Monterey Cypress Forest, Point Lobos. Point Lobos State Reserve, California. January 8, 2011. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.
Winter light on the Monterey Cypress forest growing on a hillside at Point Lobos State Reserve.
This is perhaps an absurdly complex photograph – I think it is going to have to end up as a large print at some point. This is a section of Monterey Cypress forest that I’ve walked through many times on the trail along the north shore at Point Lobos State Reserve near Carmel, California. These trees grow along the tops of rocky bluffs above the ocean and in some sheltered places can grow tall and straight.
I made this photograph in what almost amounted to midday sun, though there were a few fog clouds floating around to mute the harshest character of the light a bit. But I knew that the photograph was going to be tricky. The first challenge was finding a location from which to shoot it – most angles are blocked by closer trees or are inaccessible. I finally found a spot along the trail where I could shoot between trees using a longer focal length. Then there was the problem of the light, or more accurately the dynamic range between the clouds and a bit of blue sky and the much darker backlit and shadowed trees in the foreground. Finally, it is just a very complex scene, and making any kind of coherent composition out of it was tricky. I don’t know yet whether it succeeds or not, but the idea was to use the angled division between the darker and very complex lower right side and the lighter upper left side with its vertical tree trunks, and to let the darker foreground tree connect it all together. That was the idea, anyway!
This photograph is not in the public domain and may not be used on websites, blogs, or in other media without advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.
G Dan Mitchell Photography
Flickr | Twitter | Facebook Fan Page | Facebook | Friendfeed | Email
Technical Data:
Canon EOS 5D Mark II (at B&H)
Canon EF 70-200mm f/4 L USM at 94mm (at B&H)
ISO 100, f/16, 1/40 second
