Tag Archives: mouth

Photographs: Death Valley, Photographs: Desert, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Southern California

Desert Canyon, Cloud Shadows

Image Leave a comment
Desert Canyon, Cloud Shadows
“Desert Canyon, Cloud Shadows” A twisting and colorful desert canyon empties in Death Valley under the shadows of passing clouds.

Light is everything when it comes to photographing the desert landscapes of Death Valley. The terrain is always impressive, but the midday light can be intense and harsh, washing out colors and muting details. But in the right light a feature that might look, well, “washed out” in that intense light can become beautiful. Add a few passing clouds to increase contrasts between light and shadow and things get even more interesting.

I don’t know the name of this little canyon or even if it has one. But I do know that there are canyons like it everywhere in this national park. Many are worth exploring, whether or not there is a trail. In many cases you can just walk carefully up the gravel fan to a canyon’s mouth and then follow a wash up among the quiet hills until you run out of time or the terrain becomes too difficult.

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 | Instagram | Flickr | Facebook | Threads | Post | Email

Links: Articles, Sales and Licensing, my Sierra Nevada Fall Color book, Contact Info.

Scroll down to share comments or questions. (Click post title first if viewing on the home page.)

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

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

Mouth of the LIttle Sur

Image Leave a comment
Mouth of the LIttle Sur
Sun breaks through morning fog along the Big Sur coast at the Little Sur River on a spring morning.

Mouth of the LIttle Sur. © Copyright 2022 G Dan Mitchell.

Sun breaks through morning fog along the Big Sur coast at the Little Sur River on a spring morning.

Try as I may, I cannot pass this spot without at least a brief stop. The hill (a future sea stack?) sits at the terminus of the Little Sur River, where it takes a meandering route across the beach before emptying into the Pacific Ocean. Backed by the rugged cliffs of the Big Sur coast, it is a remarkable little scene, especially on a day like this when I found myself at the edge of the fog bank, and light came and went as the fog oscillated back and forth. Beams of light traversed the face of the distant faces and raced across the beach.

If you follow my posts you know that I live close enough to the Pacific Coast to go there and photograph for the morning, and that I’ve been going there for decades. The coast is as beautiful as always, especially when I arrive early enough to beat the tourist traffic, but it is showing some rough edges these days. The extent of recent wildfires is concerning, and areas still suffer from washouts that occurred during flooding. Given that last fact, it is ironic that drought is also affecting the landscape, and places that should be in the middle of their intensely green spring growth are already turning brown.

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.

Scroll down to leave a comment or question. (Click this post’s title first if you are viewing on the home page.)

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

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

Mouth of the Klamath

Leave a comment

Mouth of the Klamath
Evening fog at the mouth of the Klamath River and the Northern California Coastline

Mouth of the Klamath. © Copyright 2018 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Evening fog at the mouth of the Klamath River and the Northern California Coastline

The first day of my early June visit to the Redwood National and State Parks area was largely devoted to the very long drive up from the San Francisco Bay Area. I got an early start — always important to at least try to get out of the Bay Area early on commute days! — and was in Redding by late morning. While that is certainly far enough north it isn’t far enough west, and a three-hour drive to the coast was still ahead of me, plus perhaps another hour north along the coast to my lodgings in Crescent City.

After so much inland driving, it was a relief to finally reach the coast in the Eureka/Arcata area and to then turn north toward my destination. I lingered a bit in the Klamath River area. I feel a bit of a connection to this river as I have spent some time photographing birds in the area where it crosses the California-Oregon border. I didn’t know this area around the river’s mouth at all — I just knew that the low hills and coastal light were beautiful. I crossed the river on a long bridge, passed by various businesses clustered near its north end, and soon found a promising road out to the hills just to the north, from which there is a panoramic view back across the rivers itself and the hills and coast to the south.

See top of this page for Articles, Sales and Licensing, my Sierra Nevada Fall Color book, Contact Information and more.

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 and Amazon.
Blog | About | Flickr | Twitter | Facebook | LinkedIn | Email

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

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

Evening, Wildfire Smoke, Tomales Bay

Leave a comment

Evening, Wildfire Smoke, Tomales Bay
Wildfire smoke from northern California wildfires colors the evening sky at upper Tomales Bay

Evening, Wildfire Smoke, Tomales Bay. Near Point Reyes National Seashore, California. October 15, 2017. © Copyright 2017 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Wildfire smoke from northern California wildfires colors the evening sky at upper Tomales Bay

In what is perhaps an example of astonishingly bad timing, we were in the region just north of San Francisco for the past few days — near the areas afflicted by the terrible wildfires that have taken lives, destroyed property, and burned over huge swathes of wild land and agricultural areas. The scope of the damage is virtually unprecedented in California, and the events are not yet over as I write this. We were in Petaluma on Friday and most of Saturday, where Patty was to participate in a long-planned wedding of one of her former oboe students. The fires were close enough to Petaluma that breathing masks were provided to those attending the wedding, and at times ash fell from the sky like very light snow flurries.

On Saturday we moved closer to Point Reyes National Seashore. Our original plan had been to spend a couple of days photographing there, but the conditions were not conducive to photography for the most part. We visited the Seashore on Sunday, but the smoke and the naturally brown October conditions, combined with a complete lack of moody for or other clouds left us a bit uninspired. We found a few things to photograph, but we finally decided to just drive north up that coast a ways. We got just past Jenner, where the smoke become even thicker — and we turned around. The smoke was not the only evidence of the fires. Signs were up everywhere — restaurants and similar places — with announcements of fund-raisers, requests for donation, notes from people looking for a place to stay. It was also clear the folks from inland had headed out toward the ocean to try to escape the fires. We left Jenner and headed back toward our lodgings in the Point Reyes area, and just at sunset we arrived at upper Tomales Bay. It was quiet and still as we stopped at a high point from which we could look out over the bay and north toward its mouth. It was still smokey, but here the smoke merely softened the features of the landscape and added color to the sky and the reflecting water.

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 and Amazon.
Blog | About | Flickr | Twitter | Facebook | Google+ | LinkedIn | Email

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