Tag Archives: mountains

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

Headlands and Fog

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Headlands and Fog
Thin fog and brilliant autumn sun along the Big Sur coast.

Headlands and Fog. © Copyright 2021 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Thin fog and brilliant autumn sun along the Big Sur coast.

Today’s photograph takes me even deeper into the high key and minimalist landscape frames of reference. For a long time I have been intrigued by the question of just how little detail could be present in a photograph, and the conditions on this morning gave me an opportunity to extend the experiment to the subject of the Big Sur coast.

The light, weather, and geography here often collaborate to produce some remarkable conditions. The potential for various sorts of fog is a given along the edge of the Pacific Ocean. In many sections of this coast the headland ridges descend toward the water repeatedly over huge distances. And because the coast curves a bit toward the east as you travel south, by late morning the sun may be almost directly ahead of you as you compose photographs that include the ocean. I think of this as “the light that is too intense to look at.” Imagine the sun in front of you, the haze glowing brightly, and the details of the scene becoming almost invisible, leaving only the light, atmosphere, and outlines of forms.

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: Sierra Nevada

Eastern Sierra Stream, Smoky Light

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Eastern Sierra Stream, Smoky Light
Smoky haze mutes the outlines of Eastern Sierra foothills above a small stream.

Eastern Sierra Stream, Smoky Light. © Copyright 2021 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Smoky haze mutes the outlines of Eastern Sierra foothills above a small stream.

Recently I spent a few days in the Eastern Sierra, mainly to readapt to altitude before a potential backcountry trip. The plan was to car camp in some Forest Service campgrounds, take a few high-elevation hikes while laden with a full load of camera equipment, and to make some photographs. This photograph comes from a location that I’ve known for years, near the base of one of the trans-Sierra passes along the east side of the range. Late in the day I had noticed the interesting haze and remembered some meadows and stream side country a few miles away. So I headed that way just. before the sun dropped behind the Sierra crest and photographed straight into the late-day light.

Since I haven’t written about any recent Sierra trips lately, I’ll use this post as an excuse to share some observations about conditions. And, of course, this year “conditions” is hard to separate from the effects of heat and drought. On the positive side, some of the high country locations I visited were not (yet) as dry as I had feared. I saw green meadows, wildflowers, corn lily fields in full bloom, and some water. On the other hand, it is only the middle of July — the moisture levels looked more like what I’d expect to see in August. Aside from the early season wildfires and the smoke they spread, one of the most worrisome signs was in the foothills on the west side, where it looks like huge numbers of oak trees are turning brown and dying.

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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All media © Copyright G Dan Mitchell and others as indicated. Any use requires advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Ocean & Coast

Dark Headland, Big Sur Coast

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A dark headland cliff rises directly above the Pacific along the Big Sur coast as fog clears from distant mountains.

Dark Headland, Big Sur Coast. © Copyright 2021 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A dark headland cliff rises directly above the Pacific along the Big Sur coast as fog clears from distant mountains.

Recently we spent some time photographing along the far Northern California coast. One thing leads to another, and before long I found myself looking back through raw file archives from previous coastal photography, including subjects from up and down the entire coast of the state. One set of older files came from a one-day jaunt about halfway down the Big Sur coast on a day when the weather was shifting from clear and sunny to windier and (potentially) wetter as a large Pacific front was working its way down the coast.

The light was quite amazing on this day. Although clouds were approaching from the north (behind my camera position in this photograph), to the south it was still quite sunny — so bright, in fact, that it was hard to look directly at the surface of the ocean here. At the same time the morning coastal fog was thinning and drifting away from the mountains as they curved to the south and southeast. I made several photographs from this spot, all of them featuring the tall and steep dark headland in the foreground. In this one I opened up the scene a bit wider to include the curving sweep on the coastline as it continued to the south.

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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Links to Articles, Sales and Licensing, my Sierra Nevada Fall Color book, Contact Information.

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All media © Copyright G Dan Mitchell and others as indicated. Any use requires advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Northern California

Coastal Forest and Clouds

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Coastal Forest and Clouds
Rain clouds begin toi build above coastal forest hills near Ferndale, California.

Coastal Forest and Clouds. © Copyright 2021 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Rain clouds begin toi build above coastal forest hills near Ferndale, California.

On the last full day of our early-June foray into redwood country in far Northern California, we did a longish loop drive out to the Lost Coast via an uncrowded route on narrow and winding roads. It took us from a small town in farm country over forested ridges, eventually dropping to the coast, where if following the coastline south for some miles before turning inland, passing through rural country (and the location of California’s, uh, “newest agricultural area) and emerging through redwood groves near US 101.

This was our first time traversing this route, so there were new things to discover all day and at almost every turn. The beginning of the route leaves typical flat farmland and rises into high coastal hills, where it alternately twists through forest, follows high ridges, and drops into deep valleys. We stopped along one of those ridges in a place where meadows opened the view. The photograph looks to the northwest and the barely visible Pacific Ocean, as clouds began to build toward a few light afternoon showers.

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.

Blog | About | Flickr | Facebook | Email

Links to Articles, Sales and Licensing, my Sierra Nevada Fall Color book, Contact Information.

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All media © Copyright G Dan Mitchell and others as indicated. Any use requires advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.