Tag Archives: rock

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

Cypress Roots and Cliff Face

January 15, 2011 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Weathered Monterey Cypress roots grow on the face of a cliff at Point Lobos State Reserve.

This tree is getting a lot of exposure this week – it is the second or third photograph of the tree I have posted. To echo what I wrote regarding the earlier posting – though briefer this time – these stark and weathered roots growing on top of rocky ground – a cliff face in this case – remind me in some ways of gnarled timberline trees high in the Sierra Nevada with their old roots weathered to the point that they look almost as much like rock as like living things.

Some might think it odd, but I partially plan my wanderings around Point Lobos to avoid the sun as much as possible! I try to go there on days when it is overcast, and on days like this one where there is sun (though filtered by haze this time) I often search out shaded, north-facing areas so that I can shoot in soft, diffused light that fills in the shadows and does not sun-blast the bright areas of the scene.

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.

G Dan Mitchell Photography
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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: Central California, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Northern California

Monterey Cypress Roots and Cliff Face

January 14, 2011 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

The gnarled and weathered roots of an old Monterey Cypress tree on a rocky cliff face at Point Lobos State Reserve, California.

These old, twisted, gnarly, and very weathered roots belong to a stout Monterey Cypress tree standing near a trail at the edge of the cliff above the ocean. The main trail travels closely behind it from the perspective of the photograph, but I photographed it from a dead-end spur trail on the other side of a very narrow inlet.

In many ways, the cypress trees that end up growing in the most hostile spots – on top of rocks, at the edges of cliffs, exposed to the full brunt of the ocean wind – remind me a lot of certain high elevation trees at timberline in the Sierra, where we also frequently find trees that seem to grow on virtually nothing. The roots of these old trees are gray and weathered to the point that they are almost closer to rock than wood and these roots travel across barren rocky areas to reach some bit of soil.

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.

G Dan Mitchell Photography
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Photographs: Central California, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Ocean & Coast

Monterey Cypress and Coastal Cliffs at Bluefish Cove

January 12, 2011 G Dan Mitchell 2 Comments

Monterey Cypress trees grow atop cliffs above Bluefish Cove at Point Lobos State Reserve.

One fun thing about photographing places that I have visited for nearly my full life is that it sometimes encourages me to learn things about places that I had taken for granted – like names of features and places. Although I’ve been to Point Lobos since I was a child and I have seen this area of the reserve many times, I had no idea there was a place called Bluefish Cove, much less that this was it. More accurately, the small patch of water at the foot of this wonderful bit of rocky cliff and cypress forest is Bluefish Cove. I am surprised to note that the point itself seems to be unnamed, at least according to several maps I checked, each of which names many lesser places. The ridge rises from the water to form a peninsula between Bluefish Cove and the larger Whalers Cove. Beyond and above are some of the first coastal hills at what I think of as the north end of the Big Sur coastline.

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.

G Dan Mitchell Photography
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Photographs: Central California, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Ocean & Coast

Evening Clouds and Rocks, Point Lobos

January 11, 2011 G Dan Mitchell 3 Comments

Evening clouds over the Pacific Ocean and offshore rocks at Point Lobos State Reserve.

It always strikes me as odd that at the most beautiful time of day at Point Lobos, almost all of the park visitors have left. In the evening as the sun goes down over the Pacific and the fog may or may not roll in, there are often only a handful of people left in the park, a good number of them photographers. On this Sunday evening it may have been that some were discouraged by the low clouds that had come in earlier in the afternoon, but sometimes these clouds dissipate or are lit up from behind at sunset – at that is precisely what happened on this evening. The low clouds began to thin and as they did so beams of light came through the breaks in the clouds and painted the surface of the Pacific with patchy light. A bit later, after I made this photograph, the clouds thinned even more and high, pink sunset clouds appeared briefly. And there was not another person anywhere near me to see it.

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.

G Dan Mitchell Photography
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Photographer and visual opportunist. Daily photos since 2005, plus articles, reviews, news, and ideas.