The Monterey cypress trees at Point Lobos are rugged and diverse specimens. This is no forest of uniform Sierra Nevada trees. Each tree seems to have its own personality, formed by its exposure to light, proximity to cliffs, age, and the wind. Aside from the fact that they often grow in groves, many of them remind me of the stunted and twisted trees found at timberline in the highest mountains.
Continue reading Old Cypress
Sometimes I arrive at a location with no specific plan in mind beyond “making photographs.” That was the case on this morning when I drove down toward the Big Sur area very early. Before Monterey I encountered thick fog, and I started contemplating fog photographs, perhaps at Point Lobos. The fog continued as I passed Monterey, skirted Carmel, and started down Highway 1 beyond Carmel Valley. It looked like I would get foggy conditions at Point Lobos… until a moment later when the fog inexplicably cleared.
Continue reading Trees and Rising Sun
Point Lobos and I go back a long ways. Shortly after my parents moved to the San Francisco Bay Area — I was four years old then — they began to take us on interesting day trips. A favorite was going to Monterey, which was a much smaller and quieter place then. A highlight of those visits was traveling a few miles south to Point Lobos, where we explored tide pools, walked the trails, and watched sea lions. This was one of the first places where I began to make photographs, likely with a simple Brownie camera and some black and white film.
Continue reading Monterey Cypress Trees, Cliffs and Surf
This photograph, the final in a set I’ve shared recently, comes from a half-day visit to Point Lobos one foggy late-July morning. Fog is always fun, but in this case it seemed extra special. California suffered through some extremely hot weather back in July, and I headed to the coast to try to find some relief. I found it! While the temperatures back home were rising into the upper nineties, here at the coast it was in the upper fifties under the overcast. I spent the morning and early afternoon wandering through the park.
These trees are Monterey cypresses, native to this region along the rugged coast. Here they grow along the tops of cliffs that drop steeply into the ocean. The promontory is along the north shore of Point Lobos where some of the higher cliffs are found. While the fog here was high enough to reveal the trees, a short distance offshore it was right on the water.
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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