Tag Archives: point

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: The Southwest, Photographs: Utah

Murphy Point and Murphy Hogback, Evening

June 3, 2012 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Evening light on the brow of Murphy Point, with Murphy Hogback leading to the right and the areas of the Green and Colorado Rivers confluence and the Needles beyond, Canyonlands National Park.

When I photographed from the Green River Overlook in Canyonlands National Park back in early April, I arrived there in the evening with one shot definitely planned out ahead of time (though the conditions were, as they often are, a bit of a pleasant surprise once I arrived) and one sort of half planned. The first was a shot across the rugged terrain to the west and southwest through which the Green River has carved a deep and twisting canyon. The second was of more or less the same subject, but shot in vertical format with a longer lens and tracking some of the formations out toward the horizon.

Once there, I quickly figured out my shooting location – to be honest, there are quite a few options and unless you include cliff-top foreground subjects you don’t have to be terribly particular. I composed the first, landscape-orientation shot and then sort of went back and forth between that image and the vertical shot as the light evolved. As I did this and the low angle light began to cut through some of the haze a bit more, the terrain to my south that I had not really thought about earlier started to look a bit more interesting. From the Green River Overlook, the upper sandstone cliffs first curve back away from the river canyon, then run south, and once again extend a bit out into the canyon at Murphy Point, the impressive prominence at the left side of this photograph. One thousand feet below, Murphy Hogback – a flat-topped ridge – extends further toward the Green River. Beyond that the terrain extends into the distance, full of features that were unfamiliar to me but still very impressive – a series of plateaus, often with white rock edges, steep drop-offs into deep canyons, more distant and barely visible towers and other formations. From what I’ve read since then, I’m pretty certain that beyond the shoulder of Murphy Point, I am seeing the area roughly where the Green and Colorado Rivers meet and beyond that the area known as The Needles.

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Photographs: Nature, Photographs: The Southwest, Photographs: Utah

Murphy Point, Sunset

May 25, 2012 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Sunset light on Murphy Point, photographed from Green River Overlook, Canyonlands National Park.

We spent the better part of a day scouting around the “Island in the Sky” section of Canyonlands National Park, partly with the goal of figuring out where to be for golden hour light. In the end, the very first place we had really considered ended up being the place we came back to – the Green River Overlook. While quite a few landscape photographs can be somewhat spontaneous and a matter of quickly taking advantage of ephemeral conditions, the decision to photograph at the Green River Overlook was quite the opposite. Not only had I decided that I wanted to shoot at this location, but I had even worked out the composition of the shot that I wanted.

With that in mind, we came back here almost an hour before actual sunset, confident that the photograph I had in mind would be waiting for me. And it was! That photograph was shot looking roughly west or a bit south of west and across the canyons dropping into the Green River. But I also had quite a bit of time to look around at other possible subjects as the light slowly transformed. The steep upper cliffs of (what I believe to be) Murphy Point stood to my south and the sunset light began to intensely color their red rocks during the final few minute of sunlight. So I took a moment away from the shot I had come for, pivoted the tripod this direction, and made a few exposures. The geology seen in this area is amazing. Layer upon layer build from the bottoms of the river canyon, through the side canyons and onto the lower plateaus. Then shattered rock stacks up against the tall upper sandstone cliffs that are topped by the relative flatlands of the “Island in the Sky” area. Here the low angle side-light from the setting sun reveals a lot of the more subtle details of this landscape.

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

Beach and Rocks, Whalers Cove

May 16, 2012 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Large rocks and a sandy beach below the bluffs at Whalers Cover, Point Lobos State Reserve.

For some reason this little vignette caught my attention when I visited Point Lobos one morning in late March. The spot is a section of the curving beach at the inside of Whalers Cove, where a bluff sits above short cliffs at the edge of the sand. This is another of those spots that I have visited for literally decades, yet never photographed. Although I have photographed nearby I don’t think I have any photographs of this little beach area at all, but I’ve been eyeing it during my last few visits.

The cove itself is an appealing spot, somewhat different from many other parts of Point Lobos. Those tend to feature quite rugged seashore, often with cliffs and rocks that run right down into the surging water of the Pacific Ocean. But this cove is doubly protected from the ocean, by being a cove and by having an entrance that does not face straight out toward the ocean. It is filled with kelp beds and is a good place to look for sea lions very close to the shore. (Several were hanging out, wrapped in kelp and lounging around, not more than a few feet from the shore.)

Photographs: Central California, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Northern California

Rocky Islands, Fog, and Surf

May 3, 2012 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Brightly sunlit fog blankets rocky islands and high surf, Point Lobos.

The conditions were wildly changeable on this early afternoon at Point Lobos. I had originally been shooting at a more protected location in the park where it was mostly sunny, though with the sun partially obscured by high, thin clouds. After finishing with my shooting in that location I decided to head out toward the more exposed coastline just south of the “Point” itself before leaving, and when I got there I found that the fog back was perhaps only a few hundred yards offshore and was already beginning to obscure some of the rocks.

I hurried a bit to the south to a point where the view might be clear toward Bird Island and the Carmel Highlands, thinking that I might get some long distance shots before the fog closed it or, better yet, as it came in. Sure enough, I arrived at a good spot to work from while the rocks were still clearly visible against the backdrop of the fog, which was brightly lit from behind by the sun. I set up my tripod, mounted a very long lens, and attached the camera, and looked back at the view to find… that the rocks had virtually disappeared as the fog moved in more quickly that I expected. Still, by waiting for momentary clearing in the mist, I was able to make a few very foggy photographs of these large off-shore rocks, almost obscured by the incoming fog.

G Dan Mitchell Photography

Tag Archives: point

Murphy Point and Murphy Hogback, Evening

Murphy Point, Sunset

Beach and Rocks, Whalers Cove

Rocky Islands, Fog, and Surf

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