Coastal Bluffs in Sunset Light. Near Davenport, California. December 8, 2012. © Copyright 2012 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Sunset light momentarily illuminates coastal bluffs near Davenport, California

This photograph or one very much equivalent to it might have been made in any of perhaps thousands of locations along the California coastline, given the right time of year, the right atmospheric conditions, and the right light. With just a bit of looking around, these views from promontory bluffs, looking down the coastline past a series of other rugged bluffs are characteristic of the area. This spot happens to be near the small coastal town of Davenport, California just north of Santa Cruz.

The photograph illustrates one thing about my orientation to photographing the coast line and also illustrates something about light. About the coastline… my favorite times of the year on the coast are not the typical peak tourist season times, but instead are during the late fall through early spring period. Not only is coastal fog much less likely – though still possible! – but the ocean is more interesting and variable under the influence of winter weather, the potential for interesting skies is greater, and the generally lower-angle light creates all sorts of interesting possibilities. The clouds in this photograph, which glow just a bit in the momentary sunset light, are from a weak weather front that passed over during this afternoon along the coast. That weather front leads to my second point about light, which I’ll get to by way of telling part of the story of this afternoon’s photography. When I arrived at this location near the middle of the day, the light seemed very, very unpromising. It wasn’t just the usual nature of midday light, but there was a sort of bland haze in the air, and a shield of approaching clouds was coming down from the north – and as the afternoon wore on it became clear that those thick clouds were going to end up in front of the sun in the late afternoon.

However, sometimes the easiest and most predictable light is the least interesting to shoot in, and the least predictable and sometimes least-promising light can occasionally produce momentary wonders if you watch and are ready for them – or just have enough dumb luck to arrive at the right instant! (On the other hand, you can also watch and wait and, in the end, get… nothing. It goes with the territory!) In this case, I thought about two things. First, I thought about how I could photograph this “boring” light. The way I look at it, I’m there because the place, the circumstances, and the time are interesting – in which case there must be some way to produce a photograph in those conditions that reflect that. But that’s not my point with this particular photograph. The point that this one so nicely illustrates has to do with that possibility of momentary light on a day that seems unpromising. I ran into a couple of other photographers on the bluff during the “blah light” period. I wasn’t making photographs at that point, instead mostly just looking around. We talked briefly about the currently uninspiring light, but I pointed out that I thought I could see an edge to the cloud shield far off-shore, and if I was right there just might be a brief moment of special light as the sun passed below that edge and before it reached the horizon. Sure enough, with just a few minutes left before sunset, the sun dropped below the clouds and an intense band of extremely warm light began to suffuse the coastline against the backdrop of gray higher clouds. It lasted for only a minute or two, but that light was worth the wait.

G Dan Mitchell is a California photographer and visual opportunist whose subjects include the Pacific coast, redwood forests, central California oak/grasslands, the Sierra Nevada, California deserts, urban landscapes, night photography, and more.
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Text, photographs, and other media are © Copyright G Dan Mitchell (or others when indicated) and are not in the public domain and may not be used on websites, blogs, or in other media without advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.