Tag Archives: landscape

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Sierra Nevada, Photographs: Yosemite

Curving Trees, Falling Snow

Leave a comment
Curving Trees, Falling Snow
Snow falls among winter dormant trees in a Yosemite meadow

Curving Trees, Falling Snow. © Copyright 2018 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Snow falls among winter dormant trees in a Yosemite meadow

I have known for a month or so that I’d be in Yosemite for the last full week of February. That lead-in month was a very strange one for California weather. We had virtually no precipitation, and warm temperatures often made if feel more like summer than winter. These are not happy conditions for wintertime photography in the park, when a lot of the plant life is dormant and when snow and storm clouds usually provide more interesting conditions.

But immediately upon my arrival — literally the first moments I spent in the Valley — the weather changed. Not only did winter weather return, but it did so with a vengeance, and temperatures dropped much lower than would be typical for the date. On most days of my stay there were at least some clouds and on several days there was snowfall. The day I made this photograph brought the most daytime snow. In the afternoon a weak front worked its way into the Valley, and there were periodic snow showers. I headed to a tree-filled meadow when this shower arrived, and there I photographed juxtapositions of the interestedly shaped trees silhouetted against the falling snow.

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 and Amazon.
Blog | About | Flickr | Twitter | Facebook | Google+ | LinkedIn | Email

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

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

Coastal Cliffs, Mist And Shadows

Leave a comment
Coastal Cliffs, Mist And Shadows
Morning light illuminates ocean mist between cliffs descending to the Pacific Ocean

Coastal Cliffs, Mist And Shadows. © Copyright 2018 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Morning light illuminates ocean mist between cliffs descending to the Pacific Ocean

While spending a February morning and early afternoon photographing along the Big Sur coastline I passed by a rather famous and often crowded spot. Having visiting and photographed there many times, I wasn’t all that interested in stopping this time. However, I did look as I passed by, and I thought I saw some interesting light and spray down at the base of these cliffs.

By the time I saw it, there was no time to stop, so I continued on a bit, found a turnout, reversed direction and came back to look more closely. At this morning hour the western-facing cliffs are usually still in shadow, but the sun begins to rise high enough to send beams of light between them, lighting the mist and spray from surf and intensifying the color or the near-shore waters.

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 and Amazon.
Blog | About | Flickr | Twitter | Facebook | Google+ | LinkedIn | Email

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

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

Point Sur, Horizon, Clouds

2 Comments
Point Sur, Horizon, Clouds
Historic Point Sur is dwarfed by clouds and the Pacific Ocean

Point Sur, Horizon, Clouds. © Copyright 2018 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Historic Point Sur is dwarfed by clouds and the Pacific Ocean

By the time I got to this point on the Big Sur coast on this February winter day, it was past early morning and the light was more that of the midday hours. Often that might mean that the light had become flat and uninteresting, but some clouds close to the shoreline, some sunlight in the distance, and some high clouds further on made even this daytime light interesting.

I’m very familiar with this spot, where a historic lighthouse facility sits on top of a remarkable hill that would be separated from the land but for a low, sandy peninsula connecting it to the shoreline. Photographing from some distance away with a long lens, and aiming pretty much straight into the brightest reflected light, the hill’s details almost disappear into shadow, and it appears to float in the light and water.

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 and Amazon.
Blog | About | Flickr | Twitter | Facebook | Google+ | LinkedIn | Email

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

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

Pacific Coastline, Winter Haze

Leave a comment
Pacific Coastline, Winter Haze
Gentle winter haze along California’s Pacific Ocean coastline south of Monterey

Pacific Coastline, Winter Haze. © Copyright 2018 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Gentle winter haze along California’s Pacific Ocean coastline south of Monterey

I have visited this coast for decades, since my parents moved to California from the Midwest when I was four-years-old. Back then we took lots of family “day trips,” and the Monterey Peninsula and Point Lobos areas were often our goals, and I became familiar with the Coast Highway Pacific Ocean interface at a young age. There was perhaps a gap when I was in college, but when our kids were old enough we headed down this way from time to time, too.

There are a few constants here: the headland cliffs plunging into the Pacific, the twisting and turning route of the highway, the little places to stop and grab a bite to eat, the long views over the ocean and up and down the coast. But other things are rarely the same twice. The light is constantly changing, from morning to evening, from winter to summer, from clear air to fog. I would most typically photograph early or late, but on this winter day there was interesting light and atmosphere right into the middle of the day when I made this photograph, looking south along the coastline as the haze gradually obscured distant hills and the sunlight’s reflection turned the oceans distant surface a brilliant white.

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 and Amazon.
Blog | About | Flickr | Twitter | Facebook | Google+ | LinkedIn | Email

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