Tag Archives: park

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

Fog, Headlands, Pacific Ocean

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Fog, Headlands, Pacific Ocean
“Fog, Headlands, Pacific Ocean” — Headlands drop to the edge of the foggy Pacific Ocean coastline at Point Lobos.

This photograph captures several characteristic features of Point Lobos State Reserve and perhaps a bit of the experience of visiting. I photographed from a trail along the north shore of the reserve on a very foggy morning. At times the fog was low enough to partially obscure the view, but here it had risen along the shoreline to offer a clear view of headlands, a cove, a small island, Monterey cypress trees, and the Pacific Ocean disappearing into distant fog.

I learn or discover new things on every visit to Point Lobos, despite having gone there for decades. Each time I find different ways to photograph it, and new perspectives that I had somehow missed in the past. I also learn new things, including some I’m astonished to realize that I didn’t know. In another post of a photograph from this visit I shared that it wasn’t until this summer that I realized that these familiar coves all have names! The one in the center of this photograph is “Cypress Cove.”

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

Forest and Cove

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Forest and Cove
“Forest and Cove” — Forest trees and a cove on a foggy morning at Point Lobos State Reserve.

The north shore of Point Lobos is a beautiful and wild place. The meeting of land and sea is a bit more rugged here, with taller cliffs. Steep headlands alternate with coves, many of them narrow and full of rough water. The evocative shapes of Monterey cypress trees top the cliffs, some barely clinging to rocky slopes and many acquiring unusual shapes.

I often discover new things about places that I thought I knew well. I’ve been going to Point Lobos since I was a child. I knew, of course, about these fascinating coves, but it only recently occurred to me that they might have names! This one is “Bluefish Cove,” and it is one or the larger ones, more open to the sea. The trail circles around its inner edge, though it is lined with trees that often obscure clear views of its waters. It is a trail, like many at Point Lobos, that rewards casual and aware sauntering more than purposeful, businesslike hiking.

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

The Old Tree

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The Old Tree
“The Old Tree” — An old, gnarled monterey cypress grows along the cliffs of Point Lobos State Reserve.

This Monterey cypress has long been a favorite subject of mine at Point Lobos, but this year I learned something new about it. It has a name. It is known as “The Old Veteran” or “The Old Veteran of Point Lobos.” I discovered this while looking up information on the distribution of Monterey cypress trees, and one source I found included its picture and the name. Further reading turned up an estimate that it is probably 200-250 years old.

It certainly is a weathered old specimen. It lives on top of a rocky outcropping at the edge of a steep face that drops straight into a cove. One wonders if there was perhaps more soil over those roots in the past, but it hangs on still. From looking at older photographs, it appears that the tree is now increasingly stressed. There were more green branches in the past, and one prominent limb that used to extend to the left is long gone.

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

North Shore, Fog

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North Shore, Fog
“North Shore, Fog” — Monterey cycpres trees top North Shore cliffs on a foggy morning at Point Lobos State Reserve.

This is another photograph from my gloriously-foggy late-July visit to Point Lobos. I made a morning escape from the too-hot inland temperatures, hoping for an hour or two of cool fog on the coast before the fog burned off. I was pleasantly surprised when it stuck around well past noon. I spent a few hours wandering slowly along the north short of Point Lobos in the cool fog, photographing the headlands cliffs, Monterey cypress trees, and the fog-shrouded Pacific Ocean.

I stopped at this spot twice, once near the beginning of my amble and again near the end. The first time it was very foggy, and the farthest prominence was almost completely obscured. It was still quite foggy when I came back. but the cloud deck had lifted enough to open the view towards the end of these cliffs a bit more, and as I photographed I was able to watch sea birds wheeling around the rocks.

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.

Scroll down to share comments or questions. (Click post title first if viewing on the home page.)

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