Tag Archives: ocean

Equipment, Photographs: Central California, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Ocean & Coast, Photographs: San Francisco, Photographs: Wildlife

Harbor Seal Family

May 12, 2009 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

A family trio of harbor seals rests on an offshore rock at Point Lobos State Reserve, California.

I photographed this family group (at least they sure acted like a family!) on an offshore rock just above the surf line on the late April weekend when I almost had the whole of Point Lobos State Reserve to myself. (I wrote about this earlier – a marathon had closed the coast highway and almost no one else was in the park.) I think the seals were a bit less wary than they might be because of the very small number of people in the park – actually, I was the only person near them for a good long time. I had a great chance to observe them uninterrupted, and from two slightly different locations – after shooting from this spot I moved far to the right where I could shoot back at the far side of the rock.

I found it interesting that they were very aware of my presence and seemed to pay more obvious attention to me than I have seen in the past. The lighter color seal on the right stared right at me for long periods of time on several occasions, even though I was quite a distance away and standing nearly motionless. Once or twice all three gazed my direction. I wasn’t sure who was observing who! The darker seal on the left seemed to be the least active, only occasionally rolling around and scratching the back (yes, they do this!) of the others, especially the smaller one in the far middle in this shot.

I’m still working out the best ways to photograph creatures like these. Learning their habits a bit helps, as does arriving at the right time – in terms of season, time of day, weather, and the good fortune of being there on an uncrowded day at Point Lobos. I’d like to get shots from a lower angle, but this can be difficult. I think the seals are much less likely to be close to the shore in such places.

I have a very large number of photographs of this group, and I may post more eventually.

This photograph is not in the public domain. It may not be used on websites, blogs, or in any other media without explicit advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

keywords: harbor, seal, young, parents, family, eyes, three, rock, shore, water, seaweed, kelp, flipper, white, gray, brown, ocean, sea, coast, wildlife, nature, whiskers, spring, rest, lie, group, point lobos, state, reserve, park, california, usa, monterey, peninsula, carmel, stock

Photographs: Central California, Photographs: Nature

Steps, Ocean View Trail

March 7, 2009 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Steps ascend a steep hill through the redwoods near the start of the Ocean View Trail, Muir Woods National Monument, California.

This is a scene that I have photographed before – in particular I recall photographing these steps early in the evening before one of the winter solstice events at Muir Woods, when the trails through the grove are lit by candles. On the last day of February this year I visited again, but this time very early in the morning before many other visitors had arrived. I was thinking “color” when I made this photograph (and I may still post the color version eventually) but I ended up liking this black and white version quite a bit. I like the diagonal division between the upper left half which mostly includes the vertical forms of the redwood trees and the lower right section which includes the steps leading in to the trees.

This was actually a somewhat tricky scene to photograph. While the dynamic range was quite huge, ranging from the deep shadows on the sides of the trees at the left to the almost sunlit foliage beyond the trees, overall the scene was quite dim. Because I needed great depth of field I shot at f/16. Because I wanted the cleanest image possible I shot at ISO 100. All of this meant that I ended up making a 2.5 second exposure! Still there were post-processing challenges, including bringing up a bit of detail in the darker areas of the scene while at the same time being careful to not increase the brightness in the bright spots. And after paying attention to the extremes some work had to be done on the middle tones to get some life back there.

This photograph is not in the public domain. It may not be used on websites, blogs, or in any other media without explicit advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.keywords: muir, woods, national, monument, park, marin, forest, nature, california, usa, steps, stairs, railing, fence, trail, ocean, view, redwood, grove, trees, ferns, clover, oregon oxalis, redwood sorrell, green, canopy, light, filtered, trunk, landscape, scenic, travel, outdoor, hike, stock

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

Birds and Winter Surf

February 14, 2009 G Dan Mitchell 2 Comments

Birds congregate along a stream with winter surf and bluffs above the Pacific Coastline in the distance – south of San Francisco, California.

I frequently stop along this section of the Pacific Coast between San Francisco and Santa Cruz, in a location where the road descends to almost the level of the beach. On this winter day the low clouds and fog were backlit by the sun as large winter surf rolled in. These birds appeared to be feeding in the creek near where it entered the surf and were just starting to take to the air as I exposed this photo.

This photograph is not in the public domain. It may not be used on websites, blogs, or in any other media without explicit advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

keywords: seascape, landscape, beach, bluff, surf, wave, pacific, ocean, coast, sand, water, reflection, bird, gull, flock, flight, creek, stream, hill, seaweed, two, people, highway, one, california, usa, fog, mist, cloud, travel, scenic, stock, black and white

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

Egret, China Cove

February 5, 2009 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

An egret in flight over China Cove – last evening of autumn 2008, Point Lobos State Reserve, California.

On the last evening of fall 2008 I visited Point Lobos to photograph whatever I might see there. Late in the day I walked along the trail above China Beach and spotted a solitary egret in the kelp just beyond the beach. The cove was in deep shade and I had a long lens attached to the camera and was set to the lowest ISO when the bird took off – so I had no choice but to shoot with what I had. There was little time to think and no time to make changes to camera settings. I managed to get a few exposures as the bird rose into the air above the kelp beds, but they turned out to be quite underexposed as I was caught between the rock of low light and the hard place of needing short enough shutter speeds for a moving bird in a dark cove. In this one image the bird’s wings are extended and it is passing out of a dark section of the cove and over slightly brighter water.

To me, the nearly pure white bird, slightly diffused by the odd exposure and over the darker water, seems like a ghost or an apparition. Although it is not anything like a technically “correct” photograph, I still like it for what it is.

This photograph is not in the public domain. It may not be used on websites, blogs, or in any other media without explicit advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

keywords: big sur, california, carmel, Fall, monterey, nature, ocean, pacific ocean, point lobos, seashore, bird, in flight, egret, wing, china cove, kelp, water, state, reserve, park, usa, travel, scenic, landscape, black and white, monterey, peninsula, carmel, big sur, stock

G Dan Mitchell Photography

Tag Archives: ocean

Steps, Ocean View Trail

Egret, China Cove

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