Tag Archives: Mountain

Photographs: Sierra Nevada

Aspens, Forest, and Snow Showers – North Lake

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Aspens, Forest, and Snow Showers - North Lake

Aspens, Forest, and Snow Showers – North Lake. Sierra Nevada, California, October 4, 2008. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Early autumn snow falls on peaks above the aspen groves at North Lake, California.

I had arrived at North Lake on this early October morning to photograph the renowned aspen stands surrounding the lake. After arriving before dawn and getting all of my gear out and ready to shoot… it began to snow! I retreated to my car for nearly an hour, but soon the early season front passed through and the sun began to shine through in between the light snow showers. This photograph was made from the road near the “aspen tunnel” near the upper end of the lake. I like the multiple layers of bright fall aspen color in the foreground, green forest on the ridge in the middle, and the combination of thin sunlight and snow showers on the high peaks beyond.

This photograph is not in the public domain. It may not be used on websites, blogs, or in any other media without explicit advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

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Photographs: Central California, Photographs: Ocean & Coast

Moving Water and Mist

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Moving Water and Mist

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

Moving water and mist at Point Lobos State Reserve, California with Carmel Highlands in the distance.

This is a long exposure with a long lens. The large rock just in front of the distant hills is “Bird Island” at Point Lobos, and the hills are roughly in the area of Carmel Highlands. The misty water swirling around the foreground rocks is enhanced by a long exposure using a 9-stop neutral density filter.

keywords: point lobos, california, usa, state, reserve, park, monterey, peninsula, big sur, carmel, pacific, ocean, sea, coast, shore, land, hills, forest, tree, wave, surf, mist, fog, surf, ridge, mountain, highlands, bird, spray, landscape, seascape, travel, scenic, stock, sky

Photographs: Central California, Photographs: Ocean & Coast

Coastal Hills, Rocks, and Surf

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Coastal Hills, Rocks, and Surf

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

Black and white photograph of coastal hills, rocks, and surf – Point Lobos, California.

I think I’m guilty of trying to squeeze every last possible photograph out of my late November shoot at Point Lobos, but what else is one to do? ;-) This one again shows the atmospheric recession of the coastal fog and mist between the shoreline rocks at Point Lobos and the ridges of the shoreline mountains of this northernmost part of Big Sur.

This is another in the series of photographs shot on this morning using the 100-400mm lens – not a typical landscape/seascape lens to say the least. Oddly enough, that was the only lens I shot with during this visit to Point Lobos.

keywords: black and white, coastal, coast, shore, sea, ocean, pacific, rocks, hills, surf, wave, mountain, ridge, fog, recede, haze, mist, bird, gull, tree, forest, peak, california, usa, point lobos, reserve, park, state, stock, landscape, seascape, scenic, travel, light, big sur

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.

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