Tag Archives: fog

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

From 2008: Winter Surfers, Northern California

January 24, 2014 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Since the 2014 Mavericks surf competition is on for today, I’m reposting a favorite surfer photograph of mine from 2008, along with descriptive text. Enjoy!

Two surfers near the edge of the winter surf in central California near San Francisco. Black and white.

As I write this description a half dozen years after making the photograph it is the day of another Mavericks surf competition, and I remember distinctly the day I made the photograph and the experience of making it. The location is somewhat typical of the California Coast Highway, along with the road alternates between ascending along the edges of high coastal mountains and dropping down to small beaches where creeks and rivers enter the sea. This beach is one of those latter locations, in this case one I frequently visit when I photograph along the coast south of San Francisco.

My favorite time of year along this coast is the winter, and for a diversity of reasons. Contrary to the expectations of non-Californians, summer is not the most beautiful time on the coast. In summer the coast is frequently socked in by fog, and the clear days are so clear that there may be no clouds – a lovely thought for all but perhaps the photographers, who often wants more “interesting” conditions. In the winter the ocean can become a powerful force, with winds whipping the tops of huge waves as storms near and far stir things up. While the summer coast can seem benign, the winter coast can present us with scenes of tremendous, awe-inspiring power. But it can also be quiet and moody as it was on this day. Yes, the surf was running high (which is why the Mavericks surf competition was going on a few miles north of this spot on the day I made the photograph), but winter clouds muted the colors, the sounds of birds and water were everywhere. These two surfers walked quietly along the beach, seeming a part of this beautiful scene. (Revised description written January 24, 2014)

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.

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Northern California, Photographs: Ocean & Coast, Photographs: San Francisco

Marin Headlands, Winter Evening

January 24, 2014 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Golden evening haze over the Pacific Coast below the rugged cliffs of the Marin headlands

How we ended up here on this evening in a slightly complicated and random story. Our main goal was to go San Francisco’s De Young Museum, where the big show of David Hockney’s work was entering its final days – we had been planning to go but somehow the time passed and it was now or never. I’d write, “It is a great show and you should go…” but it is too late! Hockney’s work is engrossing and compelling and includes subjects that a landscape photographer can identify with. (Hockney’s relationship to photography is interesting and, it seems, a bit complex. He is known for some photo collages that he created, yet he disparages photography or at least the way photography is often done. He apparently said something about photography along the lines of it being fine if you want to view the world from the point of view of a paralyzed cyclops. Ouch!)

We spent a few hours in the exhibit and then it was mid afternoon. There were still a couple of hours of light left, so we decided to head across the Golden Gate Bridge, but with only the vaguest of plans in mind. (Basically the plan consisted of “Coffee and then look for something before the light is gone.”) By the time we got over there and were ready to look for light, we realized that we had only a short time before the light would go and we would have to head back over the bridge to get dinner. (We had reservations at a favorite Indian restaurant.) We realized that we had only enough time to drive up into the headlands on our way to the bridge, so up Conzelman Road we went. I missed a mysterious and ominous photograph of a large freighter in the haze outside the Golden Gate since I wasn’t able to find a place to stop and park – but we finally managed to park the car and get out and look around. I did not take my camera gear out at first, since I have more than enough photographs of The City and the bridge at sunset, but soon I became interested in the backlit glow around the rugged cliffs dropping to the water to the west and then the expanse of glowing, hazy air stretching over the water towards the horizon, where water and sky merged invisibly.

Photographs: Central California, Photographs: Flight, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Northern California, Photographs: Wildlife

Sandhill Cranes, Marsh, Dawn

January 7, 2014 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Flocks of sandhill cranes fly through dawn haze above San Joaquin Valley marshland

This is another New Year’s Day photograph – and probably won’t be the last one. The typical process when I shoot here is to start at a parking area near the entrance before the sun comes up, either meeting friends there or else simply pausing to get my gear ready and put on warm clothes. Without fail, I also pause for a few minutes to take in the extraordinary sound of the many thousands of migratory birds, usually coming from unseen places off in the mist or fog, and the sound always makes me smile. I may make a few initial photographs in the dim predawn light, and then I usually move off to start looking for subjects.

On this morning I began my “move” before the sun came up, but moments later I looked over my shoulder to see the first light of the rising sun, and I quickly found this location with a small gap in the tules, a bare tree, and some reflecting water, and I lined them up with the rising sun. In this foggy valley, when the fog is not too thick, there is a brief interval of perhaps a minute or two when the globe of the sun rises behind the fog, which mutes the light and allows me to shoot straight into the sun. Also right about dawn, flights of sandhill cranes lift off and fly in lines above the landscape – and on this morning the two ephemeral events happened simultaneously.

Photographs: Central California, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Northern California

Levee Road and Trees

January 6, 2014 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

A pond reflects trees in foggy morning light along a twisting San Joaquin Valley levee road

This photograph is from my New Year’s Day visit to the San Joaquin Valley, where I went to greet the dawn in the company of thousands of migratory birds and a couple of good friends. After arriving home from the east coast the previous night at about 11:00 and getting to bed after midnight, I arose before 4:00 AM and headed off to the valley. Despite the sleep deprivation, it helped a bit to remind myself that it was already 7:00 AM back in New York, where I had spent the previous week – but only a bit. I arrived before dawn to meet my friends Dave and Charlotte, and we quickly went to work photographing the birds and the early and misty environment of this marshland area.

Shortly after the sun rose I headed out along this road that follows the contours of the levees separating the various ponds. Mostly they travel in relatively straight lines, but here the track takes a winding course among stands of cottonwood trees. When I stopped to look around a bit I glanced back and saw this pattern, with the early light on the vegetation and the slight fog causing colors and contrast to fade into the distance.

G Dan Mitchell Photography

Tag Archives: fog

From 2008: Winter Surfers, Northern California

Marin Headlands, Winter Evening

Sandhill Cranes, Marsh, Dawn

Levee Road and Trees

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