Tag Archives: point lobos

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

Meadow, Wildflowers, Cove

July 15, 2017 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

A wildflower-filled meadow drops toward a cove along the north shore of Point Lobos State Reserve

For various reasons it has been a while since I’ve been out to photograph the natural world — perhaps a couple of months, and my last big shoot was in early April when I spent nearly a week in Death Valley. (In the interim I have photographed other subjects, including quite a bit of urban and street photography.) Those reasons are behind me now, and I’m again turning my attention back to photographing the natural world. Today’s first foray took me to an old favorite, the Point Lobos State Reserve just south of Carmel, California.

I live little more than an hour from this area, and I’ve been visiting for decades, but there are still new things to discover about this place. For example, this was the first time that I’ve actually stopped and visited the “whalers’ cabin,” and it was the first time that I left my car behind and spent the entire time wandering the park on foot. At this time of year the weather in California can vary radically between inland areas (where it could easily be in the ninety degree range) and to coast, where it was only in the upper fifties. My plan was to get to the coast at about the time I expected the fog to break up so that I could photograph in the marvelous light on the fog-sun boundary. But it never cleared! Instead, while the temperature rose further inland, I enjoyed hours of cool and damp foggy weather. I eventually made my way — slowly, and stopping to look at many things — to the trail along the north shore of the park, and here I came upon this beautiful little meadow, still green from the past winter’s unusually heavy rainfall and filled with colorful wildflowers. The meadow led down to the edge of a rocky cliff that dropped to the Pacific Ocean below.

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: Northern California, Photographs: Ocean & Coast

Winter Surf, Mountains

August 6, 2016 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Powerful winter surf washes over rocks at Point Lobos.

I have gone to Point Lobos for decades, beginning when I was a child and my family would visit. I especially remember exploring the accessible tide pools. Today I especially like to go there on foggy days or in the winter, when the raw power of the Pacific Ocean is most visible, with winter storms churning up huge surf.

It was on such a day that I visited last January — in fact, reports of high surf were almost certainly what made me decide to visit that day. Because this coastline faces west, in the morning the coastal hills, being to the east, are often in shadow. To make this photograph I found an outcropping from which I could look back to the southwest toward the shore and juxtapose the rear of a huge wave washing over offshore rocks with the dark and ominous face of the mountains rising behind in shadow.

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

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

Pelican, Reflection

November 15, 2015 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

A pelican skims above the ocean along California’s Central Coast

The brown pelicans are almost certainly my favorite California shore birds, and I photograph them often enough that I think I understand some of their habits and know when and where I’m likely to find them. (On the other hand, I have to admit to being completely unaware that we also have white pelicans until just a few years ago!) When I photograph them I often look for several specific kinds of opportunities — their incredibly low flight as they skim in groups right above the way, close passes in front of me as they ride thermals along the top edges of coastal bluffs, and their approach as they pass over peninsulas extending from the shoreline.

Seeing pelicans on this morning was a little bit of a surprise since I had not seen or photographed them much recently. I went to Point Lobos after hearing that humpback whales had been spotted close to shore, so I went right to the top of a high bluff where I could survey a big area of coastal waters. (My “whale hunt” was more than amply rewarded when groups of the whales appeared very close to the shore and engaged in bubble feeding behavior.) I wasn’t looking for pelicans, but when a few passed down below along the water’s surface I tracked them. This one flew over a small area of relatively smooth water, the surface of which reflected the mixed fog and blue sky along with the distorted shape of the bird’s shadow.

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

Tail of the Humpback

November 14, 2015 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

The tail of a humpback whale is all the remains as it dives beneath the Pacific Ocean

Back in early September I had a remarkable morning at the Point Lobos State Reserve along the California coast just south of Carmel. This has been a year of unusual weather and unusual ocean conditions, including much warmer than usual waters. Most likely as a result of this, sea life has behaved in unusual ways — for example, certain species that are rare along the coast or that usually stay farther out to sea have shown up right along the coast. That was the case on this morning when huge schools of small fish had apparently appeared very close to the rocks of Point Lobos.

When I went there on this morning I suspected that I might spot some whales, but what I saw exceeded my expectations. I arrived and walked out onto a high bluff that extends a way out from the shoreline, and from here I could immediately see commotion on the surface of the water very close — thousands of birds were obviously feeding on something. Within moments I spotted my first humpback whale and before long many more showed up. Every so often they engaged in spectacular examples of bubble feeding, in which groups of them work together to corral the fish they feed on, at which point the group suddenly breaks the surface all at once, with gaping mouths wide open to catch a meal. This photograph is a bit less spectacular, but it is still a special experience to watch these huge creatures slowly glide below the water’s surface.

G Dan Mitchell Photography

Tag Archives: point lobos

Meadow, Wildflowers, Cove

Winter Surf, Mountains

Pelican, Reflection

Tail of the Humpback

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