Tag Archives: landscape

Photographs: Central California, Photographs: Ocean & Coast

Three Birds and Rocks

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Three Birds and Rocks

Three Birds and Rocks. Point Lobos, California. November 30, 2008. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Black and white photograph of three birds on rugged rocks with winter surf beyond – Point Lobos, California.

Another photograph from my brief excursion to Point Lobos last weekend, on a morning of very high winter surf and backlit fog. Three small birds perch on rugged coastal rocks with the churning coastal waters beyond.

keywords: black and white, silhouette, rocks, ridge, mist, fog, atmosphere, recession, wave, surf, ocean, sea, bay, birds, three, gulls, light, foam, point lobos, state, reserve, park, california, usa, landscape, seascape, coast, shore, pacific, ocean, winter, scenic, travel, monterey, peninsula, big sur, stock

Photographs: Central California, Photographs: Ocean & Coast

Punta de los Lobos Marinos

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Punta de los Lobos Marinos

Punta de los Lobos Marinos. Point Lobos, California. November 30, 2008. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Black and white photograph of winter surf at Punta de los Lobos Marinos, Point Lobos, California.

This photograph was made this past weekend, on a morning when giant surf was rolling into the central California coast, and at times overtopping the offshore rocks of the Punta de los Lobos Marinos at Point Lobos, south of Carmel, California. The is a very long daytime exposure, made possible by using a 9-stop ND filter on a very long lens.

Regarding that, some interesting – and unusual for landscape, I think – technical details. Used a Canon 5D with the 100-400mm lens at 365mm and f/22. (I didn’t worry much about the diffraction blur since blur is sort of the point. ;-) Exposure time was 20 seconds.

For a variety of reasons, I think that this is one of the best places in California to watch the impressive winter surf close up. This peninsula of rocks extends a good distance into the coastal waters and takes the full force of the incoming swell.

keywords: punta de los lobos marinos, point lobos, state, reserve, park, california, usa, monterey, peninsula, carmel, big sur, pacific, ocean, sea, coast, rock, surf, bird, rock, waves, silhouette, black and white, landscape, seascape, travel, scenic, stock, time, exposure, mist, fog, sea

Photographs: Central California, Photographs: Ocean & Coast

Fog and Surf, Point Lobos

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Fog and Surf, Point Lobos

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

Black and white photograph of winter surf, fog, and coastal hills at Point Lobos, California.

When I heard that there would be huge surf along the coast today I headed straight for the Monterey Peninsula and Point Lobos. I was not disappointed! The first – for me at least – winter surf of the year brought huge offshore swells that crashed against and over the rocky shoreline at Point Lobos. A light coastal fog, augmented by spray from the surf, completed the picture.

I used a 9-stop neutral density filter and a polarizing filter on a long focal length lens so that I could get a very long exposure that would allow the waves and surf to diffuse to produce the misty effect you see here.

Obviously, our eyes don’t get to make 10 second exposures during the daylight! I think of a photograph like this one as being “subjectively accurate” rather than objectively accurate. In other words, while this exact image can’t exist in our real world experience, I think it evokes something about our response to such a scene that is true.

keywords: point lobos, fog, mist, cloud, surf, wave, ocean, sea, bay, rock, stacks, hill, mountain, forest, shore, state, park, preserve, reserve, california, usa, monterey, peninsula, big sur, coast, landscape, seascape, scenic, travel, stock, black and white

Photographs: Central California, Photographs: Nature

Autumn Tree, Morning Light

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Autumn Tree, Morning Light

Autumn Tree, Morning Light. Calero Hills, California. November 22, 2008. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A singe leafless tree on a grassy hillside in morning light – Calero Hills, California.

A week ago I spent the morning at one of my favorite nearby locations, the oak and grassland hills of Calero Park south of San Jose, California. This is a place I visit frequently. On this trip I did something a bit different. Although I tend to shoot more with wide angle to normal focal length lenses, on this morning I went out with the 100-400mm zoom attached to my camera. Initially this was because I hoped to photograph an egret that often hangs out at a pond I would pass early on the hike, but as I continued I decided to find out what I could "see" with this different lens.

This is a subtle photograph – and I’m afraid that the details in the branches of the tree that make it work at a larger size are not really visible here. The photo was shot at 400mm – yes a 400mm landscape photo! The long lens produced a very narrow depth of field so – in the print at least – both foreground and background are thrown a bit out of focus, accentuating the sharp shapes of the small side-lit branches on the tree.

keywords: tree, oak, fall, autumn, grass, meadow, forest, tree, light, morning, branches, hill, ridge, calero, california, usa, santa clara county, san jose, park, bay area, nature, follage, landscape, scenic, stock