject that I was pursuing was the morning light from the sun as it just barely topped the high and steep mountains along the coast highway. This creates at least two interesting conditions, and both are present in this photograph: diffused and hazy light as the sun shine though very thin fog rising up the canyons from the ocean, and thin lines of light along the tops of ridges and peaks.

This photograph is not in the public domain and may not be used on websites, blogs, or in other media without advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

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keywords: big, sur, eroded, ridge, grass, light, edge, atmospheric, recession, diagonal, lines, flora, plants, foliage, rock, boulder, landscape, nature, scenic, travel, california, usa, north america, haze, fog, morning, spring, gully, mountain, hill, valley, gully, stock

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

Incoming Winter Storm, Point Lobos

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Incoming Winter Storm, Point Lobos
Incoming Winter Storm, Point Lobos

Incoming Winter Storm, Point Lobos. Point Lobos State Reserve, California. January 10, 2010. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Black and white photograph of the leading edge of a winter storm passing over the Pacific coastline at Point Lobos State Reserve, California.

On this morning I thought the weather was going to be too rainy and cloudy to shoot – and I slept it. When I got up and saw that maybe it wasn’t going to be quite that bad I made a quick decision to head south and out toward the coast, and ended up at Point Lobos. The huge storm surf was beating against the coast and the leading edge of the incoming cold front was just passing over the coastline, putting some impressive clouds about the coast and the spray/mist from the big waves, and letting me shoot almost straight toward the sun.

Not all of my black and white photographs start out that way. In truth, while I sometimes have a pretty good idea that a particular shot is heading in the monochrome direction when I make the exposure, with other images I don’t “discover” this until I begin my work in post. With this one I had a pretty clear idea that the clouds and that receding layers for rock and bluff would work in black and white.

This photograph is not in the public domain and may not be used on websites, blogs, or in other media without advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

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keywords: point, lobos, state, reserve, park, california, usa, pacific, ocean, sea, coast, shore, carmel, highlands, big, sur, rocks, islands, sea stacks, surf, wave, rough, reflection, sun, light, winter, season, storm, front, edge, leading, cloud, sky, seascape, landscape, nature, scenic, travel, hills, cliff, bluff, bird, gull, cypress, trees, forest, weather, stock

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Northern California, Photographs: Sierra Nevada, Photographs: Yosemite

Detail, Last Light on El Capitan

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Detail, Last Light on El Capitan


Detail, Last Light on El Capitan. Yosemite Valley, California. October 31, 2009. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Detail view of last sunset light on the face of El Capitan, Yosemite National Park, California.

Recently I wrote about (and confessed to occasionally) photographing icons. You cannot succumb more openly to “icon photography” than by creating a sunset photograph of El Capitan as seen from Wawona Tunnel view – but that is exactly what this is.

I had not originally intended to photograph here, but as I often do, I drove by and stopped on my way to look for another subject. When I arrived I got out of the car and walked to the overlook without my equipment, as I often do, just to take a look at the stupendous view – worth doing whether or not you decide to photograph it. Most of the time I simply enjoy the view and then get back in the car and move on. However, on this evening I noticed some things about the conditions that forced me to consider the possibility that it might be “special” enough to stick around and haul out the camera and tripod. The air was quite clear, but even more potentially interesting, I could see a few low clouds to the west and the sky in that direction looked a bit hazy – both conditions can create intense color at sunset. (If I could have ordered up revisions to the existing scene, I might have requested a few interesting clouds floating around the face of El Cap, but no one seemed interested in taking my order!)

Rather than shooting the usual “valley view” – it takes Really Super Extra Amazing Special Conditions for me to “go there” – I put my longest lens on the camera and decided to “work” details of the scene, particularly looking for boundary areas and interesting shapes and forms. By boundary areas I refer to to beautiful and interesting spots where different things are juxtaposed – a shadow and bright illumination, a soft shape or texture and a harder one, a closer subject and one farther away. As the light evolved this pattern of brilliantly illuminated cliff faces separated by a slightly curving shadow and underlined by the rising shadow emerged.

This photograph is not in the public domain and may not be used on websites, blogs, or in other media without advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

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keywords: yosemite, national, park, valley, sierra, nevada, mountain, range, autumn, fall, season, scenic, travel, nature, landscape, california, el capitan, cliff, face, shadow, prow, edge, crack, texture, form, ledge, sunset, evening, dusk, sky, clouds, rest, granite, rock, climb, rock, ridge, evening, stock

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Northern California, Photographs: Sierra Nevada, Photographs: Yosemite

Detail, Last Light on El Capitan

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Detail, Last Light on El Capitan

Detail, Last Light on El Capitan. Yosemite National Park, California. October 31, 2009. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Detail view of last sunset light on the face of El Capitan, Yosemite National Park, California.

Shot from a very famous and popular location, this is a long lens view of the face of El Capitan close to sunset when the light is almsot but not quite directly from behind my position, and when the shadows of the lower mountains to the west begin to rise up the face of the mountain. There is a color version of this photograph also, but the effect is very different. And this one reminds me in a vague way of a certain famous photograph of another Yosemite landmark.

This photograph is not in the public domain and may not be used on websites, blogs, or in other media without advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

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keywords: yosemite, national, park, valley, sierra, nevada, mountain, range, autumn, fall, season, scenic, travel, nature, landscape, california, el capitan, cliff, face, shadow, prow, edge, crack, texture, form, ledge, sunset, evening, dusk, sky, clouds, rest, granite, rock, climb, rock, ridge, evening, stock, black and white, monochrome