Tag Archives: north

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

Estero de Limantour

July 26, 2017 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

A foggy day at Estero de Limantour, as viewed from Drakes Head, Point Reyes National Seashore

This post is a bit about this photograph and a bit about the experiences that such photographs are embedded in. The location is a somewhat remote location at Point Reyes National Seashore — the hike out and back runs about 13 miles or so. I have wanted to visit this spot for a number of years, but every time I have started the hike it has been too late in the day to complete the round-trip, or else I was distracted by other photographic opportunities along the way and I did not get all the way to the destination. This time I arrived early enough and got on the trail right away, and I did not stop too much along the way.

What did I find at the end of this long walk? The trail ends dramatically with a slight rise to a high point on a promontory overlooking Estero de Limantour far below, and the expanse of Drakes Bay beyond that. Or so I imagine. When I got there it was very foggy and extremely windy, and at times the water in this photograph was obscured by fog. Because the clouds had been breaking up further inland I decided to wait here in anticipation that the clearing would make it all the way to the coast. After waiting for an hour and a half (!) the fog began to lift and I could start to make out the water beyond the sandy island running along the shoreline. I jumped up and made preparations for the glorious breakup of the clouds… and then the wind picked up, the fog closed in, and it began to drizzle! I made this photograph during a slightly clearer moment. Before I loaded up the pack for the hike back I remembered that great light doesn’t always arrive, that you must be out there a lot if you expect to see it when it happens, if you are out there a lot you will experience lots of “failures,” and that even on a day that might not be optimally photographic there is nothing at all wrong with spending and hour and a half on a windswept bluff engulfed by ocean fog.

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

Low Tide, Drakes Estero

July 25, 2017 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Patterns emerge and reflect the sky at low tide on a foggy morning at Drakes Estero

Although I have been visiting the Point Reyes National Seashore, just north of San Francisco, for quite a few years, it has sometimes been a challenging place for me to photograph. Perhaps it is because, with some exceptions, it generally doesn’t feature the same sorts of iconic and spectacular Pacific coast subjects found in places such as the Big Sir coast. instead there are coastal lowlands with most-treeless bluffs, thick and impenetrable forests further inland, and grand vistas across low-lying landscapes. But given enough time and patience and persistence, I think ti begins to be possible to discover a way of seeing almost any landscape, and I’m starting to understand how to see this place.

I knew it that there would be fog on this visit, and my plan/hope was that I could get there at the right time to place myself along the boundary between sun and fog, where interesting things often happen with the light. I decided to take a rather long hike (about 13 miles roundtrip) to a location that I have long wanted to visit, and I arrived at the trailhead just as the fog was beginning to thin there. After dropping through forest I arrived and crossed one arm of Drakes Estero as the tide was at its low point, revealing mud flats along the shoreline. The trail climbed again and I came around another high headland to see a more expansive view toward the fog over the ocean to the west. The low tide revealed remarkable patterns in the estero, and the shallow water reflected the deep blue sky and the thinning fog clouds.

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

Photographs: New York City, Photographs: People, Photographs: Urban/Street

Red Shirts, Fountain

July 23, 2017 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Two brightly clad people face a fountain in Washington Square

Manhattan’s Washington Square holds, along with many other places in this city, lots of opportunities for people-watching and for photography. On this visit we meandered through the park late on a Sunday morning as we walked to a destination further uptown. There was a lot going on: A pianist was set up on a walkway to give a recital, jazz combos played here and there, groups were doing aerobics, folks were playing in and around the fountain, people sitting on benches read the morning paper quietly, and much more.

When it comes to explaining what a photograph “means” or what it attempts to accomplish I would generally leave the determination to the viewer than offer too much explanation. I have my reasons! One is that, at least in most cases, I tend to think that a photograph that requires explanation may be a photograph that doesn’t speak strongly. Another is that I believe that multiple understandings of a photograph are possible, and that the photographer does not have a monopoly on the correct interpretations. But here I will give a few hints about what I was thinking when I made this. First, I was working quite quickly — there was definitely not enough time to pre-conceive this image. (That is not to say that pre-visualization was not possible, but that is a different thing.) I think the red shirts, which stand out from most of the other elements of the scene, initially caught my attention. The geometry of the scene also interested me — I confess that I think about composition quite a bit, even when shooting street. There is also something about the anonymity of these two people as they stand and look at a fountain while others are swimming in it or sitting on the steps that lead to the water. There’s more, but I’ll leave it at that.

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

Fog, Trees, Knoll

July 22, 2017 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Monterey Cypress trees on a rocky knoll above the Pacific Ocean in foggy morning light, Point Lobos

Driving to Point Lobos from the San Francisco Bay Area in the early morning, I was not quite sure what conditions I would find. The forecast was for fog, clearing out before noon, but you can hardly ever tell for sure how this will evolve. A few days early I had been here on a day with a similar forecast and it never cleared. On this morning, however, it turned out that the fog was actually thicker inland, and it turned out that it cleared at the coast first!

We hiked over to the north shore trail, starting at a bluff above Whalers Cove, then climbing up to the higher bluffs that skirt the north shore of the park above steep and rocky cliffs that drop straight down to coastal coves. At first the fog was gray and almost oppressive. One can photograph in such conditions, but it is difficult to work the flat light. But very soon something much better began to arrive. As the fog cleared and the fog/sun boundary moved across the shore, the foggy atmosphere began to glow, and even in this soft light the colors began to intensify.

G Dan Mitchell Photography

Tag Archives: north

Estero de Limantour

Low Tide, Drakes Estero

Red Shirts, Fountain

Fog, Trees, Knoll

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