Tag Archives: seascape

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

Winter Sunset, Waddell Beach

December 21, 2009 G Dan Mitchell 2 Comments

Pacific Ocean coastal winter sunset at Waddell Beach, Big Basin State Park, California.

Getting this photograph was a long story with a surprise ending.

Late this morning my sons asked me if I would drive them to San Francisco and to their respective apartments. I didn’t have any other concrete plans so I said yes and decided to pack a lighter than usual selection of camera equipment and a tripod on the off chance that I’d find something to photograph. By the time we finished lunch in the Mission and drove through the Haight out to the Richmond and I finally traversed 19th Avenue to the south and got out of urban traffic… it was 3:00 p.m… and starting to rain – not exactly what I had in mind for photography.

I figured I might as well drive down the coast through Pacifica, and as I did so the rain began to increase a bit. Photography was looking less likely. But then I noticed that this seemed to be one of those northern California storms that cuts off fairly abruptly south of San Francisco and that the rain was diminishing as I drove down the coast. With this in mind I decided to get past Half Moon Bay and then see how far south I could get while the light was still good. I finally ended up in the large parking lot by the Beach where Waddell Creek emerges from the mountains of Big Basin State Park and merges with the ocean. Unfortunately, nothing was striking me as especially photogenic about the scene – there were interesting clouds, but there are often clouds this interesting and the light was otherwise not inspiring me.

So I got decided that it had been a fun drive and that I’d get back in the car and head home via Santa Cruz without any photographs. I pulled out of the parking lot… and about five seconds later as I crossed the Waddell Creek bridge I happened to glance down and toward the water… and I had one of those “Whoa!” moments as I saw this reflection in the pool where the creek reaches the beach. I quickly did a u-turn, came back and parked the car, grabbed my gear, and headed back across the road… hoping the light would hold long enough to make a few exposures of this thin strand of beach suspended between the real and reflected skies.

This photograph is not in the public domain and may not be used on websites, blogs, or in other media without advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

keywords: winter, sunset, dusk, evening, pond, lake, creek, waddell, beach, cliffs, bluffs, clouds, pink, blue, waddell, big, basin, state, park, california, usa, coast, highway, one, ocean, shoreline, seascape, reflection, clouds, pattern, wave, sand, sky, landscape, nature, season, pacific, birds, tree, surf, stock

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

Gulls Taking Flight, Near Waddell Creek

December 6, 2009 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Flock of gulls takes flight over dark and cloudy Pacific Ocean near Waddell Creek.

This is a second photograph from the same location where I made the motion-blur pelican shot posted previously, the Waddell Creek Beach (part of Big Basin State Park) along the Pacific Ocean coastline on Highway 1 (the “coast highway”) north of Santa Cruz. When I shot this the light was truly dismal from a combination of ocean spray, foggy haze, and high clouds above.

Working quickly – fortunately my long lens was already on the camera – I pivoted and tracked this large group of gulls as they lifted off from the beach near the creek and headed north. Although I’m posting this small version of the photograph, it really is intended to be seen large – I’m thinking it might make an interesting print in a width of two to four feet.

This photograph is not in the public domain and may not be used on websites, blogs, or in other media without advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

keywords: pacific, ocean, sea, coast, highway, one, coastal, california, usa, gulls, birds, flight, fly, flock, group, wing, surf, sea, ocean, shore, wave, foam, horizon, clouds, fog, mist, haze, dark, scenic, nature, wildlife, seascape, landscape, travel, stock, waddell, creek, big basin, state, park, beach, sand

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

Offshore Squall and Layered Clouds, Point Lobos

November 26, 2009 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Black and white seascape photograph of a passing offshore squall and layered clouds at Point Lobos State Reserve, California.

This is a somewhat subjective impression of a scene that I witnessed last weekend late in the day along the California coastline as a small weather front passed Point Lobos, causing the weather to quickly switch from sun to brief showers and back to sun. Here the foreground water is in shadow, rain is falling from a luminous stratified cloud and being illuminated from behind. Conditions changed rapidly and this effect was gone in a moment.

This image belongs to a category I like to describe as “imaginary landscapes.” The scene is real and nothing has been added nor taken away, but the photograph has been post-processed in order to create a more subjective view of the scene that I had in mind – it corresponds to something I saw in the scene, but I did not restrict myself to trying to produce an objectively “real” version of the scene.

This photograph is not in the public domain and may not be used on websites, blogs, or in other media without advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

keywords: point, lobos, state, park, reserve, carmel, monterey, peninsula, big, sur, california, usa, ocean, sea, pacific, coast, shore, scenic, stock, travel, nature, off, shore, storm, clouds, layer, form, shower, squall, passing, seascape, weather, rain, light, sun, reflection, sky, stock, black and white, monochrome

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

Squall, Point Lobos

November 24, 2009 G Dan Mitchell 1 Comment

This photograph is not in the public domain and may not be used on websites, blogs, or in other media without advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

An offshore squall in the wake of a frontal passage, Point Lobos State Reserve, California.

Shortly after I arrived to photograph at Point Lobos in what looked like it might become fairly photogenic weather, I was surprised by a small cold front that quickly swept across the part and left some mist in its wake. It passed quickly and after the offshore showers had passed the sun soon began to return – in fact a half hour later it was almost completely clear at sunset.

I have a long term project of photographing what I think of as minimalist seascapes and this is another in the series. Many are made during the “interesting” season along the northern and central California coastline – the season that includes late fall, winter, and early spring. During this half of the year, rather than the summer’s binary alternation between boring blue sky and dense coastal fog we seek a tremendous range of local and larger area conditions. Yes, the fog is still around, but we also see the gloom of approaching fronts, the power of Pacific storms, the mixed light and clouds and these storms clear, and the tremendously clear air after the last remnants of a front departs.

One more comment on this photograph. I think this may be one of those in which the inclusion of a very tiny object can have an effect on the perception of the image that is way our of proportion to its size. What looks like a small spot in the sky on the left side of the frame in this online jpg is a solitary bird passing across the scene. I feel that this photograph is changed in an important way by its inclusion.

keywords: point, lobos, state, park, reserve, carmel, monterey, peninsula, big, sur, california, usa, ocean, sea, pacific, coast, shore, scenic, stock, travel, nature, squall, shower, rain, weather, cold, front, storm, cloud, water, light, seascape, landscape, horizon, stock

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