Tag Archives: ocean

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Ocean & Coast

Winter Wave

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Winter Wave
“Winter Wave” — A winter storm wave breaks along the California coast.

This is another photo from the California coast during the recent period of extremely high surf. We spent an afternoon along the Pacific Coast Highway between Santa Cruz and Half Moon Bay, where the surf was absolutely huge — as large as I’ve ever seen it there. The waves were so big that their spray filled the air along the coast and even spread inland.

The day started out cloudy with light rain from a passing storm system. (The waves came from a different system that was still far out at sea.) As the day wore on the skies began to clear, and I made this photograph when blue skies were beginning to dominate. While the sky was clearing, the high surf remained and the spray still filled the air and softened the light.

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: Birds, Photographs: Ocean & Coast, Photographs: Wildlife, Post-processing Workflow

Pelicans, Winter Surf

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Pelcans, Winter Surf
“Pelicans, Winter Surf” — A quartet of brown pelicans flies above raging winter surf off the California coast below San Francisco.

During last week’s extremely big surf we headed right over to the coast to witness and photograph the conditions. Waves were up to 30′ tall and even higher, and a winter “King tide” sent those waves right up onto the shore in many places. You might have seen news reports of damage to some coastal areas. While staying safe, we were able to get pretty close to the action on a drive between Santa Cruz and Half Moon bay, and we made quite a few photographs.

Most of the photographs were essentially seascapes — the watery equivalent of landscape images, featuring the shapes and colors and so on of the moving water. But as I made a series of photographs of this huge wave a line of pelicans flew through the frame, passing just above the raging surf.

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

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

Breaking Wave

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Breaking Wave
“Breaking Wave” — Breaking winter storm wave, Northern California Coast.

Winter surf on California’s coast was so impressive between Christmas and New Year’s Day that it made national news. As happens this time of year, a powerful Pacific storm far offshore produced a huge swell. The biggest waves were upwards of 30 feet tall, and they created real danger to those who live at the coast and to visitors who ventured too close. Naturally, we headed straight over there to view (carefully) the power of nature!

The weather was pretty gray when we arrived, but the storm (which was less impressive than the waves) began to clear and rays of sunlight moved across the surface of the ocean. I went to a peninsula extending into the ocean, and from there I had close-up views of the action. I made this photograph as a huge wave rolled through one of those sunlit patches and began to break.

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

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

Breaking Wave, Reflected Sun

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Breaking Wave, Reflected Sun
“Breaking Wave, Reflected Sun” — Winter sunlight reflects on the water beyond a breaking wave during a Pacific storm.

Between Christmas and New Year’s Day, California had several days of extraordinarily high surf, produced by storms far out in the Pacific Ocean. Media reports consistently warned citizens to “stay away from coastal areas.” Consequently, many of us high-tailed it straight to the nearest coastal areas to watch the show! (In all seriousness, this kind of surf really is dangerous. If you go, please observe from a very safe distance.) We visited the section between Santa Cruz and Half Moon Bay, and the surf was as big as I’ve ever seen it.

It was cloudy most of the time, but occasionally the sun managed to break through a bit, creating beautiful reflections on the waves and the distant ocean. This photograph is one of a series I made from a high (and safe) observation point on a peninsula that juts out into the ocean. From here I could watch the waveS break and continue on toward the shore to my left.

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.

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