Tag Archives: hills

Photographs: Central California, Photographs: Nature

Winter Cattails and Grasses

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Winter Cattails and Grasses

Winter Cattails and Grasses. Calero Hills, California. February 1, 2009. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Winter cattails and grasses at Calero Hills, California.

At the start of today’s “photo hike” at Calero Park I walked to Castillero Pond. I had the 100-400 lens on my camera, anticipating that there might be some birds to photograph at the pond. When I arrived there weren’t really any interesting bird subjects, but I went ahead and used the long lens to shoot these plants alongside the pond, since the long focal length does a fine job of isolating a subject and throwing the background out of focus.

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

keywords: cat, tail, cattail, grass, blade, stem, leaf, bokeh, blur, seed, fuzz, sun, light, morning, brown, golden, castillero, pond, calero, hills, county, park, santa clara, nature, foliage, landscape, winter, stock, california, usa, dry, drop, droplet

Photographs: Central California, Photographs: Nature

Winter Tree in Morning Light

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Winter Tree in Morning Light

Winter Tree in Morning Light. Calero Hills, California. January 18, 2009. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Silhouette of a winter tree in early morning backlight at Calero Hills, California.

A few weeks ago I made an early morning visit to one of my local haunts in the Calero Hills south of San Jose, California. Since I started out on a trail that took me past a small pond where there are often interesting birds, sometimes including an egret, I put the long lens on the camera and hit the trail. I did not find any birds to photograph when I reached the lake, but I did find this interesting backlit skeletal tree that framed nicely using the long telephoto.

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

keywords: winter, tree, dormant, branch, twig, trunk, silhouette, backlight, morning, grass, meadow, hills, rocks, ravine, valley, black and white, calero, santa clara county, park, nature, scenic, travel, landscape, foliage, stock, california, usa, central

Photographs: Central California, Photographs: Ocean & Coast

Moving Water and Mist

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Moving Water and Mist

Moving Water and Mist. Point Lobos State Reserve, California. November 30, 2008. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Moving water and mist at Point Lobos State Reserve, California with Carmel Highlands in the distance.

This is a long exposure with a long lens. The large rock just in front of the distant hills is “Bird Island” at Point Lobos, and the hills are roughly in the area of Carmel Highlands. The misty water swirling around the foreground rocks is enhanced by a long exposure using a 9-stop neutral density filter.

keywords: point lobos, california, usa, state, reserve, park, monterey, peninsula, big sur, carmel, pacific, ocean, sea, coast, shore, land, hills, forest, tree, wave, surf, mist, fog, surf, ridge, mountain, highlands, bird, spray, landscape, seascape, travel, scenic, stock, sky

Photographs: Central California, Photographs: Ocean & Coast

Coastal Hills, Rocks, and Surf

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Coastal Hills, Rocks, and Surf

Coastal Hills, Rocks, and Surf. Point Lobos State Reserve, California. November 30, 2008. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Black and white photograph of coastal hills, rocks, and surf – Point Lobos, California.

I think I’m guilty of trying to squeeze every last possible photograph out of my late November shoot at Point Lobos, but what else is one to do? ;-) This one again shows the atmospheric recession of the coastal fog and mist between the shoreline rocks at Point Lobos and the ridges of the shoreline mountains of this northernmost part of Big Sur.

This is another in the series of photographs shot on this morning using the 100-400mm lens – not a typical landscape/seascape lens to say the least. Oddly enough, that was the only lens I shot with during this visit to Point Lobos.

keywords: black and white, coastal, coast, shore, sea, ocean, pacific, rocks, hills, surf, wave, mountain, ridge, fog, recede, haze, mist, bird, gull, tree, forest, peak, california, usa, point lobos, reserve, park, state, stock, landscape, seascape, scenic, travel, light, big sur