Tag Archives: rock

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

Cove and Beach Near Davenport, Evening

December 13, 2010 G Dan Mitchell 2 Comments

Black and white photograph of two people standing on a bluff above the Pacific Ocean and overlooking a cove and beach near Davenport California.

Although I have continued posting photographs at a rate of one per day, I have only managed to get into the field to shoot a few times since early November. Yesterday I found time to make it over to the Pacific coast late in the day. I was looking for the foggy, misty, and somewhat gray conditions that are common this time of year, at least when the air has not been cleared by a passing storm. I wasn’t disappointed. While the sky was clear overhead, the air was very moist – my equipment became damp from condensation as I worked.

Since my time was a bit limited – the sun was going down! – I went more or less straight to this spot where I have photographed in the past. (At first I considered going a bit further north to shoot from high bluffs, but I realized that the shot I had in mind from that location would be better earlier in the day.) When I arrived the sun was just dropping below the horizon, but that is what I wanted – I wasn’t looking for one of those brilliant “sun dead ahead” shots. I wanted the post-sunset soft light and enough darkness that I could work with longer exposures.

I parked and walked the short distance to this spot at the head of this cove. The composition is sort of tricky. The “right” (in my view) arrangement of the offshore rock and the surrounding bluffs can only be seen from a very small area – too far right or left and elements start to collide. In addition I wanted that little bit of more distant shoal along the right side of the frame to suggest that the coast continues, and I wanted that flat bit of bluff with a bit of post sunset light at the left. It was a bonus when the two people – probably photographers! – showed up on the top of the left bluff and thoughtfully posed for me as I made long exposures!

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: Desert, Photographs: Mono Lake Basin, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Northern California

Black Point and Negit Island, Mono Lake Shoreline

December 4, 2010 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

The north shoreline of Mono Lake leads from foreground offshore tufa past the base of Black Point to Negit Island and beyond.

You would never know it from this black and white photograph of the austere desert landscape around Mono Lake, but I was there to photograph… fall aspen color! Earlier in the day I had photographed further south along the eastern slopes of the Sierra, gradually working my way north with a plan of heading back to the “west side” over Tioga Pass at the end of the day after doing a last bit of fall color photography near Conway Summit and Dunderberg Road in late-afternoon light. By mid-afternoon I had made it to Lee Vining for an espresso stop at Latte Da and a break to check some email and so forth. Soon it was time to get into position for the low angle sun that would light the aspens a bit later, so I headed north out of town.

The road north from Lee Vining skirts the west shore of Mono Lake. Before leaving the lake there is a turn-off to another road that passes along the north shore of Mono Lake and can take you to places such as Black Point. I often stop at this turn-off since it provides a slightly elevated view of the larger terrain around the lake including the low hills to the east and Mono Craters and higher mountains to the south. On a typical blue sky mid-afternoon I might not make any photographs, but something about the light and the forms of the shoreline, Black Point, and Negit Island leading into the distance convinced me to make a few exposures, using a long lens to compress the distance.

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: Northern California, Photographs: Sierra Nevada, Photographs: Yosemite

Forest, Upper Yosemite Valley

November 28, 2010 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Trees recede into the distance in a quiet forest in the upper section of Yosemite Valley.

Late in the afternoon, after the light rain had mostly ended, I stopped to try to photograph some dogwood trees that were getting their fall colors. I started by looking at some trees very close to the road, but then saw more interesting trees a bit further into the grove so I wandered a bit farther from the road. Soon I saw a couple of trails leading into more open areas near the river, so I kept walking. This led to a trail that headed up the Valley – I followed it and soon crossed the Merced River. Continuing on (and now well beyond the grove that I originally stopped to photograph!) I crossed again on a second bridge and soon noticed an interesting section of more open forest off to one side. As I wandered down into this area I saw that there were quite a few rocks along the otherwise level forest floor here, and after making a couple of initial shots I also saw that nearby the level forest floor began to give way to more hilly and rounded terrain with occasional boulders and small rocky hills. I left the trail and began to walk about slowly, just watching for interesting arrangements of trees, colorful leaves, and places where the light glowed through the forest canopy.

When I stopped to make this photograph (and several other exposures in the same spot) I was attracted by the relatively open forest through which I could see the vertical forms of the trees receding, and by the interesting arrangement of the foreground trees. The soft forest light on this cloudy afternoon also gave the leaves and needles a luminous quality.

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: Northern California, Photographs: Sierra Nevada, Photographs: Yosemite

Mist and Curving Ridge, Yosemite Valley

November 27, 2010 G Dan Mitchell 2 Comments

Mist from an autumn storm flows across the crest of a curving ridge high on the walls of Yosemite Valley.

The mist from this late-October storm is flowing over the edge of a curving ridge high above the floor of Yosemite Valley, leaving just a hint of the higher, curving ridge above this pinnacle through the clouds at upper left. This photograph, like one I posted very recently, was made as I alternated my attention between the image of Upper Yosemite Fall alternately transitioning between filtered sun and obscuring clouds and small details of the closer Valley walls as seen in this image. From moment to moment there were many interesting combinations of light, cloud, trees, and rock… but they came and went quickly and almost without warning.

I usually post photographs here before printing them, and not all of the posted photographs necessarily get printed. This one is an exception in that I made the first print of it yesterday. I’m also happy to say that some very subtle details that are barely or not visible in this web jpg reproduction are there in the print, including some faint outlines of trees in the upper left portion of the frame and some details of the rocky face at lower right.

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.

Photographer and visual opportunist. Daily photos since 2005, plus articles, reviews, news, and ideas.