Tag Archives: mist

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Northern California, Photographs: Sierra Nevada, Photographs: Yosemite

Evening Fog, Autumn

September 18, 2011 G Dan Mitchell 2 Comments

Evening fog forms on an autumn evening above a ridge near Olmsted Point, Yosemite National Park.

I made this photograph on a memorable evening back in 2008 while returning to the SF Bay Area from several days of autumn aspen photography on the east side of the Sierra. After shooting aspen subjects like crazy for several days, I more or less thought that my photography for this trip was finished as I ascending Tioga Pass to enter the park on my way home. In fact, I didn’t really do much photography around the pass or at Tuolumne. But as I drove I noticed that low clouds were forming over peaks and ridges, created by condensation in very moist post-rain air as the temperature dropped quickly as sunset approached. Now this was starting to seem a bit interesting!

As I came to Olmsted Point the clouds were so thick that I couldn’t really see a thing. You never know for sure how these atmospheric conditions are going to develop, and while part of me was disappointed that perhaps there would not be a photography opportunity, another part of me (the tired part!) was almost a bit relieved that I could perhaps get on with task of driving home. But as I rounded the very next bend, where the road rises to a high point just west of Olmsted, things opened up just a bit and light from a clear area a bit further to the west was making the fog glow a bit. So, with a combination of reluctance and excitement, I pulled over, hoisted my gear, and walked off into the forest and granite landscape to make this photograph.

(After making this one, I was certain that my work was done, as the light was fading fast. As fate would have it, a mile or two further on there was a tremendous view of the fog filled valley below, in soft dusk light and with Clouds Rest looming above. Yup, had to stop one more time for that one, too…)

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Photographs: Northern California, Photographs: San Francisco, Photographs: Structures and Objects

Breakwater, San Francisco Bay

August 19, 2011 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Anchored ship and ship yard cranes of the port of Oakland beyond a breakwater, San Francisco Bay.

I made this photograph on one of my summertime San Francisco visits on which I head up there on the train very early in the morning, and then I walk wherever my nose leads me, making photographs. On this visit I left the train station and ended up crossing a bridge to the inlet behind AT&T park, sometimes called “McCovey Cove.” From along the far side of this inlet I could see across the San Francisco Bay to the towering cranes at the port of Oakland. They were backed by a fog bank that completely obscured the city of Oakland and all but the very tops of the East Bay Hills.

This morning light coming across the Bay can be very special. As it often shines through the moisture laden air over the water and sometimes through clearing fog, it can take on a luminous glow and can even be almost too bright to look at. This was that sort of morning, so I let the sky exposure go as close to white as I could and still retain some sense of the thick air. The dark object at the left is a concrete breakwater outside the entrance to South Beach Harbor.

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

Kelp Bed and Fog, Pacific Ocean

August 9, 2011 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Kelp bed and fog off the coast of Point Lobos State Reserve.

I haven’t posted one of my “minimalist seascapes” in a while, so here is a new one. The photograph was made on a quiet day at Point Lobos a few weeks ago – at least it started out quiet with fog and somewhat gentle surf. A certain amount of post-processing was done on this image in order to get the particular misty effect and somewhat leaden quality of light and color.

While the photograph was made at Point Lobos, something similar could have been produced at many places along the California coast on a day like this one – the image is completely devoid of the typical elements of Point Lobos photography.

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

Rocks and Fog, Point Lobos

July 27, 2011 G Dan Mitchell 2 Comments

A rocky peninsula drops into the ocean on a foggy morning at Point Lobos State Reserve.

On this morning it was foggy and drizzling at Point Lobos and there was a surprising amount of surf for a summer morning. When I arrived shortly after the park opened, there were few other people about. With the moving water and the low light conditions, I decided that this was a good time to do some work with long daytime exposures, so I got out my 9-stop neutral density filters and went about looking for compositions.

After shooting down closer to the water in the cove to the left of these rocks, I wandered up a trail along the shoreline that took me to a point that was a bit higher above the water. As I looked back I saw that the rocks that defined the cove that I had been shooting appeared to head straight out into the water towards a distant peninsula and then submerge – a rather different take on this feature.

By using this filter I was able to get an eight-second exposure in this light. Longer would have been better, but the light was beginning to come through the fog a bit and I didn’t have much choice. With an exposure this “short” I had to be a bit careful about timing the shots, trying to get the right amount of water breaking over the rocks.

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