Tag Archives: northern

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

Evening Sea Stacks

Image 2 Comments
Evening Sea Stacks
Sea stacks and surf on an overcast evening, Crescent City, California.

Evening Sea Stacks. © Copyright 2021 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Sea stacks and surf on an overcast evening, Crescent City, California.

The circumstances of this photograph were just a bit unusual, and it is not quite the photograph that I thought I’d be making when I recently visited the coastline at Crescent City. Because the days are so long right now, we decided to go out for an early dinner, planning to head back out into the field to photograph an hour or so before sunset. The plans was not totally solid, but I had this spot in mind as one of the possibilities, as it more or less in Crescent City. We finished dinner and it was still too early for the photography I had in mind, so we did a bit of exploring before we ended up back at this post.

I had photographed these very rocks a couple of years ago, and this time I was imagining something with sunset light, the colorful ocean and sky, and perhaps some dramatic shadows. The conditions had something else in mind. To the north a line of clouds was arriving, likely the result of a weak incoming cold front. When it became apparent that the brilliantly colorful sunset I imagined was not to be (though something else interest did eventually happen) I rethought the mood I wanted to suggest and began to see the appeal in this framing of the scene, focusing on the foreground island with the more distant sea stacks closer to the top of the frame.

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.

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

Photographs: Architecture, Photographs: Northern California, Photographs: Structures and Objects

Abandoned, Rio Dell

Image Leave a comment
Abandoned, Rio Dell
An abandoned building in the twon of Rio Dell, California.

Abandoned, Rio Dell. © Copyright 2021 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

An abandoned building in the twon of Rio Dell, California.

On this last full day of our recent visit to the far Northern California coast we took a long drive through varied terrain out along a section of the so-called Lost Coast. While the mileage would have made for a one-hour urban drive on almost any California freeway (at least if it weren’t rush hour), the nature and condition of the roadway, along with the need to stop to look and make photographs, turned this into a full-day affair.

This is a very different California than what we see in the Bay Area, Southern California, or even the Central Valley for that matter. Most of the area is quite rural, and the effects of over a year of pandemic isolation are clear in small communities with many closed businesses. (Though a new business, one based on certain formerly-illegal agricultural products, seems to be thriving in some of the backwoods areas.) We came back to US 101, the main through-route, near here and decided to stop of coffee in the small town of Rio Dell. As we left town this building caught my eye. I’m guessing that it was originally a gas station before being turned into something else and then more or less abandoned. But what a paint job!

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.

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

Sunset Light, Sea Stacks

Image 2 Comments
Sunset Light, Sea Stacks
Sunset light on sea stacks off the coast of Crescent City, California.

Sunset Light, Sea Stacks. © Copyright 2021 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Sunset light on sea stacks off the coast of Crescent City, California.

We recently returned from a few days along California’s far northern coast. We spent a couple of nights in Crescent City before moving south to stay in the Eureka area for a couple more days. We were mostly there to photograph the redwoods, but there was a lot more to see and photograph than just that subject. (In fact, one of our primary targets, the annual rhododendron bloom, was not producing a lot of flowers during our visit.)

The coastal area in Crescent City is quite spectacular, from the ocean just below the road running along its edge to the distant view of the infamous St. George Reef lighthouse. I have photographed from the residential area at the end of town before, and since we were there in the evening we decided to head that way again on this evening. The light was beautiful and evolving nicely… but it was clear that the clouds of a weather front to the northwest would block the last light. So I quickly set up this photograph and made two exposures as the final direct light hit the coast.

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.

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

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Northern California

Blue Dicks Flowers

Image Leave a comment
Blue Dicks Flowers
The oddly-named blue dicks flowers, which one source claims derives from a shortening of the genus name Dichelostemma.

Blue Dicks Flowers. © Copyright 2021 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

The oddly-named blue dicks flowers, which one source claims derives from a shortening of the genus name Dichelostemma.

This poor plant and its striking flower are “blessed” with a name that never ceases to provoke a chuckle or two. I’ve often wondered how the plant got that common name, and when I did a little quick searching while working on this photograph I could find only one answer — and, frankly, I don’t find it all that compelling. As per the description above, the claim is that it derives from the “Dich” in Dichelostemma, the genus name of the plant. I can sort of see that, except… my minimal background in German makes me want to pronounce that differently. On top of that, the flower isn’t really blue!

Having said all of that, it is a beautiful and graceful flower that is common in my neck of the woods and, according to sources I consulted, throughout the “southwestern United States.” The individual flowers grow in a group at the end of a long, slender stem. The location where I most often photograph them features a lot of shady backgrounds and nearby lush greenery.

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.

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