Tag Archives: mendocino

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

Mendocino Coast, Evening

September 4, 2012 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Evening light on coastal bluffs below the village of Mendocino, California.

The little village of Mendocino, now largely a somewhat rural vacation spot, has a lot going for it: connections to a number of historical traditions, lots of quaint old buildings with that weathered look of coastal communities, tons of places to stay, great food, and California’ Pacific Ocean coastline. Though the chamber of commerce might disagree, it seems to be just far enough from major population centers to escape the over-running crowds and rampant souvenir-ism of places like Carmel that once had this same sort of charm. The village sits on a wide peninsula that just out into the Pacific and gradually angles down toward the water, ending in relatively low coastal bluffs and shoreline rocks.

It is often foggy in the part of California, but on our late-August visit we had just enough fog to add a bit of atmosphere – but mostly it hovered off-shore and at times disappeared completely. On our final evening there, we had a bit of time before dinner – and who wants to eat when there is golden hour light! – so we walked out along the bluffs on the south side of town and made a few photographs as the day ended.

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Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Northern California, Thinking Aloud

Fallen Begonia Blossom

September 3, 2012 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

A fallen begonia blossom on a bench at the Mendocino Coast Botanical Gardens.

On a recent trip to the northern California coast around Mendocino, we spent the better part of a day wandering around at the Mendocino Coast Botanical Gardens in Fort Bragg. If you ever visit this part of California, you will quickly discover that there are lots of flowers there, both wildflowers and cultivated varieties – they seem to like the cooler, moister, foggier climate. The Botanical Gardens is surprisingly large and comprehensive for a private facility in a somewhat out-of-the-way location. It covers many acres, stretching from the coast highway all the way to the edge of bluffs overlooking the Pacific Ocean, and it includes a wide range of plant types, not all of which are what you would expect here.

This was our first visit to the Gardens, so we sort of explored rather than trying to necessarily see everything. Not far from the entrance is the structure of the Mauer Display Garden, where begonias were blooming. The flowers and the intensity of their colors were quite amazing. At one point I believe I remarked that I had never seen anything quite as intensely orange as some of the flowers. At one point I looked away from the main displays of living plants and happened to notice this very colorful blossom that had fallen onto the corner of a bench. While the color probably seems unbelievable, it really was this intense. (Photographing these flowers proved to be a great reminder of the exposure challenges we face when using DSLRs to shoot subjects that are intense in one of the three color channels. In some photographs, the red channel was perhaps three to four stops brighter than the other channels!)

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Northern California

Green and Red Leaves

September 2, 2012 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Green and red leaves in Mendocino, California suggest the coming of autumn.

I really wish I knew what plant this is… but I don’t! What I do know, however, is that when I spotted it growing along the edge of a building in Mendocino, California, the red and yellow tinge coming to the lush green leaves made me think of autumn and how close the end of summer is. Even in California, the signs that the seasons are in transition are more and more obvious when you look around just a bit. Not only do the colors begin to change on some plants, especially in cooler areas like Mendocino (and in higher elevation areas like the Sierra) but other signs appear to those who have learned to recognize them. There is a change in the light. I’ve never been quite able to quantify it, but it may be something about lower sun angles or perhaps the increasingly soft atmosphere that often seems a bit more hazy.

While this might seem like a photograph of a natural area, perhaps along a trail somewhere, I’m afraid it isn’t. No matter where I am, I often keep my eyes open for little scenes in unexpected places that might make a photograph, and this is certainly one of those. As I passed along the side of a small shop in Mendocino, I saw these plants in a very small planter next to a wall. I quickly pulled out my camera and made a single hand-held shot in this beautiful, soft light created by foggy sky and a bit of a bit of shade.

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

Island, Coastal Bluffs, and Distant Shore

September 1, 2012 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

A steep and rocky island backed by coastal bluffs and a distant shoreline, northern California coast, Mendocino County.

The last time I passed by this section of the California coast highway in Mendocino County, I also stopped to photograph this scene – but was less happy with the result. This section of the coastline, like much of the meeting between California and the Pacific Ocean, consists largely of high coastal bluffs, interspersed with the steep canyons where creeks and rivers meet the ocean, with many rocky islands ranging from tiny to huge. The two-peaked island in this large cove fits more into the huge category and it is backed by two fingers of land where the high bluffs extend toward the ocean. In the far distance, a section of curving coastline is barely visible through the haze.

Recently someone asked me about how I decide whether a photograph will be black and white rather than color. I admitted – and it turns out that many feel the same – that often I am not certain when I make the exposure. Roughly speaking, the black and white photographs come about in perhaps three ways. Sometimes I like the subject but the color rendition just isn’t working the way I had hoped, so I try it in black and white and “discover” that I like it that way in post. On other occasions, at the time of exposure I sort of wonder if it might work in black and white and I make mental note to try it that way in post. In the third case, I “know” (with only a small amount of doubt) that the image is going to end up in black and white and I shoot the scene with that in mind. This is one of those photographs – I was almost certain that it would end up in black and white as I stood high on a bluff next to highway 1 making the exposure.

G Dan Mitchell Photography

Tag Archives: mendocino

Mendocino Coast, Evening

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Fallen Begonia Blossom

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Green and Red Leaves

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Island, Coastal Bluffs, and Distant Shore

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

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