Tag Archives: sky

Photographs: Central California, Photographs: Nature

Oak Leaves and Blue Sky

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Oak Leaves and Blue Sky

Oak Leaves and Blue Sky. Calero Hills, California. November 22, 2008. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Oak branches and green leaves against a perfect blue sky, Calero Hills, California.

I was out playing with the long lens (100-400mm) yesterday when I made this photograph of overhead oak branches. Handheld at 400mm. (For those who are concerned about the sharpness of the Canon EF 100-400 L zoom… this shot could provide some reassurance. :-)

keywords: oak, tree, branch, leaf, leaves, acorn, twig, bud, blue, sky, azure, nature, foliage, plant, calero, hills, santa clara county, park, san jose, california, usa, stock, green

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

Star Trails and Surf, Pacific Ocean

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Star Trails and Surf, Pacific Ocean

Star Trails and Surf, Pacific Ocean. Pigeon Point, California. November 15, 2008 © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Night photograph of glowing surf and star trails above the Pacific Ocean coastline of California at Pigeon Point.

Every autumn the old beacon at the Pigeon Point Lighthouse south of Half Moon Bay, California is re-lighted for one evening. I first heard of this event last year, and I drove over only to arrive late and find that the lighthouse was fogged in. This year the event occurred on an unusually clear and warm evening so I headed over once again to photograph the lighthouse. We arrived early enough to join the throngs of photographers set up to shoot the amazing beacon from the original fresnel lens… but my heart just wasn’t in it when it came to photographing this scene. It happens. So instead of photographing the lighthouse we decided to wander around and just take in the scene.

A bit later I thought it might be interesting to walk up the coastline a bit and try a shot pointed back at the lighthouse from a greater distance. We found a nice flat spot along the top of the low bluffs north of the lighthouse and set up. But I still just couldn’t see the shot I was looking for, so I decided to instead turn my attention to the ocean itself. I thought that a long exposure capturing the star trails heading for the horizon and the foreground cove might be interesting. I set up and made one 15 minute (!) exposure in landscape orientation, but a couple of offshore boats with lights slowly moved across the scene – not what I had in mind. Having time for one more shot I decided to try one in portrait orientation with the same foreground cove. This time I had better luck. First, no boats! But even better, about 4 or 5 minutes from the end of the exposure the nearly-full moon topped the low ridge behind us and began to add its glow to the atmosphere and the surf! I wish I could say I planned this – but the best I can claim is that when I realized what was happening I modified my plans a little and took advantage of the situation.

keywords: night, photography, surf, star, trails, pacific, ocean, coast, coastline, shore, rocks, sky, glow, pigeon, point, mist, rocks, cove, sea, seascape, landscape, travel, scenic, stock, california, usa, highway, one, 1

Photographs: Sierra Nevada, Photographs: Yosemite

El Capitan Meadow, Autumn

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El Capitan Meadow, Autumn

El Capitan Meadow, Autumn. Yosemite Valley, California. November 2, 2008. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Photograph of El Capitan Meadow in autumn with plants and trees in fall colors.

I wish I knew the identity of the leafy plants carpeting this section of the meadow under the oak trees (hint, hint… :-), but every year I’m attracted to the splash of red color they provide beneath these oak trees in the meadow near the base of El Capitan. During my otherwise very rainy early November visit to the Valley, there was a bit of brief clearing as I stopped to photograph this scene. (Actually, that was true this time – I had stopped here earlier during the weekend, contemplated carting my camera equipment into the meadow during the rain, and simply stayed in the car.)

Update: Some people asked about the equipment used for this photograph. It was photographed with a Canon 5D full frame DSLR using the excellent ultra wide EF 17-40mm zoom at the wide end of its range. A small aperture helped produce relatively deep depth of field. One complexity in this photograph was the extreme dynamic range between the shadows among the foreground plants and the sunlit clouds above. Two exposures were combined to deal with this, one exposed for the sky and the other for the shaded areas.

keywords: el capitan, meadow, autumn, fall, season, color, yellow, gold, brown, orange, oak, tree, leaf, leaves, sky, clouds, yosemite, valley, national park, california, usa, scenic, landscape, travel, stock, sierra, nevada, mountains

Photographs: Sierra Nevada, Photographs: Yosemite

Yosemite Falls and Mist, Autumn

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Yosemite Falls and Mist, Autumn

Yosemite Falls and Mist, Autumn. Yosemite Valley, California. November 2, 2008. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Yosemite Falls in mist following an autumn rain storm.

In almost every way last weekend was a special one for photographers in Yosemite Valley. Not only were the fall colors intensified by the rain, but the good sized storm restarted creeks, rivers, and waterfalls that in many cases had gone more or less dormant for the season. When I arrived on Saturday morning there was just a trickle of water coming over Yosemite Falls. But that afternoon the flow was approaching typical early summer levels, and many small seasonal falls had come to life all over the valley – water was running everywhere.

When I stopped in this meadow to admire Yosemite Falls I first only thought of photographing the interesting nearly leafless trees near the Merced River – partly because I usually don’t bother to photograph the view of the falls from this spot and partly because the upper fall was obscured by thick fog anyway. But soon it became apparent that the fog was in motion and the sun was occasionally getting through and striking the cliff faces around and below the fall. I started to think something special might happen and in the end I spend a good hour in this spot waiting for the right combination of light and fog.

keywords: yosemite, falls, valley, national park, waterfall, mist, fog, cloud, sky, ridge, cliff, mountain, forest, grove, tree, meadow, grass, autumn, season, california, usa, landscape, scenic, travel, stock, trunk, branch, sierra, nevada