Winter sunset clouds at over offshore rocks and surf along the Pacific Coast at Pigeon Point, California.
I admit to still being a sucker for good sunset clouds. So, after I finished making a few photographs of the iconic Pigeon Point Lighthouse along the California coast highway between San Francisco and Santa Cruz I decided to simply point the camera out towards an interesting off-shore rock formation, include a bit of ocean, surf, and horizon at the bottom of the page, and shoot the sunset color in the clouds and sky.
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.
The view from the Marin Headlands across the Golden Gate and San Francisco to the East Bay and the hills beyond.
This is probably another familiar scene – the panoramic view of the Golden Gate and its famous bridge with San Francisco and its famous bay beyond. This vantage point high in the Marin Headlands provides a spectacular perspective on San Francisco and a good portion of the Bay. Treasure Island and Yerba Buena Island are visible above the north (left) tower of the Golden Gate bridge and the inland hills of the Diablo Range (a.k.a. as the “east bay hills”) are seen in the far distance.
This scene is often presented in a more panoramic perspective – in other words a wider and shorter composition. I played around with that idea here, but I ended up liking the sense of depth provided by the bit of Marin Headlands bluff at the bottom and I like this late autumn sky – though it felt more like early winter!
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.
Black and white photograph of the Point Bonita Lighthouse above the Pacific Ocean surf of the Marin Headlands with the south side of the Golden Gate beyond.
I earlier posted a photograph of the inland side of Point Bonita – this one is from the Pacific Coast side, high on bluffs just north of the Point Bonita Lighthouse and looking south back across the outer entrance to the San Francisco Bay. This is a very rugged bit of coastline here between the Bay and Rodeo Beach and Fort Cronkhite just to the north, where there is a wide beach at the end of a valley.
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” (Heyday Books) is available directly from him.
Black and white photograph of morning light on coastal cliffs and beaches near the Point Bonita Lighthouse in the Marin Headlands with the Pacific Ocean beyond – Golden Gate National Recreation Area.
This photograph represents another “stop the car, back up, and shoot this now!” moments – the second one during a single weekend.
I had taken a long day to photograph north of San Francisco, ostensibly with the excuse of having to meet someone in the City that evening – heck, might as well leave early and spend the day shooting, right? I had only vague plans to head across the Golden Gate Bridge when I started out that morning, but I stopped near the north end and headed up into the Marin Headlands when I saw some pretty special lighting and atmospheric conditions over the Bay. After shooting that general subject (including photos of the Bridge, the Bay, and the City posted earlier and still to come) I drove on up the road and then out toward Point Bonita.
The last part of this road is a narrow, twisty one-way drive high on the coastal hills above the outer reaches of the Golden Gate. As I came around one turn the view opened up and I saw – for the first time, though I’ve been here before – this great view of Point Bonita and the Pacific. I quickly stopped, set up, and made a few exposures.
The Point Bonita area is an interesting one. All along this section of the Marin Headlands are found old forts and artillery sites, supposedly to protect the Bay from invasion by sea. There is no longer a military presence here – this is now part of the Golden Gate Recreation Area, but many of the historic sites remain. Point Bonita itself is the site of a lighthouse at the north edge of the entrance to San Francisco Bay. It is a wild place. Not only it is in a spectacular location of tall coastal bluffs and steep cliffs that is fully open to the power of the Pacific, but the lighthouse itself is on a small island set slightly apart from the main landmass. The only way to get to it is to walk a trail along the steep cliffs – which passes through a tunnel at one point – then cross the top of the low bluff, and then walk the bridge to the small island.
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.
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Photographer and visual opportunist. Daily photos since 2005, plus articles, reviews, news, and ideas.
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