Tag Archives: fishing

Two Backpackers, Morning

Two Backpackers, Morning
Backpackers along the shoreline of a Sierra Nevada backcountry lake in early morning

Two Backpackers, Morning. Hoover Wilderness Area, California. August 7, 2017. © Copyright 2017 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Backpackers along the shoreline of a Sierra Nevada backcountry lake in early morning

We set up a very pleasant camp a ways back from the shoreline of this subalpine lake. Almost all high Sierra camps are pleasant, but this spot was almost luxurious. We were not far from easy access to water, there was a beautiful view from the shoreline, and the campsites themselves were on flat ground among large trees. We even had a few fallen trees and big rocks to use as furniture as we fixed meals and ate together.

In the morning I awoke before sunrise, and I soon got up the energy to climb out of my sleeping bag and put on warm clothes. I crawled out of the tent, grabbed camera equipment, and climbed up onto a knoll from which I had photographed the previous day. From here there was a panoramic view of the surrounding terrain, much of which was still in shadow. Soon a couple of fellow early risers appeared along the shoreline with fishing gear, standing on shoreline rocks and adding a human scale to this scene.


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

Boat, San Luis Reservoir

Boat, San Luis Reservoir
Boat, San Luis Reservoir

Boat, San Luis Reservoir. California Hills. November 21, 2014. © Copyright 2014 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Two fisherman in a very small boat on the very large surface of the San Luis Reservoir on a cloudy and hazy autumn day

Returning from my first Central Valley winter bird photography excursion of the new season, I passed by San Luis Reservoir in the middle of the day when soft clouds hung above the mountains across the water and the sun made the hazy atmosphere glow. I usually just drive right past this place — which isn’t easy to access, even though the road runs right next to it — but I decided to figure out how and where to stop and make some photographs.

I found a high overlook at the visitor center that stands at the north end of the huge earthen dam, and from here there was a panoramic view of the surface of the lake and the surrounding California hills, which are mostly golden at this point in the early winter season. (Before long, after the first real rains, they will turn “impossibly green.”) As I photographed landscape subjects I noticed one very small fishing boat on the otherwise-empty surface of the huge reservoir.


G Dan Mitchell is a California photographer and visual opportunist whose subjects include the Pacific coast, redwood forests, central California oak/grasslands, the Sierra Nevada, California deserts, urban landscapes, night photography, and more.
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Text, photographs, and other media are © Copyright G Dan Mitchell (or others when indicated) and are not in the public domain and may not be used on websites, blogs, or in other media without advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

Boats, Yaquina Bay Harbor

Boats, Yaquina Bay Harbor
Boats, Yaquina Bay Harbor

Boats, Yaquina Bay Harbor. Newport, Oregon. August 20, 2013. © Copyright 2013 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Boats at anchor at the docks along the old waterfront in Yaquina Bay, Oregon

During our return from Seattle, Washington in late August (2013) we stopped on Portland and then headed over to the coast and took the long, slow, and scenic route back to California. We spent the first day of this drive along the Oregon coast, more or less driving though but stopping frequently anywhere we saw something interesting. For those who don’t know, the Oregon coast might in some ways remind one of portions of the California coast, especially in northern California, but the ocean seems a bit wilder up here and the towns perhaps even further apart.

The town of Newport is one of the larger ones along this route, and it sits next to the large Yaquina Bay, which is crossed by an impressive and old-school steel bridge consisting of a series of arches. We stopped to photograph the bridge and noticed that the old port was nearby, so we detoured down there to see what we could see. Being familiar with ports more devoted to pleasure and tourist pursuits (Monterey Bay, anyone?), it seemed to me that this little area was still more of a working port. We spent enough time here to walk along the waterfront and make a few photographs, mostly of the densely packed boats tied up at the docks alongside the bay.

G Dan Mitchell is a California photographer and visual opportunist whose subjects include the Pacific coast, redwood forests, central California oak/grasslands, the Sierra Nevada, California deserts, urban landscapes, night photography, and more.
Blog | About | Flickr | Twitter | FacebookGoogle+ | 500px.com | LinkedIn | Email

Text, photographs, and other media are © Copyright G Dan Mitchell (or others when indicated) and are not in the public domain and may not be used on websites, blogs, or in other media without advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

Fishing Above Winter Surf, Big Sur

Fishing Above Winter Surf, Big SurFishing Above Winter Surf, Big Sur. Big Sur Coastline, California. February 9, 2008. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved. (Visit the site and click the image to see a larger version.)

Two fisherman fish from a rock outcropping above giant winter surf and shallow fog thrown up by the waves near Rocky Creek Bridge along the Big Sur coastline. A more distant perspective on a scene I uploaded earlier in a series of monochrome photographs.

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