Tag Archives: haze

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

Wave-Filled Bay, California Coast

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Wave-Filled Bay, California Coast
Surf along the beach at the mouth of San Carpoforo Creek near the southen end of the Big Sur coast.

Wave-Filled Bay, California Coast. © Copyright 2021 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Surf along the beach at the mouth of San Carpoforo Creek near the southen end of the Big Sur coast.

We were recently in Southern California for the Thanksgiving holiday, and we decided to extend our drive back to Northern California, taking an extra day to drive up the Pacific Coast Highway along the Big Sur Coast. The question of just what is and is not “Bug Sur” comes up in a photograph of a location like this one. My working definition of “Big Sur” is larger than the town by that name much further north, and it encompasses everything south of roughly Carmel, down to the area below Ragged Point where the coastal landscape is much gentler. This photograph comes from the very southern end of that area — the vantage point is very close to Ragged Point, but it looks south toward those coastal lowlands.

Recently I was involved in a discussion in which someone asked about photographing some specific icons along this part of the California coast where one person chimed in with, to paraphrase, “there’s nothing left to photograph there.” While I agree that just re-photographing that handful of familiar icons is a doubtful enterprise, this hundred-mile section of coast is so complex and diverse that I cannot imagine anyone ever being “done” with it or discovering everything it offers. I’ve photographed there for decades, and I still encounter things I haven’t seen before — including this view of the coast and successive beaches and peninsulas stretching to the south.

(Note: I’m experimenting with some changes to the way I format and present photographs online. You may see some differences in how this photograph appears.)

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: Fall, Photographs: Fall Color, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Sierra Nevada

Aspen Grove and Rocky Hill

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Aspen Grove and Rocky Hill
A small aspen grove and a rocky hill, high in the Buttermilks.

Aspen Grove and Rocky Hill. © Copyright 2021 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A small aspen grove and a rocky hill, high in the Buttermilks.

This photograph comes from “Buttermilk Country” (also known as “The Buttermilks”) in the Eastern Sierra Nevada, an area perhaps best know to climbers for its innumerable bouldering opportunities. I’ve long wondered about the name, but in the past I had only speculated idly that something about the formations here somehow suggested “buttermilk” to visitors… though it is very hard to see any logic in that. I finally looked it up, and apparently the name goes back to the 1870s when a dairy supposedly operated in the area. (It seems like an odd place for a dairy, but I confess that my dairy experience is… limited.)

The area interests me photographically on a number of counts. Perhaps most obviously, it sits right beneath one of the most magnificent sections of the Sierra crest, and open views of these mountains are available throughout the region. Additionally, the rounded boulders and other formations that attract climbers are plentiful and quite different than the usual east side terrain. It also is one of those wonderful Eastern Sierra interfaces between the high desert and the beginnings of the more alpine world. That latter is what we were looking for when we visited recently, navigating far enough on some of the rough roads that we got to where the small aspen groves begin. It was a lovely morning — a dusting of new snow was on the nearby mountains, brilliant sun was shining, and a bit of haze accentuated the distance between near and far subjects.

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

Headlands, Fog

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Headlands, Fog
Big Sur headlands, fog, and bright sunshine.

Headlands, Fog. © Copyright 2021 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Big Sur headlands, fog, and bright sunshine.

Autumn is my favorite season. It isn’t just about the colorful annual displays of fall leaf color, though that is quite compelling. It is just that, oil general, almost everything is in transition. The element of change itself is exciting, but so is the trajectory of the changes — new colors, cooler weather, rain and snow begin to arrive, fascinating skies, different light, and more. Along the nearby California coast all sorts of things draw me — the intense light, glowing fog, big surf, the newly green hills of California’s wet season.

This past week I made my first autumn pilgrimage to the Big Sur region, leaving home well before sunrise so that I could be there for the early morning light and before the fog cleared. I had not checked the weather carefully, so I was surprised by some impressively large surf, and the combination of ocean spray and coastal fog created some beautiful and moody scenes. I went about as far south as this location, where I have photographed many times in the past, and found a scene full of brilliantly glowing atmosphere, with fog muting the details of the landscape as it faded into the distance.

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: Fall, Photographs: Fall Color, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Sierra Nevada

Aspens and Dome, Eastern Sierra

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Aspens and Dome, Eastern Sierra
A line of autumn aspen trees in front of a rocky dome, Eastern Sierra Nevada.

Aspens and Dome, Eastern Sierra. © Copyright 2021 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A line of autumn aspen trees in front of a rocky dome, Eastern Sierra Nevada.

This photograph comes from a morning of Eastern Sierra exploration into an area that I would not typically go to for fall color photography — not because there is no fall color there to photograph, but because it isn’t exactly the most accessible place to find it. For sure, there are easier places to find the color nearby. We put the 4Runner in 4WD and slowly tracked up toward the base of the range, eventually gaining enough elevation that there were aspens, the sort that live in harmony with surrounding high desert foliage of rabbitbrush and sage.

It was a beautiful morning of the sort that you’ll only find here in autumn. A weak storm has been through a few days earlier, and there was a dusting of snow on the highest Sierra crest peaks and behind us, across Owens Valley, on the White Mountains. Despite the recent storm the morning warmed nicely, and the sunlight was warm as we photographed. Here a small row of aspens, midway through the color change process, stood against a small, rocky dome, and beyond that in the haze-obscured distance were higher hills rising toward the summit of the range.

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.