Tag Archives: fog

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

Winter Fog, Big Sur Coast

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Winter Fog, Big Sur Coast
Winter fog and ocean spray hugs the rugged Big Sur coast.

Winter Fog, Big Sur Coast. © Copyright 2021 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Winter fog and ocean spray hugs the rugged Big Sur coast.

It is possible that my writing about the Big Sur Coast could become a bit repetitious. After all, my visits to the place are… repetitive! It takes about an hour for me to drive to the upper boundary of the region, and I can (and do) make a down and back trip in less than a day, often leaving home before sunrise and returning for a late lunch. Proximity to this remarkable landscape is a big part of what induces me to continue to put up with San Francisco Bay Area traffic and costs. It is hard to imagine another place with access to so many remarkable things.

This photograph comes from a visit on a sunny early December day last year. The season from November through the first half of spring is my favorite along this coast. The surf is often impressive — especially when a Pacific weather front is approaching — and conditions are remarkably variable, including fog, brilliant sunshine, strong winds, beautiful clouds, intimidating storms, and more. This morning featured one of my favorite combinations of conditions: surf big enough to raise mist along the coastline, a bit of a marine layer, and brilliant sun overhead.

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: Nature, Photographs: Ocean & Coast, Photographs: Pacific Northwest

Surf, Sand, and Rocks

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Surf, Sand, and Rocks
Rocky islands and peninsulas surround a small bay at a southern oregon beach.

Surf, Sand, and Rocks. © Copyright 2021 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Rocky islands and peninsulas surround a small bay at a southern oregon beach.

This photograph is the partner of another from the same location that I posted recently. This spot is along the lower coast of Oregon, not too far above the northern California border. We had been visiting the California coastal redwoods in the upper part of the state, and we decided to make a day trip across the border and up that coast. We had no specific goal in mind — well, not beyond finding a place for breakfast along the way — so we just headed north to see what we would find.

We were not expecting to find any particular “icons,” we were freed to stop at whatever seemed interesting. I don’t know that name of these formation, and my only way of identifying them was to record a mileage marker along the route. The large stone features here stand in shallow water — in some places literally on the beach. I chose the vertical format for this photograph to emphasize the view across the beach and the little bay between the rocks, leading the eye to the distant horizon and fog bank.

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: Nature, Photographs: Ocean & Coast

Dark Headland, Big Sur Coast

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A dark headland cliff rises directly above the Pacific along the Big Sur coast as fog clears from distant mountains.

Dark Headland, Big Sur Coast. © Copyright 2021 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A dark headland cliff rises directly above the Pacific along the Big Sur coast as fog clears from distant mountains.

Recently we spent some time photographing along the far Northern California coast. One thing leads to another, and before long I found myself looking back through raw file archives from previous coastal photography, including subjects from up and down the entire coast of the state. One set of older files came from a one-day jaunt about halfway down the Big Sur coast on a day when the weather was shifting from clear and sunny to windier and (potentially) wetter as a large Pacific front was working its way down the coast.

The light was quite amazing on this day. Although clouds were approaching from the north (behind my camera position in this photograph), to the south it was still quite sunny — so bright, in fact, that it was hard to look directly at the surface of the ocean here. At the same time the morning coastal fog was thinning and drifting away from the mountains as they curved to the south and southeast. I made several photographs from this spot, all of them featuring the tall and steep dark headland in the foreground. In this one I opened up the scene a bit wider to include the curving sweep on the coastline as it continued to the south.

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, Photographs: Travel

Approaching Storm, Big Sur Coast

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Approaching Storm, Big Sur Coast
Haze and fog along the mountain tops as a storm approaches along the rugged Big Sur coast of California.

Approaching Storm, Big Sur Coast. © Copyright 2021 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Haze and fog along the mountain tops as a storm approaches along the rugged Big Sur coast of California.

This photograph actually from a couple of years ago. (More on that subject in a moment.) I made it on one of my Big Sur day trips, on which I leave home early, photograph before the crowds arrive, and then head home by early afternoon. Yes, I’m fortunate to live close enough to do that. If I recall correctly, on this day I was hoping to beat a weather front to the coast, expecting to photograph the sunny boundary just ahead of the clouds. Conditions were different from what I expected — by the time I arrived at this point the front’s cloud shield was moving over the coastline, becoming more dramatic by the moment. Fog along the coastal hills was dissipating and there was still some haze.

Not only is this photograph from two years ago, but it is a fresh rendition of a scene that I shared at that time, based either on the very same exposure or one made at almost the same time. I went with an (unusual for me) square crop in order to contrast the dark mass of the steep cliffs rising from the sea and the more distant and lighter water, mountains, and sky. For those of you who may occasionally have dreams about where you would like to live, if you look very closely at the dark foreground ridge you might spot a place that could make you very jealous.

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.