Tag Archives: sea

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

Precursors to a Storm

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Precursors to a Storm
High clouds over the Pacific Ocean herald an incoming weather front.

Precursors to a Storm. © Copyright 2020 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

High clouds over the Pacific Ocean herald an incoming weather front.

To be honest, the storm whose arrival was heralded by these clouds did not turn out to be much of a storm at all. It rained a bit further north in the state, but not much happened south of San Francisco. Unfortunately, it looks like California is headed for another very dry winter, with virtually no rain so far as we start into December, the heart of our rainy season. And there is no rain on the horizon according to long term forecasts.

Nonetheless, thinking that the sky might be interesting, I took a day trip down the Big Sur coast to see what I could find. It was, as is typical when a Pacific front is on its way, a lovely, sunny, and relatively warm day. These precursor clouds extending out ahead of the weather front were beautiful, and this particular formation convinced me to stop and make a series of photographs juxtaposing it above the calm ocean extending to the horizon.

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.

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

Autumn Haze, Big Sur Coast

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Autumn Haze, Big Sur Coast
Autumn haze hugs the rugged Big Sur coastline.

Autumn Haze, Big Sur Coast. © Copyright 2020 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Autumn haze hugs the rugged Big Sur coastline.

One of the things that I’ve missed during the past few months is the opportunity to experience landscape on the grand scale. Given the impediments to long-distance travel during the pandemic, a lot of my photography has been done very locally — on daily walks, on hikes in nearby natural areas, and so forth. For this reason — in addition to all of the other usual reasons — a recent day trip down the Big Sur coast was a special joy.

I think of this as a fairly “quiet” image. Yes, this is a stupendously rugged coastline and, yes, that is the Pacific Ocean. But it was a mostly quiet and calm day, without the crowds that are often found along this section of the California coast, and here the coastal haze muted the colors and the outlines of the headlands and buttresses along this section of the Pacific Coast Highway.

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.

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Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Ocean & Coast

Pacific Sky

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Pacific Sky
“Pacific Sky” — High clouds above the Pacific Ocean are harbingers of an approaching weather system.

Trips into the field to photograph have been difficult during the past few months. Aside from a fair amount of local photography — literally in the neighborhood — visits to more far-flung locations have been rare. I managed to get to the Sierra a couple of times. I recently went looking for migratory birds. And a week ago I did a down-and-back drive to the upper Big Sur coast, going just a bit further south than Lucia. I did not make a lot of photographs, but I stopped for a few… and it was just good to get out and photograph almost as if the world was normal again. (It most emphatically is not normal yet, but there are some reasons for optimism.)

I had “interesting” weather on this visit — which, of course, is the best kind of weather along the coast. Perfect blue sky days are, to be honest, a bit boring. On this morning I raced the lead clouds of an approaching Pacific weather system as I drove south, trying to stay just ahead of the more dismal light behind the actual cloud shield. I stopped here for this beautiful layer of offshore clouds, put on a wide-angle lens, and just took it all in.

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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” (Heyday Books) is available directly from him. Blog | Bluesky | Mastodon | Substack Notes | Flickr | Email

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Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Ocean & Coast

Point Sur, Winter Light

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Point Sur, Winter Light
Winter surf and light beneath the lighthouse at Point Sur.

Point Sur, Winter Light. © Copyright 2013 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Winter surf and light beneath the lighthouse at Point Sur.

This photograph is at the historic Point Sur, a rocky hill that would be a monumental sea stack if it were not still tenuously connected to the mainland by a low, sandy peninsula. (I’ve always wondered how often that peninsula has been overtopped by huge storm surf or perhaps an occasional tsunami.) The lighthouse at the upper left is part of a more extensive set of structures erected decades ago to support the isolated lighthouse keepers. Long ago it was considered to be so remote that it was resupplied by ships that arrived every few months, and the keepers and their families had to be essentially self-sufficient.

Point Sur has a tremendous physical presence along this section of the rugged coast. Before and after it the steep hills and cliffs are momentarily interrupted by low headlands, so it stands out against this flatter 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.

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.