Tag Archives: recreation

Photographs: Northern California, Photographs: San Francisco

Morning Winter Haze, San Francisco Bay

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Morning Winter Haze, San Francisco Bay
Morning Winter Haze, San Francisco Bay

Morning Winter Haze, San Francisco Bay. Marin Headlands, California. December 18, 2009. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Thin winter low fog and haze over Alcatraz, Yerba Buena, and Treasure Islands and the Bay Bridge, San Francisco Bay, California.

Depending upon time of day, time of year, and the luck of the weather, the view of the Golden Gate and San Francisco Bay can vary from crystal clear with seemingly-saturated colors to completely socked in by fogs and clouds. On winter mornings (and on the right day during other times of the year) a general haze and fog that is not the more familiar coastal fog can lie over the Bay. It reduces the intensity of the colors and the contrast of the scene and if you watch long enough various landmarks gradually come into view and then may drift out of view again.

On this December morning these were exactly the conditions. Central Valley tule fog was spilling its moist and hazy air though the delta and creating this bluish haze over the Bay. I made this and a series of related photographs from the Marin Headlands above the Golden Gate.

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

Redwood Grove, Muir Woods

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Redwood Grove, Muir Woods. Muir Woods National Monument, California. December 18, 2009. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Redwood grove close to the start of winter at Muir Woods National Monument, California.

This grove of redwoods is in a a very accessible part of Muir Woods National Monument, along the mail trail along the creek that passes by the main entrance to the park. Probably just about everyone who at least hikes past the gift shop gets to this spot! This area near one of bridges across the creek (the second bridge, if I recall correctly) has a lot of interesting photographic subjects, some of which I’ve posted here before.

At this time of the year – late fall by the calendar, but early winter by climate – the forest is very wet, at least in a year like this one that seems like it may have more or less normal rainfall. The mosses begin to grow on exposed surfaces and tree trunks and some of the ferns that live through the winter are very green and lush – and it is wet everywhere.

The feeling of this scene, I think, incorporates all of that “wintery” stuff, but also captures the stillness and quiet found in the denser sections of the redwood forest. The red-brown straight and severe trunks of the redwoods are broken up a bit by the twisting and leaning shapes of some of the other trees, and everything is lit by soft diffused light from cloudy skies.

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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Photographs: Northern California, Photographs: People, Photographs: San Francisco

The Golden Gate, Morning

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The Golden Gate, Morning

The Golden Gate, Morning. San Francisco, California. December 18, 2009. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Black and white photograph of Marin Headlands, north tower of the Golden Gate Bridge, San Francisco, and the Bay Bridge.

Icon alert! Yes, that bridge.

I had business in San Francisco later in the day so I decided to start early and spend time north of the bridge and then return through the City in the evening. As I cross the bridge I almost always assess the possibilities for photography, as often as not decided to not stop since, as beautiful as the view of the Bay is it is not always worth photographing. On this morning though the conditions were a bit special and of a type that we usually only see in the winter months. There are mainly two types of fog in the Bay Area. First there is the “streaming into the Golden Gate type of fog” – which was not present this day – that comes in off the ocean. Then there is the winter tule fog which rises from wet ground on cold winter mornings – and the atmosphere on this morning was affected by that condition.

I made several photographs of the Bay, the bridge, and the City – but this one is perhaps a “triple icon” (for better or worse!) shot in that it includes the Golden Gate Bridge, San Francisco, and the Transamerica Pyramid centered in the north tower of the Bridge. I’ve known about the possibility of this shot for quite a while – but until now I managed to resist! Here I gave in and decided to figure out the location. It is almost embarrassingly easy to find and shoot once you figure it out, but you do need a fairly long lens. (In the full resolution original I can clearly see a couple standing on the overlook at bottom left and admiring the view.)

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

Redwood Forest, Sunbeams

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Redwood Forest, Sunbeams

Redwood Forest, Sunbeams. Muir Woods National Monument, California. October 24. 2009. © G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Beams of morning sunlight stream between the trees of the redwood forest at Muir Woods National Monument, California.

This is another photograph of the wonderful morning sunlight during my late October visit to Muir Woods National Monument. I usually visit and photograph Muir Woods in softer cloudy or foggy conditions which are, to be honest, easier to photograph. That diffused light lights the shadows and reduces the overall dynamic range of the scenes. However on this morning the sun was out and the light was magical, streaming through the forest canopy and between the giant trees to light up the air and the forest floor.

I perhaps mentioned that the previous photograph I posted from Muir Woods required me to merge two exposures to deal with this huge dynamic range – but this one required three exposures separated from each other by 2-stop brackets! The brightest exposure captured some detail in the trunks of the trees and the plants near the bottom of the frame, while the darkest exposure let me retain a bit of the branch detail in the very bright area where the light comes through between the trees.

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

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