Tag Archives: red

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

Colorful Pebbles, Weston Cove

October 27, 2010 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Colorful pebbles washed up near the water line at Weston Cove, Point Lobos.

This is another “wandering around on the beach with my eyes open” photograph, made at Weston Cove at Point Lobos. This little circular cove has a pebble beach so there are lots of small pebbles of all colors and shapes along the edge of the water. As I wander about this spot I find the pebbles fascinating, both visually and for the sound they make as they are dragged back toward the sea by the retreating waves. While there are pebbles everywhere – in every small hollow or crack, at the surf’s edge, even further up the “beach” where they were left by higher tides and storms – interesting juxtapositions of the pebbles are a bit harder to find. I was fascinated by this little collection, both because of the linear and curving relationships between their positions and because of the very different and colorful types of rock against the background of sandstone.

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.

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

Kelp and Rock, Weston Cove

October 26, 2010 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Dried kelp on rocks near the surf line at Weston Cove, Point Lobos.

On this late-October Saturday I traveled to the Monterey Peninsula for the opening of Charlie Cramer’s ‘Earth, Water, Light’ show and lecture at the Center for Photographic Art in Carmel. (You should go if you are in the area! The show runs from now through the end of the year and perhaps a week or so beyond.) With a winter-season Pacific storm coming in I wasn’t certain of what to expect from the weather, but ended up shooting in some wonderful light at Point Lobos.

There are many subjects to shoot there, and the light is one of the main factors (along with the season, the time of day, and random inclinations…) determining the subjects I’ll focus on. With the edge of the high clouds from the approaching storm diffusing the light it seemed like a good opportunity to shoot the rocks and kelp and other subjects along the shore line. When I shoot these subjects, especially in and around Point Lobos, I often have to slow down and just wander and look before I can really see the possibilities. A quick glance more or less gets me no farther than, “Look! Kelp! And rocks!” But if I wander around slowly and look carefully I’ll usually find some things of special interest among the piles of stones and kelp and other stuff that washes up. I often seen the thick tubular kelp forms like the one at the bottom of this frame, but seeing it with the more delicate material still attached – much less spread out this way on the rocks – is unusual, so I spent some time working with this subject.

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.

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Sierra Nevada

Red and Orange Aspen Leaves

October 24, 2010 G Dan Mitchell 1 Comment

Intensely colorful red and orange autumn aspen leaves in the eastern Sierra Nevada.

Late in the day on this rainy eastern Sierra fall day I headed for a small dirt side road that I know of in the Bishop Creek drainage. Along this road are a few special aspen groves that I have photographed in the past, including one with very slender trees and sometimes fiery colors. This time I was there a bit earlier than in the past and, ironically, the leaves on these trees were so thick that they didn’t lend themselves to the photograph I had in mind. I did make a few photograph of these trees – one of which will likely appear here before long – but then I decided to try something other than what originally brought me to this spot.

I put the 135mm f/2 lens on the camera – perhaps not a typical landscape lens, but quite nice for shooting close images of leaves and creating soft background blur – and went hunting for small groups of leaves with appropriate backgrounds. Because it was late in the day and in an area where the sun drops behind ridges fairly early and overcast and raining intermittently, the light was really interesting. While this light can mute some colors, it also fills in the shadows a bit and can intensify the colors of bright subjects like the aspen leaves.

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.

Commentary, Photographs: Desert, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Owens Valley, Photographs: Sierra Nevada

McGee Mountain and Little Alkali Lake, Dawn

October 21, 2010 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

There are higher peaks along the eastern escarpment of the Sierra Nevada – much higher! – but I can think of few that catch the dawn light more beautifully than McGee Mountain just north of McGee Creek in the area around Mammoth Lakes and Crowley Lake. The slopes of the mountain are open without obstruction to the dawn light as it works its way down from the peaks, and the light passes across the face and accents the relief of alternating valleys and aretes. On this early October morning an early season storm had left the upper slopes covered with snow, and beyond the slopes of McGee Creek Canyon leading up toward Mount Morgan are still in shade.

I photographed this scene from well out into Owens Valley, where I was almost alone apart from an occasional car passing by on the distant road – and apart from the bellowing beasts in a nearby herd of cattle! Steam rises from some of the many hot springs in this geothermally-active area of the eastern Sierra, and a bit of mist floats above the reflective surface of this alkali lake.

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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” (Heyday Books) is available directly from him.
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Photographer and visual opportunist. Daily photos since 2005, plus articles, reviews, news, and ideas.