Tag Archives: landscape

Photographs: Abstract, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Northern California, Photographs: Ocean & Coast

Tidal Flat Reflections

July 31, 2017 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Blue sky reflected in channels on tide flats, Point Reyes National Seashore

In late July I spent a day at Point Reyes National Seashore, a location that is probably just within a reasonable one-day out-and-back drive for me. (And, yes, on occasion I indulge in completely unreasonable drives to photograph certain special subjects, but that’s a story for a different post.) From looking at weather forecasts, I was hopeful that I would arrive early enough to grab a fresh pastry at Point Reyes Station (success!), make it out to the Seashore before the fog cleared (success!), and then photograph as it cleared away (less success!). I never did break completely out of the fog, and the final destination of my daylong hike was pretty thoroughly socked in.

But along the way there was some interesting light, combined with some fortunate timing. My hike took me along Drakes Estero, the large, shallow estuary that extends inland from the beaches surrounding Drakes Bay. I had not checked the tides before going, but it turned out that I arrived at a rather low tide, and the water had retreated far enough to leave the mudflats high and dry, broken only by twisting channels where a bit of water remained. The fog directly overhead darkened the mud flats, but the water reflected the blue sky from an area of clearing further in the distance. Once again, it was good fortune that made a photograph possible — these abstract blue patterns could only occur at low tide, with fog overhead, and with blue sky at the fog/clear boundary nearby.

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

Photographs: Desert, Photographs: Mono Lake Basin, Photographs: Nature

From Tufa To Mountains, Dawn

July 30, 2017 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Predawn light above high desert mountains, reflecting on the surface of Mono Lake

Mono Lake is famed for several things, among them the remarkable tufa towers found in several locations along the shoreline of this great land-locked lake east of the Sierra Nevada. And, yes, this photograph includes a few of those towers — a small group that lies far enough from the shoreline to make them less accessible and interesting to most photographers. (No, that isn’t Nessie — or a band of Nessie lookalikes — at the lower left corner.)

But tufa towers are not my primary or strongest association with this place. Mine include more ephemeral things — the sense of huge space, the expanse of the sky (accentuated by the distance and smallness of surrounding mountains), the deep quiet that is broken only by the sounds of birds and wind. In my experience, to understand those things about this place you must find a quiet place away from other people and perhaps just “be” there quietly, long enough to let its stillness begin to affect you, too. On this morning I arrived in Mono Basin before dawn, ending up at a spot that is not typically regarded as being iconic. Being early, I was in no hurry, so I set up my camera and tripod and just looked for a while before beginning to make photographs of the predawn light from beyond the eastern mountains as it reflected on the breeze-ruffled surface of the lake.

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

Photographs: Desert, Photographs: Mono Lake Basin, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Sierra Nevada

Evening Rain, Reflection

July 29, 2017 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

The reflection of an evening thunderhead on the surface of Mono Lake

During the past few days I was once again in the Sierra, camping just outside Yosemite’s Tioga Pass entrance and photographing in the surrounding areas. There is a lot to write about: the tremendous amount of snow still in the high country, the remarkable amounts of water everywhere, how odd it is to see all park campgrounds along Tioga Pass road still closed, the challenges of hiking in these conditions. I’ll save most of the details about those things for another post for now, except as they may relate to this photograph. After photographing elsewhere very early in the morning and then killing time in camp until about noon, I decided to hike into an east side canyon. It was a beautiful hike, though because I was alone and had not brought trekking poles, I eventually turned around soon than I had planned rather than risk solo crossings of high-water creeks. Coming back down from the hike I was surprised to see a thunderstorm brewing over the lower end of the canyon, and I quickly found a high overlook from which to watch the show. Before long the show became a bit too exciting! Heavy hail and rain developed — too much so for photography — and I high-tailed it down to Lee Vining.

As often happens, the convective action was mostly developing to the east of the Sierra crest, so I found a (not very secret!) location from which I could watch the evening light develop above Mono Lake. Multiple thunderstorms continued to develop right through the sunset, dropping rain on the high desert mountains and reflecting the evening light onto the surface of the lake.

Photographs: Central California, Photographs: Ocean & Coast

North Shore, Fog

July 28, 2017 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

A foggy morning along the north shore cliffs of Point Lobos

In mid-July I managed to get to Point Lobos State Reserve, south of Carmel, on two occasions during the same week. It stayed foggy the entire time on the first visit, but on the second it began to clear back from the coast by mid-morning, and fog-softened light was present here as I walked along the north shore of the park. (Oddly, it was foggy inland as the area right along the coast began to clear.)

The photograph appears to show a clear view across water and into a cove where with steep rocks and tall trees at its head. In fact, my shooting position is quite covered with trees, and it was a bit of a trick to find a spot with a clear view like this. At the point at which I made the photograph the fog was still there, though it was beginning to thin a bit, and some soft light was beginning to make its way through the murk.

G Dan Mitchell Photography

Tag Archives: landscape

Tidal Flat Reflections

From Tufa To Mountains, Dawn

Evening Rain, Reflection

North Shore, Fog

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