Tag Archives: scenic

Photographs: Death Valley, Photographs: Desert, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Southern California

Telescope Peak

August 30, 2014 G Dan Mitchell 2 Comments

Telescope Peak, the highest point in Death Valley National Park, in the distance beyond the rugged terrain of upper Titanothere Canyon in the Amargosa Range

This one has been sitting in my queue for months now, and it is finally time to send it out with the other photographs! I made the photograph back in early April, while spending a few days in Death Valley exploring a lot of higher elevation area in the mountains on either side of the Valley itself. At one point during this visit, we ended up spending nearly an entire day high up in the Panamint range, at times doing something very unusual — photographing Death Valley wildflowers during a snowstorm!

The distant snow-covered peak in the photograph is Telescope Peak, at over 11,000′ of elevation the highest point in the Panamint range and in Death Valley National Park. While we often think of Death Valley’s reputation for heat, this peak is often covered with snow during the colder times of the year. The location from which I made this photograph is high in the mountains on the other, east side of the Valley, a very arid and rugged region that presents a different appearance than the much lower areas of the Valley itself. Here there is a landscape of dry and rugged mountains and valleys, often receding one behind the other into the distance. I stopped at this spot, where I have photographed before, and was captivated by the conduction of three peak shapes — the nearly peak at upper right, the distant summit of Telegraph Peak, and the peak-like form of the clouds above.

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Photographs: Central California, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Northern California

Tree, Soberanes Canyon

August 15, 2014 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

A lone tree at the base of rugged Soberanes Canyon

The Soberanes Canyon and Creek area of the upper Big Sur coast is, to me, a particularly interesting spot. Here in one place are a number of the characteristic features of this coastline: rocky sea stacks, rigged shoreline backed by coastal bluffs, big surf, beaches, a coastal valley leading steeply up into the mountains, and, of course, fog. It is a popular place, and there are often many cars stopped here. Some people park and head toward the ocean, while others head away and climb up the canyon.

The canyon leading up and away from the coast has intrigued me for a long time, though it wasn’t until relatively recently that I began to explore the area more carefully. One of the first things I realized about this canyon is that it can create some special conditions of light and atmosphere in the morning. Mornings are often a bit tricky on this coast, since if faces west and the sun rises behind tall mountains to the east. However, when the conditions are right, as the sun tops the high ridge the light often comes down into the canyon and backlights the coastal haze, obscuring the details of the canyon and sometimes creating a mystical quality.

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

Point Sur Lighthouse Station

August 14, 2014 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

The historic lighthouse station atop Point Sur along the California Big Sur coastline

Point Sur, with its historic lighthouse station, is an iconic feature of the northern section of the Big Sur coastline along the Pacific Coast Highway in California. The distinctive “hill” (which I now know is known as a “morro”) is visible from far up the coast as you approach from the north, and once you get closer the tall, rounded hill at the far end of a sandy peninsula has a nearly unique appearance. (Not literally unique, as there are others, such as the eponymous Morro Rock further south at Morro Bay.)

Today the morro itself, with its lighthouse station structures, plus an old naval facility nearby, are part of the state park system. The surrounding land is still in private hands, but Californians and others can hope that it, too, may eventually expand the public land along the coast. The lighthouse station was constructed in the late 1800s, when this was a very remote section of the California coast, and the lighthouse staff and their families had to be nearly self-sufficient. The area is exposed to significant winds and surf, as it is exposed to the north. Today the lighthouse still works, though with a modern replacement for the original light. If you look closely you may be able to see the light along the descending ridge on the right side of the morro.

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

Cove, Haze, Evening Light

August 13, 2014 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Hazy sunset light on a small cove and successive ridges along the Pacific Coast Highway

The California Big Sur coast along the Pacific Coast Highway is a place of extraordinary beauty, but also light and conditions that change on a scale ranging from daily to seasonally. Summer often brings a lot of fog — enough fog to sometimes perplex and disappoint visitors who have seen photographs of beautiful summer vistas and imagine that they are the norm. They aren’t. Summer is the season of almost daily fog here. Fall and winter are more likely to provide those vistas, especially between the passage of great Pacific storms that sweep the atmosphere clear of fog and which may bring dramatic clouds. The “off-season” is also the time of the most impressive seascape, as those same winter storms can bring very high surf.

The foggy time of summer does have its attractions, especially when you become aware of the daily cycles. It is often foggy early in the morning, but the fog usually clears back to and beyond the coast later in the day. Photographing in the fog is special, though it can require you to look at the landscape in quite different ways. But as the fog clears you can follow the edges of the fog and light and discover all sorts of interesting and dynamic conditions. Once the fog does clear, the atmosphere often remains somewhat hazy. I know that some people think they want perfectly clear air, but I’ll take a bit of atmospheric haze over perfect clarity almost any day! This was a day of such haze, and very late in the day it began to glow in golden hour light and obscure the farthest parts of the seemingly unending series of Big Sur ridges dropping to the sea.

G Dan Mitchell Photography

Tag Archives: scenic

Telescope Peak

Tree, Soberanes Canyon

Point Sur Lighthouse Station

Cove, Haze, Evening Light

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