Tag Archives: edge

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

Edge of the Surf

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Edge of the Surf
Waves retreat from a Pacific Ocean beach north of Santa Cruz, California.

Edge of the Surf. © Copyright 2022 G Dan Mitchell.

Waves retreat from a Pacific Ocean beach north of Santa Cruz, California.

This just might be my final “old year” photograph of 2022, though most of you won’t see it until a few days into 2023. Back on the day after Christmas I headed over the coastal mountains to the Pacific shoreline north of Santa Cruz, California. It was kind of a strange day. A storm was working its way toward California from the North Pacific, producing large surf and a building cloud deck. The clouds were still thin enough to allow some sunlight in, but coastal haze and thin fog produced odd, pinkish colors.

Before I made this photograph I had been photographing the impressive surf just off this beach. Here the slope into the ocean is gradual, and even during this season when surf often erodes beaches the shallows stretches quite a ways out from the surf line. These objects (old, worn pieces of driftwood) were right at the edge of the water, and the shallows beyond reflected the color of the cloudy sky.

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

Sandpipers and Surf

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Sandpipers and Surf
A flock of sandpipers feeds at the edge of the surf, coastal California.

Sandpipers and Surf. © Copyright 2022 G Dan Mitchell.

A flock of sandpipers feeds at the edge of the surf, coastal California.

Sometimes conditions work out just right and surprise me with an unexpected photographic opportunity. This was one of those times. I had been photographing a distant subject in wonderful light — unusual colors, haze, and some high clouds. I looked down at the beach directly below me, perhaps 15 feet away, and noticed fascinating patterns of sand textures, water draining back into the surf, and soft reflections of the cloudy sky. Without warning, a flock of sandpipers landed at the water’s edge. The scene may look quiet and still, but photographing it was anything but!

The photograph is (yet another) reminder that while preparation and adaptability are important, so much in landscape photography is entirely outside our control. While we have the ability to see and make choices about what we do with “it,” we do not determine the underlying conditions. And while I’m thinking about it, here’s hoping that you find plenty of “it” moments in 2023!

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

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

Windswept Trees, Coastal Bluffs

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Windswept Trees, Coastal Bluffs
Rugged trees cling to rocky bluffs above the Pacific Coast shoreline, Point Lobos.

Windswept Trees, Coastal Bluffs. © Copyright 2022 G Dan Mitchell.

Rugged trees clinging to rocky bluffs above the Pacific Coast shoreline, Point Lobos.

This scene gets a different treatment than other recent Point Lobos photographs, something more in line with the tradition of black and white photography at this location. The foreground tree and its nearby associates are influenced by the strong winds at this exposed location. Branches and whole trees are bent away from the open sea, and their angles are mirrored by the slope of the headland on the other side of the foggy inlet.

In a recent post I mentioned that some attractive Point Lobos subjects are often nearly impossible to photograph because dense trees stand between legal (and safe!) camera positions and the open views. While sometimes I can find a way to photograph under, around, or through these barriers, that isn’t always. possible. I initially went to this spot looking for an open view of the inlet, but when I couldn’t find it I decided to make the trees and boulders the main foreground element.

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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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: Sierra Nevada

The Edge Of The Grove

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The Edge Of The Grove
Autumn color at the edge of a grove of white-trunk aspen trees.

The Edge Of The Grove. © Copyright 2021 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Autumn color at the edge of a grove of white-trunk aspen trees.

In a recent post I mentioned that I was almost done with fall color photographs for the year. Maybe. Sort of. But no promises. So here’s another one. This grove is a bit atypical for the Eastern Sierra, where we often see small groves of trees that are twisted and bent, and where continuous groves a tall, straight trees are the exception. I’m not certain why this is the case in “my” mountains, but I suspect it has to do with the rugged and often-rocky landscape, the relatively dry climate in parts of the range, and likely other factors. This grove on the eastern edge of the range abuts sagebrush high desert country, and perhaps the more open terrain allows the trees to get more light than they might receive in a deep valley.

This photograph differs from most that I share in that it is a re-working of a photograph that I shared a few years ago. A photograph is not necessary a finished thing, and a given version represents what and how the photographer saw the image at a particular point in time. We change and our way of seeing changes, and when we look back at earlier work it is common to reimagine how we might interpret the subject. Here the changes are mostly along the lines of “tuning up” the image a bit. There’s a slight tightening of the crop, some differences in how the colorful leaves appear, and some small changes to the foreground and the shadows.

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 | 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.