Tag Archives: highway

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

Big Creek Bridge, Big Sur Coast

January 25, 2016 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Evening light on the Big Sur Coast and the Big Creek Bridge

I have to admit that when it comes to available photograph subjects… I am spoiled. I knew I was going to go make photographs today, but when I awoke well before dawn I had not decided for sure where I would go. I considered going north across the Golden Gate to Point Reyes National Seashore, but it sounded like a weak weather system was going to pass through that area late in the day. I thought about heading to the Central Valley where my favorite winter subject, migratory birds, can be found — but I generally prefer to go there when I think there will be at least some fog. So I headed south, beginning my morning with a few hours at the Point Lobos State Reserve and then heading further south down the Big Sur coastline.

When I arrived at Point Lobos the light was interesting and the surf was still huge. Over the next few hours the surf diminished a bit and a thin overcast drifted in overhead and began to thicken. I figured that I might get somewhat clearer light a bit further south, so off I went on the Pacific Coast Highway. On the way south I stopped at this spot and considered it as a possible subject for the sunset hour, and then I continued on down the coast. Later I checked the time, estimated I had enough to make it back to this spot before sunset, and headed back up the road, arriving here perhaps ten minutes before the good light arrived. The bridge, dwarfed by the immense landscape of coastal mountains and ocean, spans the outlet of Big Creek.

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

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: The Southwest, Photographs: Utah

Calf Creek Canyon

November 30, 2014 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Fall colors along Calf Creek in the bottom of Calf Creek Canyon, Utah

Anyone who has spent much time in this part of Utah probably knows this view along highway 12 between Boulder and Escalante. They (you?) probably also remember this section of the road well, too, since it follows a rather remarkable route as it drops to the Escalante River from plateau country to the west, rises up a narrow canyon from the Calf Creek and Escalante River confluence, and then runs along the top of a thin bit of high country between very deep canyons.

I drove it more than once on a recent visit, but only stopped to photograph on the final traverse after leaving Boulder to head west and meet family at Zion. It was morning, and I had more time than I needed for the drive, especially since I wanted to arrive in Zion at an hour when the light would be good along Mt. Carmel Highway. As I looked down from the road into the Calf Creek drainage I simply had to stop and make a few photographs. The light was slightly softened by high clouds and the fall color of the cottonwood trees and other foliage along the creek bed was at its peak. A bit of haze accentuated the distance as the canyon and its complex geology meandered toward its meeting with the Escalante a few mile further on.

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: Central California, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Wildlife

Napping Elephant Seals

August 23, 2014 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

A crowd of elephant seals napping on the beach near Point Piedras Blancas

This is (yet another!) photograph of elephant seals lolling about on the beach near Point Piedras Blancas just south of the Big Sur coastline. This location is well-known for providing easy access to viewing of these remarkable animals. They are found in many other locations along the coast now that their numbers have recovered, but in most places access is much more difficult. Here there is an “elephant seal nursery” mere feet for the Pacific Coast Highway, with short observation trails that give good views of the action and which protect both the seals and the human visitors.

I visited a bit earlier in this season when the pups were still rather small. This visit was almost an afterthought — after a morning of photographing landscapes and seascapes along the Big Sur coast I found myself at the southern end of this area with a few hours to kill in midday light, so I decided to drive a bit further and visit the seals. There were not nearly as many there at this later point in the season, but there were still plenty for me to make photographs. Images of the animals lying almost motionless on the sand not only evoke our own pleasant thoughts of doing the same thing (!) but they can also create a false impression that the lives of these creatures are lives of ease. In fact, the reality seems quite a bit different. In contrast to what seems like a life as a big chunk of sleeping blubber, these animals become quite sleek and graceful once in the water — where I understand that they have to be on the lookout in order to avoid become a snack for a great white shark!

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

Elephant Seals, Point Piedras Blancas

August 16, 2014 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Elephant seals massed along the edge of the beach at Point Piedras Blancas, California

Photographing elephant seals was not originally port of my (somewhat vague) plan when I set out for the Big Sur coast on this one day outing. I started out fairly early heading south, figuring that I would just stop at whatever seemed interesting along the way. It was quite foggy across the Salinas Valley near the outlet of the Salinas River, so I wasn’t sure what I would find on the coast. But when I got there the fog was thinning quickly, so I had a lot of opportunities for seascape/landscape photography along the periphery of the fog. Continuing south I eventually “ran out of fog” and as it became midday the light was less inspiring, so I set a new goal of looking for lunch! After lunch I continue south a bit more and crossed the lowlands south of Ragged Point.

As I drove past the elephant seal viewing area, which I had last visited in the winter when the newborn seals were still there, I was a little surprised to find a decent number of seals. Since the good light for photography on the return drive was still a ways off, I figured that photographing elephant seals was as good of a way to spend an hour as any so I stopped and made some photographs. The place is quite different without all of the newborn seals. There were far fewer seals and almost all were relatively large. Mostly they lay around, either up on the beach a ways or else lined up side to side right at the waterline as this group is doing.

G Dan Mitchell Photography

Tag Archives: highway

Big Creek Bridge, Big Sur Coast

Calf Creek Canyon

Elephant Seals, Point Piedras Blancas

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