Tag Archives: forest

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

Incoming Winter Storm, Point Lobos

February 1, 2010 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Black and white photograph of the leading edge of a winter storm passing over the Pacific coastline at Point Lobos State Reserve, California.

On this morning I thought the weather was going to be too rainy and cloudy to shoot – and I slept it. When I got up and saw that maybe it wasn’t going to be quite that bad I made a quick decision to head south and out toward the coast, and ended up at Point Lobos. The huge storm surf was beating against the coast and the leading edge of the incoming cold front was just passing over the coastline, putting some impressive clouds about the coast and the spray/mist from the big waves, and letting me shoot almost straight toward the sun.

Not all of my black and white photographs start out that way. In truth, while I sometimes have a pretty good idea that a particular shot is heading in the monochrome direction when I make the exposure, with other images I don’t “discover” this until I begin my work in post. With this one I had a pretty clear idea that the clouds and that receding layers for rock and bluff would work in black and white.

This photograph is not in the public domain and may not be used on websites, blogs, or in other media without advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

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Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Northern California

Oaks and Hills, Winter Fog

January 24, 2010 G Dan Mitchell 2 Comments

Winter morning fog clears over northern California hills and oak forest.

When it comes to photography, there is a long list of subjects that I cannot resist. Included on this list are: morning sunshine across the shoulder of a grassy hill, oak trees, clearing, high clouds from an approaching weather front, hills receding into the haze-shrouded distance, stacked diagonal forms, a bit of a trail. This is, of course, a list that corresponds pretty much to what is found in this scene.

I was out hiking in my “photographic backyard” in the Calero hills on this early-January morning. I initially went out looking for fog, and I found that in abundance earlier in the morning when I photographed a solitary oak tree in a fog covered valley. Soon, however, the fog began to hold light that suggested clearing above, so I headed up a trail to a nearby ridge that commands a good view of surrounding oak-filled valleys and ridges. When I arrived there the fog was still quite thick, but I felt it would soon start to clear so I went ahead and unpacked my gear and set up my tripod… and waited. Soon I was rewarded with this scene to my south, mostly backlit by the morning sun as the fog washed in and out of the valleys and finally the sun became bright enough to light this foreground ridge and cast shadows from the oak trees.

This photograph is not in the public domain and may not be used on websites, blogs, or in other media without advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

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Photographs: Coastal Redwoods, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Northern California

Redwood Creek, Muir Woods

January 5, 2010 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Water cascades over moss covered rocks along Redwood Creek at Muir Woods National Monument.

I made this photograph on a low-light end-of-autumn day at Muir Woods where the first bridge on the main trail loop crosses over Redwood Creek. It was no problem getting a long enough exposure in this low light – in fact, the main technical issue here involved waiting for a break in the tourist hiker traffic across the bridge, since the bridge is small and tends to bounce!

I love Muir Woods during the dark and damp season of late fall and early winter. The direct sunlight does not often make it down into the bottom of this cold canyon at this time of year. The light is almost always soft and diffused and when everything is a bit wet – e.g. most of the time – the colors becomes intense and saturated.

This photograph is not in the public domain and may not be used on websites, blogs, or in other media without advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

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Photographs: Coastal Redwoods, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Northern California

Autumn Leaves, Muir Woods

January 2, 2010 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Colorful late autumn leaves in the redwood forest of Muir Woods National Monument, California.

These leaves represent more or less the last gasp of autumn color at Muir Woods – the photograph was taken just a few days before the winter solstice. Although I’ve visited Muir Woods a number of times of a period of many years, during this past year I have done quite a bit of photography there, and with this series of photographs I feel like I’ve gone through a full season with the park. As I wandered through the main groves twice during the last half of December I really had a strong feeling of concluding a year of growth in the forest… and of shooting this subject. It was fitting that on this visit I saw for the first time one of the first flowers to come up as a new cycle begins, the fetid adders’ tongue and its subtle but beautiful flower. This got me thinking about and looking forward to the cycle of renewal that will soon begin again in this park.

This photograph is not in the public domain and may not be used on websites, blogs, or in other media without advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

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