“Canisp and Loch Ewe — Canisp peak rises above Loch Ewe with a tree-covered island.
Some travelers like to know everything about their destinations before they depart. I can understand — one reason we travel is to learn about new places and, more practically, knowledge can help you travel efficiently. But I’m partial to not knowing everything in advance, instead leaving plenty of room for discovery. (Of course, it helps — a lot — that my wife is a planner!) The details of this photograph may be a case in point. (There has been an update to this post. Click the “more” link below to see… more.)
“Loch Ness From The Great Glen Way” — The view of Loch Ness from the high route of the Great Glen Way between Invermoriston and Drumnadrochit/Lewiston.
Scotland’s Great Glen Way, an 80-mile walking route between Fort William and Inverness, follows a nearly-straight valley or glen that runs from the southwest to the northeast. There are three lochs (or lakes) along the Glen — from south to north they are Loch Lochy, Loch Rich, and Loch Ness. They are interconnected via the remarkable structures of the Caledonian Canal, and watercraft can travel from end to end. Loch Ness, at the north end, is both the largest and the most famous of the lochs, in part because of the “Loch Ness Monster” tales. (I marvel at how the Scots can build an economy around Nessie, a non-existent thing!)
On this day’s walk — a long and exhausting one! — we traveled from Invermoriston to Drumnadrochit and its neighbor, Lewiston. This was one of the four days on which we had Loch Ness to our right. (Well, on one of them we hiked the section in reverse, so the loch was to our left.) Yes, it is that long! This view is from a section of the path that rose into forests high above the valley.
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.
Winter surf rolls onto a Big Sur coastline beach at sunset.
The Big Sur coastline, along the Pacific Coast Highway between San Francisco and Southern California is — not a secret! — a spectacular place. It is also a place of contrasts — between land and sea, between calm summers and stormy winters, between wild surf and quieter times. A week ago I visited during high surf, with waves of up to forty feet high battering the shoreline. This time, as we took the look route back north from Los Angeles, the ocean was quiet.
Since we were driving through and photography wasn’t my primary reason for being there, we took the scenery as it came. During the final hour of daylight I began to think about finding a spot to stop and photograph the last few minutes of light. With ten minutes to spare we came around a headland and I saw this familiar scene of coastal mountains and bays extending to the north, with the Pacific Coast Highway (and one of its famous bridges) dwarfed by the landscape. I quickly found a spot along the edge of the bluff to set p my tripod, and I had a few minutes to photograph gentle evening color and coastal haze before an offshore cloud bank “turned out the lights.”
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 and Amazon.
Strong late-autumn surf raises clouds of mist above rocky headlands along the Big Sur coast.
Today I continue with photographs from my visit to the upper Big Sur coastline in the middle of December, on a day when distant Gulf of Alaska weather fronts were sending giant surf crashing against the beaches, sea stacks, and cliffs. This is perhaps my favorite set of conditions for California coastal photography — a clear, post-storm day with giant surf that raises a layer of mist along the shoreline. When I see reports of such conditions I try my best to get over there quickly!
On the drive down, even as I passed Monterey Bay I could see the effects on the water. Waves in the bay didn’t seem unusually large, but off in the distance I could see the land at the northwest end of the Monterey Peninsula where gigantic white breakers created a line against the horizon. Once I got south of Carmel and right next to the coast the picture was even clearer, and I soon stopped on a bluff to get “up close and personal” (but from a safe spot) with the show. I made this photograph a bit further south in a spot that I’ve photographed many times. Here there is a view across several rocky ribs at the water’s edge and on to a taller hill beyond — and I know this as a spot with great potential for surf and light and for raising clouds of spray and mist.
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 and Amazon.
Photographer and visual opportunist. Daily photos since 2005, plus articles, reviews, news, and ideas.
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