“At The Edge” — A jumble of Monterey cypress trees at the edge of a Point Lobos cliff.
This is the final photograph in a series of images I made on a morning visit to Point Lobos near the end of September. As I approached the park I drove in thick fog, and I was already contemplating potential subjects to photograph in hose conditions. But in the final mile of my drive the fog began to lift, and sunlight shone through the gaps in the dissipating fog. I reevaluated, picked an area with other visual interests, and thought about how I might use the remaining fog-softened light with these subjects.
“Monterey Cypress Forest, Leaning Trees” — Monterey Cypress trees at the edge of a Point Lobos cliff on a foggy morning.
These trees grow along one of the most exposed coastal locations at Point Lobos State Reserve. Not far behind my camera position s the rugged end of a peninsula that juts out into the Pacific, exposed to waves and wind. In the other direction, beyond these trees, is a cliff that drops to a rocky, narrow bay that where surf constantly washes in and out.
“Shoreline Trees, Clearing Fog” — Fog clears above a grove of coastal trees at Point Lobos.
the best light usually comes early and late in the day. It often has a warmer coloration, and it can be softer than the midday light coming from high overhead. And there’s a good chance that morning fog and mists may linger. But eventually, on most days, the “good light” period passes and the morning’s work is done. It was that time as I began to make my way back to the trailhead, feeling that the morning’s best light was leaving. But then I saw this row of dense trees along the rocky edge above the water, with a hint of clearing fog in the background.
“Monterey Cypress Forest” — Fog drifts across a Point Lobos landscape of Monterey cypress trees.
This grove of leaning and twisted trees lines the upper edge of a steep, rocky Point Lobos cliff that drops straight to a small bay. You can see the beginning of the slope in the photograph, but if you walked past the trees in this scene you would seen be at the precipice. I made the photograph in one of my favorite light conditions. It had been foggy — the thick, gray kind of fog — but now it was thinning and opening up to let in soft, filtered sunlight. The fog still partially obscures the more distant trees on the far side of the little bay.
Photographer and visual opportunist. Daily photos since 2005, plus articles, reviews, news, and ideas.
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