Tag Archives: rocky

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

Sea Stacks and Bluffs, Fog

Image Leave a comment
Sea Stacks and Bluffs, Fog
Thinning morning fog above sea stacks and bluffs along the Big Sur coast.

Sea Stacks and Bluffs, Fog. © Copyright 2021 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Thinning morning fog above sea stacks and bluffs along the Big Sur coast.

Because I am fortunate to live close to some rather famous places I often find myself at certain photographic icons. Over time I have developed an odd relationship with such places — a sort of love/hate relationship. I recognize why they have become icons, and acknowledge that in many circumstances they are truly amazing places, locations that any visitor to these various parks and other locations will want to see. But over a long period of time two things changed in my thinking about them as a photographer. First, there are so many photographs of such locations that it is probably not a good use of my time to rephotograph them. (To new photographers, it certainly can be a good exercise to photograph them, if for no other reason that to think about how the great photographs of these places were made.) The second change is that, to a certain extent, they start to seem less special.

I have written before about, for example, how I most often drive past the famous tunnel view in Yosemite without even stopping. (I’ve also written about a memorable occasion when witnessing someone else’s reaction to seeing this view for the first time reminded me of what an astonishing thing it is.) Because I have visited the Big Sur coast for decades, I’m less and less inclined to stop for icons… and I’m more likely to stop at random, odd turn-outs just to see what new thing I might find. But this week as I drove past this spot and looked to my right the combination of blue water, drifting fog, and thin light on the foreground rocks persuaded me to quickly pull over and photograph this… icon.

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” is available from Heyday Books, Amazon, and directly from G Dan Mitchell.

Blog | About | Flickr | Facebook | Email

Links to Articles, Sales and Licensing, my Sierra Nevada Fall Color book, Contact Information.

Scroll down to leave a comment or question.

All media © Copyright G Dan Mitchell and others as indicated. Any use requires advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Sierra Nevada

Eastern Sierra Lake, Evening

Image Leave a comment
Eastern Sierra Lake, Evening
Early evening light on a high country Sierra Nevada lake in the Hoover Wilderness.

Eastern Sierra Lake, Evening. © Copyright 2021 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Early evening light on a high country Sierra Nevada lake in the Hoover Wilderness.

A few weeks ago I decided to head to the eastern Sierra for a few days to get up into the high country. The main idea was to do a sort of pre-flight check for some potential backpacking, but I was also interested in photography, of course. I ended up camping at the end of an east side road that departs US 395 north of Yosemite. Despite the number of wildfires in California, I was lucky and the winds blew the right way to give me mostly clear skies. On this afternoon I decided to just hike up into the drainage above the road end to see what I would find.

Because I was looking for late-day light I didn’t start up the trail until mid-afternoon — my plan was to arrive at the high point when the light was getting good, make photographs, and then return by nightfall. After many years of hiking such terrain, this route felt familiar even though it was my first time on this trail. I passed a lake, following a trail through trees along its shoreline, and then climbed again, crossing a rocky ridge before another lake came into view. Eventually I came to my favorite sort of Sierra landscape — flat, meadowy areas with glaciated granite and small trees, with water flowing and peaks above. I stopped hiking and just sat for a while, enjoying the solitude and quiet… and noting that it was starting to get a bit cold. Eventually I made a few photographs and started back down the way I came, pausing to photograph a small peninsula at this lake as the angle of the light lowered.

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” is available from Heyday Books, Amazon, and directly from G Dan Mitchell.

Blog | About | Flickr | Facebook | Email

Links to Articles, Sales and Licensing, my Sierra Nevada Fall Color book, Contact Information.

Scroll down to leave a comment or question.

All media © Copyright G Dan Mitchell and others as indicated. Any use requires advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

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

Bridge and Fog

Image Leave a comment
Bridge and Fog
A bridge emerges from thinning fog on a December morning along the Big Sur coast.

Bridge and Fog. © Copyright 2021 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A bridge emerges from thinning fog on a December morning along the Big Sur coast.

Somewhat to my surprise, I have yet another photograph from this December visit to the Big Sur coast. Actually, I should not be surprised to “discover” photographs among files left behind when I originally considered them. For some reason, this is not an uncommon experience at all. (I believe it was Gary Winogrand who waited for a considerable time before even developing his film.) I have some theories. One is that in the days right after making the photograph I have some ideas of what I expect it to be, and the actual image does not always come up to the imagined standard. But given time and some aesthetic distance from the image, its inherent, intrinsic potential starts to emerge on its own.

The subject here is a particular spot that I’ve stopped to photograph many times on my visits to the Big Sur coast. (Hint: It is not the bridge you probably think it is.) I remember thinking on more than one occasion that there was no new way to photograph the scene, only to come upon it in some particular set of conditions that I had not seen before. There are a few different elements in this version. First, the fog was quite special — a combination of low, coast-hugging fog and spray from the surf, with clear sky above that let the light create a backlit glow. Due to the particularities of season and time of day, I was able to point back toward the land and get the bright reflections on the water. The little bit of fence at the left is another new element. Typically when I had photographed here in the past I went to some effort to keep that fence out of the frame — but this time I decided to embrace it as part of the scene.

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” is available from Heyday Books, Amazon, and directly from G Dan Mitchell.

Blog | About | Flickr | Facebook | Email

Links to Articles, Sales and Licensing, my Sierra Nevada Fall Color book, Contact Information.

Scroll down to leave a comment or question.

All media © Copyright G Dan Mitchell and others as indicated. Any use requires advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

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

December Surf, Big Sur Coast

Image Leave a comment
December Surf, Big Sur Coast
Huge December surf, fog, on the rugged Big Sur coast.

December Surf, Big Sur Coast. © Copyright 2021 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Huge December surf, fog, on the rugged Big Sur coast.

This photograph is a square format counterpart to one I shared a few days ago from the same location, photographed on the same wild December day. As I stood on a rock cropping along the Big Sur Coast, huge waves rolled in, alternately revealing and burying the offshore rocks and producing prodigious spray that made the atmosphere above the water almost opaque. Beyond, above, and slightly inland the sun was up, and its backlight reflected off the water and made the fog glow. To say that this was an impressive scene would be an understatement!

I’m intrigued by the various ways we see (perceive, understand, interpret) color. In certain kinds of atmosphere and light, the colors can drain from the scene, leaving us with a virtually monochromatic effect. As was the case with the previous photograph from this spot, this is a color photograph, believe it or not. It was almost impossible to tell in the other photograph, but in this one you may be able pick up a difference between the blue tones in areas of the water and the slightly warmer tones in the backlit fog.

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” is available from Heyday Books, Amazon, and directly from G Dan Mitchell.

Blog | About | Flickr | Facebook | Email

Links to Articles, Sales and Licensing, my Sierra Nevada Fall Color book, Contact Information.

Scroll down to leave a comment or question.

All media © Copyright G Dan Mitchell and others as indicated. Any use requires advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.