Tag Archives: highway

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

Two Pelicans, Sunset

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Two Pelicans, Sunset

Two Pelicans, Sunset. Pacific Coast, California. September 2, 2008. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Two pelicans fly above the Pacific Ocean along the California coast at sunset.

I’ve posted photos from this set before, but since it has been a while I’ll share the story again. I had taken by son over to Santa Cruz, where he goes to school, and we decided to drive north up the coast in the early evening and look for photo opportunities. Although this section of the coast is always interesting, on this evening the first few places we stopped just didn’t present any obvious photographic opportunities. Finally I decided to just head for a roadside turnout that I had visited before. It is located right at the edge of the steep bluffs above the ocean, and large sea birds often fly right along the edge, apparently catching the updraft from the wind coming in off the ocean. You can see the birds coming for hundreds of yards in either direction, track them as the approach, and if you are lucky they will pass by mere feet from your position.

Making this setting more interesting and/or more challenging on this evening, the sun was setting behind a bit of off-shore fog – and as I panned to follow the birds the exposure went from fairly normal light on either side of my position to the intensely colorful and very bright light coming through the fog when I was aiming directly out to see as in this photo.

Yes, it really was this color.

keywords: pelican, two, bird, wildlife, fly, wing, sunset, fog, orange, gold, ocean, pacific, coast, light, highway, one, scenic, travel, flight, california, usa, davenport

Photographs: Central California, Photographs: Ocean & Coast

Pacific Ocean, Sunset

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Pacific Ocean, Sunset

Pacific Ocean Waves, Sunset. Pacific Ocean Coastline, Northern California. September 2, 2008. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Color photograph of wave patterns and reflections as the sun sets over the Pacific Ocean south of San Francisco, California.

I drove over to the coast on an early September evening with my son to photograph pelicans and other shore birds along coastal bluffs between Santa Cruz and San Francisco. I know of a few spots on high bluffs where you can simply pull to the side of the road, take 10 steps to the west to the edge of the bluff, and then wait for birds gliding along the cliffs and taking advantage of the updrafts to stay aloft. Sometimes the birds will come past within a few feet of your position. I had been concentrating of photographing the birds, but during the breaks between flocks and individuals it was impossible to ignore the increasingly beautiful light as the sun dropped toward the horizon, casting nearly horizontal shadows of fog-diffused light. Essentially on a whim, I pointed my 100-400mm zoom (not exactly a typical landscape/seascape lens) down at the small waves at the base of the cliff and made a few exposures just as the sun began to drop below the horizon.

keywords: color, wave, swell, reflections, pacific, ocean, coast, highway, 1, one, california, usa, pattern, sun, set, sunset, evening, san francisco, coastline, shore, sea, seashore, seascape, landscape, stock

Photographs: Central California, Photographs: Ocean & Coast

Coast Highway – Big Sur

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Coast Highway - Big Sur
Coast Highway – Big Sur. Big Sur Coast, California. July 21, 2008. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell.

Coast Highway (Highway 1) along the Big Sur Coastline of Central California. Photographed during a “photography drive” up this spectacular and rugged route from Southern California in late July.

keywords: afternoon, bay, beach, big sur, california, fog, Forest, landscape, nature, ocean, pacific ocean, Road, rock, sand, seascape, seashore, sky, summer, travel, usa, water, waves, black and white, stock, coast, highway, shore, shimmer, sun, light, mountains, rock

Photographs: Central California, Photographs: Ocean & Coast

Cove and Rocky Beach, Big Sur Coastline

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Cove and Rocky Beach
Cove and Rocky Beach. Big Sur Coast, California. July 21, 2008. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A cove and rocky beach near the outlet of a silt-filled stream along the Big Sur coastline of California. Photographed during my late July photography trip up the Big Sur coastline via Highway One, the Coast Highway.

The interesting and unusual coloration in the water of the cove seems to come from silt in a nearby stream and/or a shallow underwater sand bar. (I’m not certain which, but I’m inclined toward the former.)

keywords: big sur, california, landscape, nature, ocean, pacific ocean, seascape, seashore, summer, travel, usa, water, waves, usa, sea, cove, beach, rock, headland, cliff, silt, haze, mountain, bay, island, stock