Tag Archives: rugged

Photographs: Central California, Photographs: Ocean & Coast

Rocky Coastline, Surf and Mist

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Rocky Coastline, Surf and Mist
Big winter surf raises spray and mist along the Big Sur coastline at the Rocky Point Bridge.

Rocky Coastline, Surf and Mist. © Copyright 2013 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Big winter surf raises spray and mist along the Big Sur coastline at the Rocky Point Bridge.

As many times as I have photographed this subject, you might think that I would eventually have had enough of it and just pass it by. But when I visit the Big Sur coast it is almost inevitable that I’ll stop here at least briefly, and as a result I have photographed this scene in lots of different conditions — stormy surf, brilliant sun, fog, and more. Once I even angled the camera down just a bit to include the but of pasture that I usually keep outside the frame… and some cattle made an appearance in my photograph.

If you look closely through the mist raised by the gigantic winter surf you can make out the Rocky Point Bridge in the distance, one of the famous bridges on this old highway. It is not the most famous structure on this route — that reputation belongs to a different bridge a bit further to the south. On this morning there was big winter surf, and sometimes waves arrived that were big enough to almost overwhelm the foreground rocks.

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.

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Photographs: Desert, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: The Southwest, Photographs: Utah

Red Rock Detail

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Red Rock Detail
A section of sandstone cliff, Arches National Park.

Red Rock Detail. © Copyright 2012 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A section of sandstone cliff, Arches National Park.

There is a story about my first visit to Arches National Park that we like to recount. (Perhaps you have heard it?) It derives from a habit of mine of not doing too much research before visiting a new location — I prefer to let some things remain a mystery so that I can have the joy of “discovering” the place for myself. That was the case on our first visit to Arches. I really didn’t know anything more than that there were (duh!) some archest there and that it was a national park. We arrived in Moab in the early afternoon, and finding ourselves with more time that day than expected we decided to make a quick first visit. A reliable source reports that I pretty much lost my composure upon “discovering” this collection of towers, arches, cliffs, and more.

This photograph comes from our second visit, a few years later and during a different season. By now we knew a bit more about what to expect, and I arranged to be in a particular spot early in the morning with the prospect of photographing dawn light on sandstone features. I made quite a few photographs that morning, but this one is an example of my interest in using long lenses to photograph small details of the landscape.

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.

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

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Ocean & Coast

Pacific Shoreline, Point Reyes

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Pacific Shoreline, Point Reyes
Rugged Pacific Ocean coastline at the furthest end of Point Reyes.

Pacific Shoreline, Point Reyes. © Copyright 2012 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Rugged Pacific Ocean coastline at the furthest end of Point Reyes.

This photograph is literally of “Point Reyes,” as in the actual “point” after which the national seashore is named. It is a remarkable location in many ways. This peninsula extends a good distance out into the Pacific Ocean, and it forms a large bay that is protected from the ocean to the west and north. From the Point you can see south to San Francisco Bay, a good distance north along the Pacific coastline, eastward across that bay toward what would be the coast in most locations, and westward to the horizon. This section runs east-west, and its features echo those along the most rugged sections of the main Pacific coastline. But this section is short, exerting only the length of the end of the Point, and it runs not north-south. but east west.

During the past four months of the pandemic I have not ventured too far from our location in the San Francisco Bay Area, largely because such travels have been discouraged. But I’m beginning to think that I could again safely (for myself and others) venture out to the coast for some new photography before long. Stay tuned…

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.

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

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

Photographs: Death Valley, Photographs: Desert, Photographs: Nature

Canyon and Mountains, Morning

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Canyon and Mountains, Morning
A Death Valley canyon and mountains, backlit by early morning winter light.

Canyon and Mountains, Morning. © Copyright 2012 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A Death Valley canyon and mountains, backlit by early morning winter light.

I have a bit of a long relationship with this spot in Death Valley. I stop there on almost every visit to the park, typically either very early in the morning (arriving before dawn) or else for last light in the evening. I’ve been there when the wind was strong enough to make it difficult to walk, when it was unbelievably cold, on still warm days, in blah conditions that made me ask “why?,” — and on one memorable occasion I had to turn back because there was too much snow!

As a photographic subject this landscape is greatly dependent on conditions of atmosphere and light. in “normal” light in the middle of the day it is a gigantic vista but rarely a compelling photograph. But early in the morning very interesting things can happen, especially when the backlight is strong and there is just enough haze in the air to make the atmosphere glow.

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.

Blog | About | Flickr | Facebook | Email

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

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