Tag Archives: photo

North Tower, Dawn Fog

April 4, 2014 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

There are many associations with this location and scenes like this, at least for me. I am fascinated by the shapes, colors, and textures of this bridge, a structure that we take for granted here in the Bay Area. The location from which I photographed is also familiar and easily taken for granted, yet it is a spectacular place, sitting high above the bridge, the Golden Gate itself, the Pacific Ocean, and the San Francisco Bay spreading inland to the west. At this early morning hour, while the sound of traffic approaching the bridge is faintly audible far below, it is otherwise nearly silent. It is also typically cool and damp, most often with at least some fog around—occasionally so much that the view is completely blocked. The City is visible across the Bay, seeming like it is coming back to life at this early hour, with cars heading in to work and lights from the fading night still turned on.

The dawn light on this morning was, as usual, not exacty like any previous morning that I’ve seen here. When I left home well before dawn I thought that it might be clear over the entrance to the Bay, but as I got closer I encountered fog on the San Francisco side. But as I crossed the bridge, and a bit to my surprise, it was clear over the water—the fog seemed to be mostly over the south shore. There were high, thin clouds above the fog and the light haze. At first it looked like all of this cloudiness would kill any morning color, and that impression was strengthened as the sun came up behind the clouds to the east with only the subtlest color. But a bit later, some minutes after actual dawn, the rising sun’s colorful light began to clear that eastern fog and slant across the top of the thinning fog bank to my south.

Text, photographs, and other media are © Copyright G Dan Mitchell (or others when indicated) and are not in the public domain and may not be used on websites, blogs, or in other media without advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

Photographs: Coastal Redwoods, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Northern California

Redwood Forest, Muir Woods

April 3, 2014 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

A tall, thin bay tree reaches for the light in front of a row of coast redwood trees, Muir Woods National Monument

This cathedral of redwood trees still brings me to a stop every time I walk up the main valley at Muir Woods National Monument. Typically I arrive very early in the morning, often before the park opens, when I can have the trail almost to myself. (I’m happy to share “my” park with the small number of other early morning visitors, who are usually very quiet.) This row of big trees is in a spot near where several trails meet up, and the light can range from deep shade to filtered sun.

The light is the tricky thing when photographing here. People are often surprised by just how little light may make it down through the canopy of the redwood forest. On this morning there was a layer of high clouds that muted the light, with only occasional breaks allowing more direct light. As a result, this was a 13 second exposure! The idea here was to find a “wall of trees” composition, with some depth from additional trees perhaps visible in the gaps among the main foreground group. I liked the visual dissonance of the single slender bay tree trunk curving across the scene to the left.

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Northern California, Photographs: Sierra Nevada, Photographs: Yosemite

Winter Oak and Fog

April 2, 2014 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Winter fog drifts around a dormant oak tree, Yosemite Valley

This appeared to be the one Valley meadow with fog in it on this early winter morning. Up early, we had taken a look at the conditions and figured that meadow fog might not be on the morning agenda, but on a hunch we decided to do a loop past several Yosemite Valley meadows anyway—and here at Stoneman Meadow we found ground fog gently moving back and forth across the clearing.

It was early enough and cold enough that few other people were out, so the scene was very quite and peaceful. The fog remained within the confines of the meadow, only penetrating a short distance into the surrounding forests when it drifted a bit. At first it seemed like we had arrived just in time and that the fog was going to dissipate quickly, so I set up quickly and started photographing with the expectation that I would not have long to work. But very quickly the fog began to thicken until it was perhaps 20 feet deep, and soon it obscured the views across the meadow to forest trees. As this fog, too, began to thin I waited for it to line up behind this solitary barren tree.

Photographs: Central California, Photographs: Nature

Wetland Fog, Dawn

April 1, 2014 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

First dawn light glows faintly through winter fog above a San Joaquin Valley wetland marsh

This was definitely shot during the morning blue hour, the pre-dawn light was here tinged with pink color from first sunlight striking high clouds far above the ground-hugging layer of thick fog. This is another photograph from my favorite Central Valley haunt, where I often go to photograph birds during the cool months of late-fall through very early spring.

The fog was thick but not deep, and as we drove to this area we were able to look up through it and see the predawn sky even though the murk was thick enough at ground level to force us to drive very slowly. Arriving at our destination, it was foggy and still, but as the first light of morning began to arrive, the pink color of high clouds illuminated the fog and created a glow of a somewhat unusual color. I had a few minutes along the edge of a pond to photograph in this fleeting light. The first photographs, like this one, were a combination of blue and faint pink/purple. A moment later the pink became even more intense, and then as the light increased the color faded and the fog became more transparent, allowing a view upwards through it to those higher clouds.

G Dan Mitchell Photography

Tag Archives: photo

North Tower, Dawn Fog

Redwood Forest, Muir Woods

Winter Oak and Fog

Wetland Fog, Dawn

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