Tag Archives: seascape

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Ocean & Coast

Cloud Shadows and Fog

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Cloud Shadows and Fog
Cloud shadows on the surface of the Pacific Ocean off of Point Reyes National Seashore.

Cloud Shadows and Fog. © Copyright 2012 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A cloud shadow on the surface of the Pacific Ocean off of Point Reyes National Seashore.

This is a rather subtle landscape or seascape photograph, perhaps to the point of minimalism. I made it on a foggy afternoon along the interior of Drakes Bay at the Point Reyes National Seashore. The fog had thinned a bit by this time, but it was obstinate enough that it had not lifted even in the afternoon. Some light was coming though the cloud deck but it was extremely diffused — though it had enough directionality and the fog enough luminosity to lay a subtle shadow across the water below a thicker line of clouds.

Days like this one are slow, quiet, and mysterious along the Pacific Coast. The scale of the landscape diminishes to some extend and the “clear to the horizon” views are gone, as is the dome of the sky. From high locations such as the one from which I made the photograph, even the sound of the surf is muted.

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

Edge of the Light

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Edge of the Light
Light at the edge of a Pacific Coast fog bank on a summer evening.

Edge of the Light. © Copyright 2012 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Light at the edge of a Pacific Coast fog bank on a summer evening.

By this point I am quite familiar with this coastline below California’s Monterey Peninsula — I’ve been visiting almost continuously since I was a child and my parents took the family down there for day trips and rare overnights in Monterey. We went to Point Lobos all the time, where I spent days investigating tide pools and hiking trails along the shoreline.

All of this may partially be my way of explaining why I might make a photograph like this —not a typical “tourist shot” of the rugged Big Sur coast, but something much quieter. The fog is a near-constant presence here, often coming onshore and muting colors and light and condensing the visual world. When it isn’t over the land it is often just off shore — perhaps far enough out that you have to look for it or, as here, right along the shoreline. The edge of the fog bank can be a place of amazing light — dark in distance beneath the clouds and surprisingly bright along the edges and where beams of light reflect off the water.

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: 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.

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.

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Ocean & Coast

Surf, Rocks, Clearing Fog

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Surf, Rocks, Clearing Fog
Morning fog begins to clear over rocky islands along the Pacific coast.

Surf, Rocks, Clearing Fog. © Copyright 2012 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Morning fog begins to clear over rocky islands along the Pacific coast.

One of my habits is, when possible, to head for the Pacific Coast sound of Monterey early in the morning, especially on days when I think that there will be coastal fog and it will likely clear at some point during the morning. The thickest fog can be dramatic, but it can also kill the light — but when it starts to clear and the light begins to come into the scene, the effects can be glorious. The fog may glow, colors on the water and hills can be enhanced, and views of the sky above the fog begin to emerge.

On this late-March morning I decided to make a stop at Point Lobos, where a big, early-spring surf was making things interesting. From a great distance I photographed this scene with a long lens as big breakers swept over the edges of the rocky islands and as the fog began to thin and reveal blue sky above.

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.