Tag Archives: layered

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

Layered Fog, Big Sur Coast

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Layered Fog, Big Sur Coast
Layers of thin, low-level fog hug the rugged Big Sur coastline of California

Layered Fog, Big Sur Coast. © Copyright 2020 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Layers of thin, low-level fog hug the rugged Big Sur coastline of California

Over the course of many trips down through the Big Sur coast of California I have gotten acquainted with a range of weather, atmosphere, and light conditions. My favorites come during part of the year that starts now — late fall through early spring. It can be bright and sunny with warm temperatures, but more often there is wind, big surf, a passing weather front, or fog. One of my favorite conditions sometimes arises when there is a combination of sun and big surf from distant storms far offshore. The light is brilliant, but low fog and spray hugs the immediate coast.

It was that kind of weather during our early December day trip partway down this section of the coast. We could see new travel restrictions coming, and we wanted to get out before they arrived. (Because we can do this as a day trip, with no stops for food or gas along the way, it is safe for us… unlike overnight travel.) As we headed south the low coastal fog was usually backlit, as it is here, producing very dramatic effects.

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, Amazon, and directly from G Dan Mitchell.

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Photographs: Nature, Photographs: The Southwest, Photographs: Unclassified, Photographs: Utah

Autumn Maple Tree, Slot Canyon

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Autumn Maple Tree, Slot Canyon
Autumn Maple Tree, Slot Canyon

Autumn Maple Tree, Slot Canyon. Zion National Park, Utah. October 22, 2012. © Copyright 2012 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

The red and gold leaves of an autumn maple tree against the lichen-covered and layered sandstone walls of a slot canyon, Zion National Park

When we passed through Zion National Park about a week and a half from the end of October, it was mostly too early for fall color in Zion Canyon, but things were starting to get interesting in the high country along the Mount Carmel Highway, where we spent most of a day looking for and photographing fall color, red rock, canyons, and much more. It seemed to me that the predominant sources of autumn color here were maples, and some of them were quite brilliant.

This tree was growing along a wash at the bottom of a red rock canyon which in places took on the appearance of a slot canyon. Between the tree, with its golden-yellow, oranges, greens, and bits of red, and the cliff, with shades of brown, white, red-orange, and even blue and purple, it is hard to think of very many colors that don’t make an appearance here. I of course liked the colors of this tree, but I also found the water-sculpted steep canyon walls to be interesting, with their folded shapes, lichen, and brighter color where the underlying rock could show through.

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.

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: The Southwest, Photographs: Utah

Autumn Leaves, Layered Sandstone with Diagonal Crack

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Autumn Leaves, Layered Sandstone with Diagonal Crack
Autumn Leaves, Layered Sandstone with Diagonal Crack

Autumn Leaves, Layered Sandstone with Diagonal Crack. Zion National Park, Utah. October 22, 2013. © Copyright 2013 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A small plant with yellow autumn leaves grows from a diagonal crack in wall of layered sandstone, Zion National Park

I’ll start off by admitting that I now don’t recall exactly where I made this photograph on this day when we visited Zion National Park. I’m virtually certain that it in the high country along the Mt. Carmel Highway that crosses the park from east to west, but where on that highway I’m not certain. Of course, some crack in the rock with a bush growing out of it hardly is likely to be an iconic, named location!

What I do recall is that we spent a good portion of this first trip’s first day in Zion along this road, and to some extent driving back and forth along it a few times, watching for new subjects as the day’s light evolved. At times a cliff that had been in sun earlier in the day would be in shadow later, so we had a choice to photograph in soft light or harsh. All along this roadway there were the usual interesting subjects – sedimentary rock formations of all sorts and all colors – but also at this time of year the fall color show was beginning. I believe that this little vignette might have been down in one of the washes or slot canyons that we dropped into in search of this color.

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.

Photographs: Desert, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: The Southwest, Photographs: Utah

Oak Branch and Layered Sandstone After Rain

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Oak Branch and Layered Sandstone After Rain - Branch and autumn leaves of a gambel oak drape over layered sandstone after rain, Zion National Park
Branch and autumn eaves of a gambel oak drape over layered sandstone after rain, Zion National Park

Oak Branch and Layered Sandstone After Rain. Zion National Park, Utah. October 12, 2012. © Copyright 2012 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Branch and autumn leaves of a gambel oak drape over layered sandstone after rain, Zion National Park

This photograph was made on the afternoon of the day we arrived in the Zion National Park area, after driving across Arizona and Utah from Moab through some substantial rain. The storm was moving from west-to-east as we drove the opposite direction, and we drove through its core in Arizona. By the time we arrived in Zion and drove over the Mount Carmel Highway, we mostly saw the aftermath of the rain, though a few sprinkles remained here and there – and they occasionally interrupted the photography.

The previous rain and the continuing showers enhance and saturate the colors of the rock and the vegetation and bring to life small streams and rivulets. Here the branch of an overhanging gambel oak tree, just beginning its change to autumn colors, intrudes into the upper corner of the frame and contrasts with the deep red-brown colors of the damp sandstone. Rock angle is everything in this terrain, and here the rock is at an angle that allows its layers to be stripped away gradually, revealing the underlying striations and creating interesting and complex patterns. Because this rock is down in a wash, wet sand sits on many of the small ledges.

G Dan Mitchell is a California photographer whose subjects include the Pacific coast, redwood forests, central California oak/grasslands, the Sierra Nevada, California deserts, urban landscapes, night photography, and more.
Blog | About | Flickr | Twitter | Facebook | Google+ | 500px.com | LinkedIn | Email

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.