Tag Archives: peninsula

Columbine Flower

Image July 13, 2023 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

A columbine flower, photographed in soft light at a San Francisco Bay Area garden.

In another recent post featuring a Columbine flower (in that case a purple and white version) I mentioned my first awareness of this type of flower. It came decades ago on Sierra backpack trips when I saw a version of the flower up high in alpine country. The incongruity of a delicate white flower in such a place formed my ideas about it. That cemented my (not entirely correct) notion that thee columbine is an alpine flower and that it is always white.

The flower in this photograph is white, but I found it at a distinctly non-alpine location in the San Francisco Bay Area — a large public garden on the San Francisco Peninsula. We had gone there for a summer event featuring drinks and food al fresco in this setting of grasslands and woods, but we did bring our cameras and planned on spending some time photographing the spring flowers.

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

Cormorant Colony II

Image May 16, 2023 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Cormorantn Colony II — Cormorant colony and rookery on a rocky prominese, Point Lobos.

Cormorant colony and rookery on a rocky prominese, Point Lobos.

This cormorant breeding colony was on a rocky prominence a short distance away from a trail I followed along a coastal bluff. Perhaps the birds felt safer with an uncrossable gulf between us. In any case, they mostly went about their business even though I was close enough to photograph them, positioned on the rock above Monterey Bay on a foggy morning.

Not all of their activities made sense to me, though some did. Half the birds were adults and half were (very large!) juveniles — the latter visible by means of their mottled feathers, their shorter beaks, and their incessant “feed me!” clamoring. From time to time one of the adults would arrive with a prize and the young birds became very interested!

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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

Coastal Forest and Fog

Image May 11, 2023 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Coastal forest and morning fog, Point Lobos State Reserve.

When people imagine visiting the California coast, I’m pretty sure that most of them envision a beach, blue water, surf, clear skies, and abundant sun. That happens, in some locations more than others, but coastal fog is about as likely as that fantasy weather. It can be cold and damp and gray, but this California weather also has its charms — the sound of surf coming up through the fog, the chill air, the muted colors.

This photograph comes from a visit to a location south of Monterey on a very foggy morning. Most often the fog clears out early, but this time it stuck around all morning. (Though a short distance inland the sun was out.) I pointed the camera into a forest of fall trees, and the fog created a sense of atmospheric recession.

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

Above the Fog

Image May 9, 2023 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

A monterey cypress on a rocky hill a obove fog shrouded coastline, Point Lobos.

This was a beautiful morning at the Point Lobos State Reserve along the upper Big Sur coast south of Monterey, California. I arrived to find thick fog — which is a good thing! It stuck around longer that usual, gradually lifting and thinning, starting to allow a bit of filtered, directional light in, and then dissipating. When I made this photograph the fog was still low, so low that at times it drifted below my camera position along the edge of a coastal cliff.

In different light this tree might produce a bright scene, but in this fog the effect is darker. I positioned myself just to the side of the tree, enough to make the far headland visible. It isn’t easy to see from the photograph, but to my left here was a substantial drop-off straight to the ocean.

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G Dan Mitchell Photography

Tag Archives: peninsula

Columbine Flower

Cormorant Colony II

Coastal Forest and Fog

Above the Fog

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