Tag Archives: pacific

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

Two Trees, Coastal Fog

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Two Trees, Coastal Fog
Two Monterey cypress trees in fog along the rugged north shore at Point Lobos.

Two Trees, Coastal Fog. © Copyright 2022 G Dan Mitchell.

Two Monterey cypress trees in fog along the rugged north shore at Point Lobos.

As promised, here is yet another way of looking at the scene featuring the prominent tree on the left, a beautiful specimen of gnarled and weathered Monterey cypress along the north shore at Point Lobos. For this version I pulled back a bit and took in the larger scene, going with a semi-panoramic aspect ratio that includes a wider view and includes a second tree and the fog-shrouded ocean beyond.

Photographers (and practitioners of other arts) often describe some aesthetic object as being “perfect.” I’m not so sure that the term, at least in a classic sense, really works for such things. It implies that there is one “perfect” and ideal way of seeing or presenting something. It seems to me that there are multiple excellent ways to do such things, especially in the creation of art. If you asked me to select one of the four (yes, there’s still one more!) versions of this photograph as “the best,” I’d find it almost impossible to make a definitive choice.

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

Windswept Trees, Coastal Bluffs

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Windswept Trees, Coastal Bluffs
Rugged trees cling to rocky bluffs above the Pacific Coast shoreline, Point Lobos.

Windswept Trees, Coastal Bluffs. © Copyright 2022 G Dan Mitchell.

Rugged trees clinging to rocky bluffs above the Pacific Coast shoreline, Point Lobos.

This scene gets a different treatment than other recent Point Lobos photographs, something more in line with the tradition of black and white photography at this location. The foreground tree and its nearby associates are influenced by the strong winds at this exposed location. Branches and whole trees are bent away from the open sea, and their angles are mirrored by the slope of the headland on the other side of the foggy inlet.

In a recent post I mentioned that some attractive Point Lobos subjects are often nearly impossible to photograph because dense trees stand between legal (and safe!) camera positions and the open views. While sometimes I can find a way to photograph under, around, or through these barriers, that isn’t always. possible. I initially went to this spot looking for an open view of the inlet, but when I couldn’t find it I decided to make the trees and boulders the main foreground element.

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 to Articles, Sales and Licensing, my Sierra Nevada Fall Color book, Contact Information.

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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

A Small Wave

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A Small Wave
On a day of quiet seas, a small wave crosses a kelp bed along the California coast.

A Small Wave. © Copyright 2022 G Dan Mitchell.

On a day of quiet seas, a small wave crosses a kelp bed along the California coast.

My recent photographs from Point Lobos have mostly used the grand landscape as the subject, focusing on central subjects set in expansive surroundings. If you are familiar with those locations you might have been able to identify the specific places where I photographed, and you might have recognized the actual subjects of the images. This is not one of those photographs.

This photograph could be from any of an uncounted number of places along the coast of California — or any other coastal zone for that matter. I think this photograph can work in at least two ways. On one level it is a “capture” of a real thing that happens in these places: we see the submerged sand and kelp through clear water, while the more turbulent water that follows the little wave reflects more sky color. But I like the fact that it also woks as an abstraction of shape, color, and form.

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 | Twitter | 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. (Click this post’s title first if you are viewing on the home page.)

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

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

Monterey Cypress, Cormorant Rookery, Fog

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Monterey Cypress, Cormorant Rookery, Fog
Fog obscures a cormorant rookery behind a Monterey cypress tree growing on a rocky promontory.

Monterey Cypress, Cormorant Rookery, Fog. © Copyright 2022 G Dan Mitchell.

Fog obscures a cormorant rookery behind a Monterey cypress tree growing on a rocky promontory.

You might think that I would be done with photographs of this tree and its surroundings by now. But you would be wrong. And, yes, there is at least one more to come. Variations include portrait versus landscape mode, wider near-panoramic aspect ratios, the inclusion of more or less of the surrounding terrain, and in this case some wildlife.

The main feature and primary focus in all of the variations is this gnarled tree growing on a rocky promontory. In this rendition the wide aspect ration allows me to include more of the background. The most interesting part of that to me is the white (guano-covered) rocky knoll barely visible in the fog over the left shoulder of the Monterey cypress tree. This rock is the site of a cormorant rookery, and the young birds (almost as large as their parents!) stand and wait for mom and dad to bring them more food.

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 | Twitter | 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. (Click this post’s title first if you are viewing on the home page.)

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