Tag Archives: recession

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

High Tide at Weston Beach, Approaching Storm

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High Tide at Weston Beach, Approaching Storm
High Tide at Weston Beach, Approaching Storm

High Tide at Weston Beach, Approaching Storm. Point Lobos State Reserve, California. January 10, 2010. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

High tide and storm surf under clouds of an approaching winter storm at Weston Beach, Point Lobos State Reserve, California.

This photograph was made from near the edge of Weston Beach during high tide on a day when a large Pacific storm was approaching. In more benign conditions and at low tide you would might exposed rocks and relatively quiet water in the area near the bottom of the frame – but not on this day! While I’ve ventured out onto the rocks at the left edge of the scene at low tide during the less-active summer months that would have been a very foolish thing to attempt on this day!

As with the photograph I posted yesterday, I thought that this might end up as a black and white image – and I still think it might. However, for now I have decided to go with the “barely-color” rendition. Because of the overcast and the haze created by the spray from the large surf, the colors in the original scene were very muted.

This photograph is not in the public domain and may not be used on websites, blogs, or in other media without advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

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keywords: point, lobos, state, reserve, park, california, usa, monterey, carmel, peninsula, highlands, coast, shore, highway, pacific, ocean, sea, bird, rocks, island, seascape, landscape, wave, surf, rugged, bluff, sky, clouds, storm, approaching, atmosphere, recession, silhouette, travel, scenic, weston, beach, high, tide, stock

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Northern California

Oaks and Hills, Winter Fog

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Oaks and Hills, Winter Fog
Oaks and Hills, Winter Fog

Oaks and Hills, Winter Fog. Calero Hills, California. January 9, 2010. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Winter morning fog clears over northern California hills and oak forest.

When it comes to photography, there is a long list of subjects that I cannot resist. Included on this list are: morning sunshine across the shoulder of a grassy hill, oak trees, clearing, high clouds from an approaching weather front, hills receding into the haze-shrouded distance, stacked diagonal forms, a bit of a trail. This is, of course, a list that corresponds pretty much to what is found in this scene.

I was out hiking in my “photographic backyard” in the Calero hills on this early-January morning. I initially went out looking for fog, and I found that in abundance earlier in the morning when I photographed a solitary oak tree in a fog covered valley. Soon, however, the fog began to hold light that suggested clearing above, so I headed up a trail to a nearby ridge that commands a good view of surrounding oak-filled valleys and ridges. When I arrived there the fog was still quite thick, but I felt it would soon start to clear so I went ahead and unpacked my gear and set up my tripod… and waited. Soon I was rewarded with this scene to my south, mostly backlit by the morning sun as the fog washed in and out of the valleys and finally the sun became bright enough to light this foreground ridge and cast shadows from the oak trees.

This photograph is not in the public domain and may not be used on websites, blogs, or in other media without advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

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keywords: california, usa, landscape, winter, stock, calero, county, park, santa clara, tree, oak, fog, mist, cloud, grass, nature, oak, forest, grove, meadow, trail, grass, silhouette, ridge, mountain, haze, atmosphere, recession, light, clearing, bush, valley, hike

Photographs: Northern California, Photographs: San Francisco, Photographs: Urban/Street

San Francisco Skyline, Winter Fog and Haze

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San Francisco Skyline, Winter Fog and Haze
San Francisco Skyline, Winter Fog and Haze

San Francisco Skyline, Winter Fog and Haze. San Francisco, California. December 18, 2009. © Copyright 2009 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Fog and haze obscure the winter skyline of downtown San Francisco, California.

Almost obscured by morning haze and fog, the San Francisco skyline is silhouetted against the backdrop of the morning light coming over east bay hills. This photograph was made from a vantage point in the Marin Headlands across the Golden Gate from the City. A number of downtown landmarks are visible including the Transamerica Pyramid, and beyond the downtown area a bit of the San Francisco Oakland Bay Bridge is barely visible.

The atmosphere above the Bay varies in astonishing ways throughout the year, and it never seems to be quite the same twice. While the summer often brings the familiar banks of ocean fog, winter brings the effects of fog from the other direction in the form of tule fog forming over the inland valleys. It can be completely clear – and, for the season, warm on the coast – yet a few miles inland the lower valleys may be filled with cold, wet, ground fog.

During these conditions, the moist air can move towards San Francisco and the Bay by way of the delta. That is more or less what was happening on this morning when the very most and hazy air from inland had created this soft atmosphere and light above The City, even as higher winter clouds in clear air moved far overhead, catching the morning sun light.

G Dan Mitchell is a California photographer and visual opportunist whose subjects include the Pacific coast, redwood forests, central California oak/grasslands, the Sierra Nevada, California deserts, urban landscapes, night photography, and more.
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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: Northern California, Photographs: San Francisco, Photographs: Structures and Objects

Golden Gate Bridge Tower, Transamerica Building, San Francisco Skyline

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Golden Gate Bridge Tower, Transamerica Building, San Francisco Skyline
Golden Gate Bridge Tower, Transamerica Building, San Francisco Skyline

Golden Gate Bridge Tower, Transamerica Building, San Francisco Skyline. San Francisco, California. December 18, 2009. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

The Transamerica Pyramid above the downtown San Francisco skyline and centered in the north tower of the Golden Gate Bridge on a hazy winter morning.

This is, again, from the iconic location high in the Marin Headlands where the Transamerica Pyramid lines up precisely in the center of the upper portion of the north tower of the Golden Gate Bridge. While this is certainly not an original view of San Francisco skyline, the effect of the thin winter fog is perhaps a bit different from what is usually seen from here. (This fog is related to the tule fog that forms on very cold mornings in the valleys of California. On this morning it was very thick further inland in the Central Valley and delta and some of that moisture was probably responsible for the conditions seen here over San Francisco.)

This photograph is not in the public domain and may not be used on websites, blogs, or in other media without advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

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keywords: california, usa, travel, scenic, san francisco, bay, area, golden, gate, national, recreation, area, park, stock, transamerica, pyramid, tower, skyline, downtown, urban, hill, mountain, haze, fog, cloud, atmospheric, recession, silhouette, cable, bridge, north, bay, landscape, marin, county, headlands, shoreline, shore, morning, light