Tag Archives: shore

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

Rocks, Spray, and Gulls – Punta de los Lobos Marinos

November 25, 2009 G Dan Mitchell 1 Comment

Two gulls on offshore rocks, engulfed in ocean spray and illuminated by the light of the setting sun, Punta de los Lobos Marinos, Point Lobos State Reserve. California.

Shooting almost directly into the setting sun, I photographed the wild spray as a weather front departed, leaving waves, wind, and spray it its wake. I was amazed that the two birds remained perched and completely immobile as the wind and surf raged around them.

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.

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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.

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

Punta de los Lobos Marinos, Sunset

November 23, 2009 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Sea lions atop the rocks at Punta de los Lobos Marinos at the end of the day – Point Lobos State Reserve, California.

After not getting out to shoot for a couple weeks – too much work at school! – I finally finished grading a giant stack of papers this afternoon and decided to celebrate by making a quick trip down to Point Lobos for a couple hours of photography. As I drove south I saw beautiful broken clouds and blue sky, and I thought that I might encounter some special conditions in – I thought – the wake of the passage of a minor Pacific weather front. As I got closer to Monterey it appeared that there were heavier clouds offshore to the northwest, and when I got to Point Lobos I had less than a half hour to shoot in decent light before the front came through and surprised me with perhaps a half hour of light rain.

I almost left, thinking that I might head further south and catch sunset light nearer to Big Sur just before the front arrived. However, I soon saw that there was light out to sea beyond the clouds and drizzle and I suspect it might soon pass and that perhaps there would be some sunset light. Since the surf was fairly dramatic I decided to head out on the trail to Punta de los Lobos Marinos, the rocky peninsula that extends out from the shore towards offshore rocks populated by sea lions (or are they harbor seals?) and birds. Once I got there I discovered that the post-front wind was whipping up a lot of spray and that the very low angle sun light was back-lighting it and the rocks in dramatic fashion. If you look closely you can see those seals/sea lions atop the foreground rock.

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.

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Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Northern California, Photographs: Sierra Nevada, Photographs: Yosemite

Shoreline Trees in Morning Light, Upper Cathedral Lake

October 12, 2009 G Dan Mitchell 2 Comments

Morning light illuminates a row of shoreline trees and autumn meadow with granite slopes beyond at Upper Cathedral Lake, Yosemite National Park, California.

During the final weekend of September I briefly joined five other photographers (and a painter) at Upper Cathedral Lake in the Yosemite National Park back-country near Tuolumne Meadows. (The rest of this group was there for a full week, and I only joined them for two days.)

For a location so close to “civilization” (the trailhead in Tuolumne Meadows is only 3.5 miles away) the Cathedral Lakes area provides an astonishing wealth of photographic subjects. There are two lakes, and the pointed summit of Cathedral Peak looms nearby. But beyond that the lakes are surrounded by huge masses of glaciated granite slabs, domes, and peaks. There are beautiful meadows and surrounding forest. A short climb away are the alpine peaks of the Cathedral Range.

While the other photographers ventured further from the base camp at Upper Cathedral, I chose to work closer to camp. On the first evening I wandered up a nearby rocky gully, shooting fall foliage and granite formations. I eventually topped out and climbed out onto the smooth dome-like glaciated surface overlooking the upper lake and with a clear view of Cathedral Peak. Very early the next morning I was up and starting a 3 hour circumnavigation of this small lake, photographing the water, the shoreline rocks, the meadows, the surrounding peaks, and in this photo the forest and groves of trees than surround the lake.

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

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