Tag Archives: god

Photographs: Northern California, Photographs: San Francisco

Alcatraz and Yerba Buena Islands, San Francisco Bay, Foggy Morning Light

October 13, 2011 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

San Francisco Bay morning fog over begins to break up over Alcatraz and Yerba Buena Islands and the San Francisco Oakland Bay Bridge.

I made this photograph back around the start of spring in 2009. I recall shooting from the Marin Headlands back toward the Bay as the fog began to break up, still obscuring the view but allowing beams of light to begin to come through the gloom and light up portions of the Bay. Alcatraz Island is at upper left and beyond that is the Treasure Island and Yerba Buena Island complex.

Many things intrigued me about this scene. Although it is in shadow still, Alcatraz stands out as the clearest object in the scene. The patterns on the water were amazing, created by a combination of the normal surface waves, the wakes of ships that had passed, and the mottled and mixed lighting of areas of fog and sun. Beyond the main subjects and over the East Bay shoreline around Oakland, light beams come down from the clearing fog.

This photograph is also an example of why I save and later review all of my raw files. Either because I don’t understand the image when I first make it or perhaps I move on to the next project too quickly sometimes it is not unusual when a photograph “slips through the cracks” and I end up overlooking it. This was one of those photographs… which I now find hard to understand.

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.

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

Point Reyes Lighthouse, Pacific Ocean

June 8, 2011 G Dan Mitchell 2 Comments

Afternoon light reflects on the surface of the Pacific Ocean beyond the Point Reyes lighthouse.

(Some of the following is repeated from a previous post of the same photograph in a color version.) Although our trip to Point Reyes was not primarily to do photography, somehow I ended up bringing back quite a few photographs! This photograph was made from the iconic overlook at “the point” and right above the long stairway down to the historic lighthouse. On this afternoon high clouds were streaming in from the Pacific and casting a mottled pattern of light and shadows on the surface of the Pacific Ocean.

This spot is often completely socked in by clouds and/or extremely windy and cold. However, this was perhaps the most benign afternoon I’ve experienced there. The temperatures were very comfortable – we were a bit too warm on the walk to the point. The sun was out, and the wind was nearly still at times.

I wasn’t certain when I made the exposure of whether it would end up being a black and white or a color photograph. I’m still not sure! I’m sharing the color version first, but a black and white rendition will follow shortly.

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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.

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

Point Reyes Lighthouse, Pacific Ocean

June 7, 2011 G Dan Mitchell 3 Comments

Afternoon light reflects on the surface of the Pacific Ocean beyond the Point Reyes lighthouse.

Although our trip to Point Reyes was not primarily to do photography, somehow I ended up bringing back quite a few photographs! This photograph was made from the iconic overlook at “the point” and right above the long stairway down to the historic lighthouse. On this afternoon high clouds were streaming in from the Pacific and casting a mottled pattern of light and shadows on the surface of the Pacific Ocean.

Photographs: Northern California, Photographs: San Francisco, Photographs: Structures and Objects

San Francisco Skyline, Light Beams

December 21, 2010 G Dan Mitchell 2 Comments

Beams of light from brilliantly lit clouds send beams of light past downtown San Francisco buildings and toward the waterfront.

Anyone who knows San Francisco might be wondering about this light – and I wouldn’t blame them. These were really unusual conditions. Believe it or not, the photograph was made very early in the morning, perhaps a bit less than a half hour after sunrise. Which begs a couple of questions: why is the light coming from the right (west to southwest) at dawn? And, why does the light seem to be coming from such a high angle?

The light beams are not direct sunlight. The sun is actually far to the left of the frame and very low in the sky. Its direct light was blocked by intervening fog clouds. As the clouds moved from left to right, thinner areas in the cloud cover were struck from behind by the very low angle sunlight coming from the left and set aglow. It was the brilliant light from these areas of backlit clouds that cast the light through the mist and between buildings. What you cannot see in the still photograph is that as the clouds moved the beams of light slowly swept from right to left. From moment to moment the light beams would angle from right to left, then straight down, and then left to right.

Another amazing thing was that I appeared to be the only person out making photographs of this…

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.

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