Tag Archives: rock

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Northern California, Photographs: Ocean & Coast, Photographs: San Francisco

Tree and Pinnacle, Pacific Sunset

September 6, 2012 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

The last evening light falls on a tree and a rocky pinnacle high above the Pacific Ocean north of San Francisco, California.

On the return drive from our late-August sojourn to the Mendocino Coast, we returned to the Bay Area by the less efficient but more spectacular route and drove the coast on Highway 1, the “coast highway.” For the most part the road hugs the coastline, alternately dipping down to the shoreline and climbing to the tops of very tall coastal bluffs, and occasionally running inland for a short distance. We stopped in Point Reyes Station for dinner (and we can now heartily recommend Osteria Stellina!) and then continued on – and as we did I began to get a sense of where we might be for the golden hour light. It seemed like we would likely pass Stinson Beach – which seemed fine, since I didn’t have an interest in photographing there – and be somewhere south of there in the Marin Headlands.

As we ascended the high and steep road perched along the cliffs south of Stinson Beach, a lot of stuff started happening all at once. I knew that we were getting very close to “that” light, when we spotted a lone coyote along a ridge above the road… right below a large ridgeline rock and above which the nearly full moon had just appeared. Really! So we obviously had to stop and see what we could do with that subject – which turned out to be more difficult that I had thought. At about this time other likely “targets” started to appear, and I photographed back towards Stinson Beach, directly into the sun-lit haze from northern California forest fires. Then I looked closer to my location and saw this windswept tree catching the last bit of light, with a single rugged pinnacle behind it, and beyond that the surface of the Pacific Ocean, fading into the mist and picking up the pink tones of the setting sun.

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

Mendocino Coast, Evening

September 4, 2012 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Evening light on coastal bluffs below the village of Mendocino, California.

The little village of Mendocino, now largely a somewhat rural vacation spot, has a lot going for it: connections to a number of historical traditions, lots of quaint old buildings with that weathered look of coastal communities, tons of places to stay, great food, and California’ Pacific Ocean coastline. Though the chamber of commerce might disagree, it seems to be just far enough from major population centers to escape the over-running crowds and rampant souvenir-ism of places like Carmel that once had this same sort of charm. The village sits on a wide peninsula that just out into the Pacific and gradually angles down toward the water, ending in relatively low coastal bluffs and shoreline rocks.

It is often foggy in the part of California, but on our late-August visit we had just enough fog to add a bit of atmosphere – but mostly it hovered off-shore and at times disappeared completely. On our final evening there, we had a bit of time before dinner – and who wants to eat when there is golden hour light! – so we walked out along the bluffs on the south side of town and made a few photographs as the day ended.

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

Island, Coastal Bluffs, and Distant Shore

September 1, 2012 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

A steep and rocky island backed by coastal bluffs and a distant shoreline, northern California coast, Mendocino County.

The last time I passed by this section of the California coast highway in Mendocino County, I also stopped to photograph this scene – but was less happy with the result. This section of the coastline, like much of the meeting between California and the Pacific Ocean, consists largely of high coastal bluffs, interspersed with the steep canyons where creeks and rivers meet the ocean, with many rocky islands ranging from tiny to huge. The two-peaked island in this large cove fits more into the huge category and it is backed by two fingers of land where the high bluffs extend toward the ocean. In the far distance, a section of curving coastline is barely visible through the haze.

Recently someone asked me about how I decide whether a photograph will be black and white rather than color. I admitted – and it turns out that many feel the same – that often I am not certain when I make the exposure. Roughly speaking, the black and white photographs come about in perhaps three ways. Sometimes I like the subject but the color rendition just isn’t working the way I had hoped, so I try it in black and white and “discover” that I like it that way in post. On other occasions, at the time of exposure I sort of wonder if it might work in black and white and I make mental note to try it that way in post. In the third case, I “know” (with only a small amount of doubt) that the image is going to end up in black and white and I shoot the scene with that in mind. This is one of those photographs – I was almost certain that it would end up in black and white as I stood high on a bluff next to highway 1 making the exposure.

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

Foggy Evening Near Rocky Point

August 28, 2012 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Evening fog obscures the view of the Big Sur coastline near Rocky Point.

This photograph was made on my birthday, believe it or not! We had headed down to the Monterey area for dinner, and had a few extra hours in the late afternoon, so we decided to take a quick jaunt down the coast towards the Rocky Point and (almost) Bixby Bridge area. Of course, a little thing like a birthday celebration isn’t going to make me leave my camera gear at home, so this was a fine excuse to do a little photography along the coast highway.

The light was variable and challenging, largely because it was late in the day and the fog bank was moving right up against the coast. While in a few places it pulled back enough to allow a bit of diffused light to land on the coastal bluffs, beaches, and even the water, in most places the fog line was just a bit inland. As we drove south we were mostly in fog, but occasionally as we passed a bit further from the shoreline to follow the contours of a creek drainage or a bay we found a bit of sun. We finally stopped at this high overlook that provides a view back toward Rocky Point, the peninsula at the upper part of the frame, and I made a few exposures.

G Dan Mitchell Photography

Tag Archives: rock

Tree and Pinnacle, Pacific Sunset

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Mendocino Coast, Evening

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Island, Coastal Bluffs, and Distant Shore

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Foggy Evening Near Rocky Point

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

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