Tag Archives: road

Big Sur Coast Near Hurricane Point

Big Sur Coast Near Hurricane Point
“Big Sur Coast Near Hurricane Point” — Late spring morning on the Big Sur Coast.

This is a bit of an odd post for this site. While updating older photographs and posts I was unable to locate this one. So I’m sort of semi/maybe/kind of reposting it. The photograph comes from almost two decades ago on one of my many visits to the Big Sur Coastline of California. This visit was on a late-spring day when fog was clearing from coastal bluffs and the surf was active.

Continue reading Big Sur Coast Near Hurricane Point

Evening Road, Death Valley

Evening Road, Death Valley
“Evening Road, Death Valley” — A gravel road descends toward desert playa under evening skies, Death Valley

Sights like this become familiar if you spend much time exploring Death Valley National Park — a deserted gravel track heading off into the arid landscape with hills in the distance. There are variations: a narrow track following a streamed winding between high walls, a road crossing high desert mountains, and others. This particular example is not all that isolated — though it doesn’t get a lot of visitors.

It was late in the day and we had hurried back down into the Valley in hopes of low-angle sunlight on the terrain between the road and the far hills. That did not happen, and the light was somewhat flat. But the same clouds that blocked the late-day sun also filled the sky above the desert terrain in this photograph.


Leave a comment or question using the form. (Click the title to see the full article and to comment if you are viewing it on the home page.)

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. Blog | Bluesky | Mastodon | Substack Notes | Flickr | Email

All media © Copyright G Dan Mitchell and others.

Fire Trail, Calero Hills

Fire Trail, Calero Hills
“Fire Trail, Calero Hills” — A trail through Central California oak grassland with winter morning light.

This is an unusual post — a “make up” post to restore a lost photograph to the archives. It is an old photograph from 2006 that probably once appeared on this website but seems to have disappeared. I regularly share older “From the Archive” images on social media, and as I prepared this photo for sharing I was unable to find an original post here. Consequently, I worked up this slightly revised version and am sharing it here today.

The photograph comes from a San Francisco Bay Area park where I have hiked and photographed for decades. I visit at all times of the year and in all imaginable conditions. This one comes from a morning hike in the winter, when the low angle sun cast strong shadows across the landscape beneath the skeletal forms of winter trees.


Leave a comment or question using the form. (Click the title to see the full article and to comment if you are viewing it on the home page.)

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. Blog | Bluesky | Mastodon | Substack Notes | Flickr | Email

All media © Copyright G Dan Mitchell and others.

Levee Road, Tule Fog

Levee Road, Tule Fog
“Levee Road, Tule Fog” — Tule fog shrouds the winter landscape along a California Central Valley levee road.

A couple of weeks ago I made my way out to California’s Central Valley for what I hoped would be a day of bird photography augmented by landscape work. My favorite days at this time of year begin with tule fog that clears before noon. There is wonderful transitional light as the conditions change, and once the fog lifts there are usually opportunities for bird photography. Well, I got the fog I came for… and it never left! (The birds? Not so much.)

This spot along a levee road skirting wetland ponds is very familiar to me. I photograph here all the time, and I’ve photographed literally this same scene often — at dawn, in fog, late in the day, after dusk. It includes several elements I associate with this place: skeletal winter trees, new growth after winter rains, and the landscape fading into the distance under the fog.


Leave a comment or question using the form. (Click the title to see the full article and to comment if you are viewing it on the home page.)

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. Blog | Bluesky | Mastodon | Substack Notes | Flickr | Email

All media © Copyright G Dan Mitchell and others.