Tag Archives: fog

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

Edge of the Light

Image Leave a comment
Edge of the Light
Light at the edge of a Pacific Coast fog bank on a summer evening.

Edge of the Light. © Copyright 2012 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Light at the edge of a Pacific Coast fog bank on a summer evening.

By this point I am quite familiar with this coastline below California’s Monterey Peninsula — I’ve been visiting almost continuously since I was a child and my parents took the family down there for day trips and rare overnights in Monterey. We went to Point Lobos all the time, where I spent days investigating tide pools and hiking trails along the shoreline.

All of this may partially be my way of explaining why I might make a photograph like this —not a typical “tourist shot” of the rugged Big Sur coast, but something much quieter. The fog is a near-constant presence here, often coming onshore and muting colors and light and condensing the visual world. When it isn’t over the land it is often just off shore — perhaps far enough out that you have to look for it or, as here, right along the shoreline. The edge of the fog bank can be a place of amazing light — dark in distance beneath the clouds and surprisingly bright along the edges and where beams of light reflect off the water.

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.

Blog | About | Flickr | Facebook | Email

Links to Articles, Sales and Licensing, my Sierra Nevada Fall Color book, Contact Information.

Scroll down to leave a comment or question.

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

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Ocean & Coast

Surf, Rocks, Clearing Fog

Image Leave a comment
Surf, Rocks, Clearing Fog
Morning fog begins to clear over rocky islands along the Pacific coast.

Surf, Rocks, Clearing Fog. © Copyright 2012 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Morning fog begins to clear over rocky islands along the Pacific coast.

One of my habits is, when possible, to head for the Pacific Coast sound of Monterey early in the morning, especially on days when I think that there will be coastal fog and it will likely clear at some point during the morning. The thickest fog can be dramatic, but it can also kill the light — but when it starts to clear and the light begins to come into the scene, the effects can be glorious. The fog may glow, colors on the water and hills can be enhanced, and views of the sky above the fog begin to emerge.

On this late-March morning I decided to make a stop at Point Lobos, where a big, early-spring surf was making things interesting. From a great distance I photographed this scene with a long lens as big breakers swept over the edges of the rocky islands and as the fog began to thin and reveal blue sky above.

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.

Blog | About | Flickr | Facebook | Email

Links to Articles, Sales and Licensing, my Sierra Nevada Fall Color book, Contact Information.

Scroll down to leave a comment or question.

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

Photographs: Northern California, Photographs: San Francisco

Late Winter Morning , Richardson Bay

Image Leave a comment
Late Winter Morning , Richardson Bay
Clouds and fog about Richardson Bay and San Francisco Bay on a winter morning.

Late Winter Morning , Richardson Bayv. © Copyright 2012 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Clouds and fog about Richardson Bay and San Francisco Bay on a winter morning.

This photograph comes from a late-winter visit to redwoods north of San Francisco — the time of year where the trillium flowers are in bloom and when the approach of spring is evident. I had crossed the Golden Gate Bridge heading north, then left US 101 and climbed into the hills between there and the coast. From a familiar section of roadway there is a clear view back toward the Bay, so I stopped and photographed in the morning light.

The atmosphere was striking on this morning — a combination of backlight glinting on the water’s surface, low fog over the east bay, and odd band of bright clouds floating over the scene, and high above some slightly colored high clouds. In the foreground is Richardson Bay, between Sausalito and Tiburon, and beyond it is possibly to make out portions of the old eastern span of the Bay Bridge.

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.

Blog | About | Flickr | Facebook | Email

Links to Articles, Sales and Licensing, my Sierra Nevada Fall Color book, Contact Information.

Scroll down to leave a comment or question.

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

Photographs: Birds, Photographs: Central California, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Wildlife

Taking to the Air

Image Leave a comment
Taking to the Air
A flock of migratory geese takes flight on a foggy winter morning.

Taking to the Air. © Copyright 2012 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A flock of migratory geese takes flight on a foggy winter morning.

This photograph comes from quite a few years back, so I may be manufacturing what seems like a reasonably clear memory of this morning. Perhaps I’ve experienced so many that they merge into a type rather than a specific day. But I recall it as one of those times when I arrived to find a large group of geese still settled in on a pond. Before long, they began departing in small groups — not a gigantic unified lift-off.

Judging from the camera information on photograph it was a very foggy morning. Although it was a couple hours after my pre-dawn arrival, the sky is still foggy, which suggests that the tule fog had been dense when I arrived. Such winter days, which begin in opaque atmosphere that lingers for hours, are my favorites in places like this.

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.

Blog | About | Flickr | Facebook | Email

Links to Articles, Sales and Licensing, my Sierra Nevada Fall Color book, Contact Information.

Scroll down to leave a comment or question.

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