Tag Archives: rock

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

Gull on Rock

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Gull on Rock

Gull on Rock. Point Lobos, California. November 30, 2008. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A gull rests on the point of a shoreline rock at Point Lobos, California.

I thought I was finished shooting for the day and I was hiking back to my car to head home when I walked past this gull. It obligingly stood on this picturesque pillar of conglomerate rock for at least 15 minutes, as if posing for me – so I could hardly pass up the opportunity to stop and photograph.

And isn’t that an amazing rock!

keywords: gull, seagull, bird, pelagic, shore, sea, conglomerate, rock, perch, beak, bill, orange, white, surf, coast, wildlife, nature, california, usa, point lobos, state, reserve, park, monterey, peninsula, big sur, pacific, ocean, stock

Photographs: Central California, Photographs: Ocean & Coast

Punta de los Lobos Marinos

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Punta de los Lobos Marinos

Punta de los Lobos Marinos. Point Lobos, California. November 30, 2008. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Black and white photograph of winter surf at Punta de los Lobos Marinos, Point Lobos, California.

This photograph was made this past weekend, on a morning when giant surf was rolling into the central California coast, and at times overtopping the offshore rocks of the Punta de los Lobos Marinos at Point Lobos, south of Carmel, California. The is a very long daytime exposure, made possible by using a 9-stop ND filter on a very long lens.

Regarding that, some interesting – and unusual for landscape, I think – technical details. Used a Canon 5D with the 100-400mm lens at 365mm and f/22. (I didn’t worry much about the diffraction blur since blur is sort of the point. ;-) Exposure time was 20 seconds.

For a variety of reasons, I think that this is one of the best places in California to watch the impressive winter surf close up. This peninsula of rocks extends a good distance into the coastal waters and takes the full force of the incoming swell.

keywords: punta de los lobos marinos, point lobos, state, reserve, park, california, usa, monterey, peninsula, carmel, big sur, pacific, ocean, sea, coast, rock, surf, bird, rock, waves, silhouette, black and white, landscape, seascape, travel, scenic, stock, time, exposure, mist, fog, sea

Photographs: Central California, Photographs: Ocean & Coast

Fog and Surf, Point Lobos

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Fog and Surf, Point Lobos

Fog and Surf, Point Lobos. Point Lobos State Reserve, California. November 30, 2008. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Black and white photograph of winter surf, fog, and coastal hills at Point Lobos, California.

When I heard that there would be huge surf along the coast today I headed straight for the Monterey Peninsula and Point Lobos. I was not disappointed! The first – for me at least – winter surf of the year brought huge offshore swells that crashed against and over the rocky shoreline at Point Lobos. A light coastal fog, augmented by spray from the surf, completed the picture.

I used a 9-stop neutral density filter and a polarizing filter on a long focal length lens so that I could get a very long exposure that would allow the waves and surf to diffuse to produce the misty effect you see here.

Obviously, our eyes don’t get to make 10 second exposures during the daylight! I think of a photograph like this one as being “subjectively accurate” rather than objectively accurate. In other words, while this exact image can’t exist in our real world experience, I think it evokes something about our response to such a scene that is true.

keywords: point lobos, fog, mist, cloud, surf, wave, ocean, sea, bay, rock, stacks, hill, mountain, forest, shore, state, park, preserve, reserve, california, usa, monterey, peninsula, big sur, coast, landscape, seascape, scenic, travel, stock, black and white

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Oak Tree and Cliff, Autumn – Yosemite Valley

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Oak Tree and Cliff, Autumn - Yosemite Valley

Oak Tree and Cliff, Autumn – Yosemite Valley. Yosemite National Park, California. November 2. 2008. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

An oak tree with autumn color against a cliff face, Yosemite Valley, California.

I found two interesting trees to photograph against the north Yosemite Valley cliffs near Ahwahnee Meadow and the Ahwahnee Lodge on this rainy November day. (The other one was located only a few feet from this tree, and I posted the photo earlier at my blog.) The tree was in the final stages of losing its leaves and the cliff face was wet from two days of rain.

This photograph is, for me, another example of why it is good to return to the same place again… and again. I’ve photographed in this very area quite a few times, making photographs of Ahwahnee Meadow in just about every season, photographing a nearby oak grove on the edge of the meadow, and photographing dogwood trees in fall. Every other time I’ve been there I’ve looked back at the spot where this tree is located without seeing anything – but this time I think I got the timing right and found different lighting conditions that make it possible to see this shot that I had never noticed before.

keywords: oak, tree, bush, moss, lichen, green, yellow, gold, trunk, branch, gray, rock, boulder, nature, yosemite, valley, national park, california, usa, landscape, travel, scenic, stock, sierra, nevada, mountains, crack, diagonal