Tag Archives: spray

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

Cliff House, Winter Surf

February 7, 2010 G Dan Mitchell 2 Comments

Cliff House, Winter Surf. San Francisco, California. January 31, 2010. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell.

Black and white photograph of Pacific Ocean winter surf at the Cliff House, San Francisco, California.

This was not what I was supposed to photograph on the final day of January. I went to San Francisco to visit my son and then do some street/urban photograph while walking around the city. I expected that we might start in the Mission where he lives – and we actually sort of did, beginning with breakfast at Tartine Bakery. After finishing up we were deciding whether to head toward downtown on foot or catch BART, and I mentioned that since I had my car he might want to go to someplace farther away. He suggest Sutro Baths over in the Cliff House and Ocean Beach area, so off we went.

Although I’ve seen lots of interesting photography from this location – especially some interesting night photography work – I had not photographed there before. The baths are the ruins of what were once apparently some large facilities right next to the rugged shoreline here, but today little remains besides foundations, some low walls, and some remaining pools. I was a bit surprised to find the surf raging; I hadn’t thought it would be an especially high surf day since this was during a lull between storms.

Before long I spotted some of my favorite seascape conditions, bright reflections on the the wild Pacific Ocean winter surf, backlit by sun shining through fog and haze. Although I had no tripod I went ahead and shot some hand held seascapes. I’ve previously mentioned that I don’t always know while shooting whether or not photographs will end up in black and white, but with these I was pretty certain from the beginning. The building in the upper left is the Cliff House, the most recent iteration of a facility that has stood here for a long time.

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: san francisco, california, usa, sutro, baths, cliff, ocean, sea, coast, shore, pacific, surf, travel, scenic, landscape, seascape, wave, swell, spray, bluff, restaurant, building, architecture, historic, rocks, crash, cloud, sky, winter, storm, rugged, stock

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

Bird Island from Weston Beach

January 30, 2010 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Photograph from Weston Beach of wild winter seas near Bird Island and surrounding rocks along the California coastline at Point Lobos State Reserve as high clouds from an approaching winter storm begin to spread across the sky.

Since I decided to make this short mid-January visit to Point Lobos on the spur of the moment (after discovering that predicted rain was going to arrive later than expected) I had no idea what the tide conditions would be like. It turned out that the tide was in when I arrived and familiar locations like Weston Beach, the location from which I made this photograph, were fairly inundated by the tide and the high surf from the approaching weather front. So rather than trying to shoot the smaller details of the beach/cove – I saved that for later in the day – I decided to see what I could do with the longer views of the huge surf and the backlit haze and light fog that emphasized the rocks and bluffs receding into the distance. The light was very changeable, and the sky in this image explain why – for the most part there was a thin layer of high clouds, but there were also scattered thicker clouds that cast moving shadows across the water.

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: weston, beach, cove, bird, island, rock, sea, stack, ocean, shore, cliff, big, sur, point, lobos, state, reserve, park, winter, california, usa, carmel, monterey, peninsula, pacific, season, sky, clouds, spray, wave, surf, chop, wild, bluff, landscape, nature, scenic, travel, seascape, stock

Photographs: Northern California, Photographs: Ocean & Coast, Photographs: Structures and Objects

Winter Sunset, Pigeon Point Lighthouse

January 23, 2010 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Winter surf in a rocky bay with high clouds above as last sunset light strikes the Pigeon Point Lighthouse, California.

Another weekend. Another excuse to drive to San Francisco. Another excuse to come back the long way via the Coast Highway.

This time I actually had my sights set on a location a bit south of this. I’ve been to this iconic California lighthouse before (including the well-known November lighting of the original beacon) so I usually don’t stop. As I approached I thought the light looked pretty interesting and I liked the clouds I was seeing in the sky – it is more often either fogged in or perfectly clear. I actually drove right past the turnoff to the lighthouse, I was so intent on my original location. But, as I’ve written before, I’ve learned to not drive, walk, or otherwise propel myself past a good photographic opportunity, so I pulled out soon after this point and took a look back at the lighthouse and the rugged surf. From the vantage point where I stopped a bit south of the lighthouse the light was not good at all, but at least I was able to turn around and head back to where it was interesting.

Since the light was going fast, I quickly found a spot to park, grabbed my gear, and headed out toward the edge of the low bluff just north of the lighthouse – and on this side the warm evening light, softened by some fog and ocean spray, was very nice. I shot as the sun dropped to the horizon, then made a few other photographs of some very interesting sunset clouds – I’ll post them later – before getting back in the car and heading home.

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: california, usa, landscape, winter, stock, pacific, ocean, seascape, sea, shore, pigeon point, sky, water, rock, evening, sunset, rock, rugged, coast, beach, bluff, fence, foam, wave, spray, surf, sand, high, clouds, evening, light, building, tower, light, chimney, people, hostel, historic, san mateo county

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

Sunset Surf, Big Sur Coastline

January 17, 2010 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Panoramic photograph of winter surf and rough winter seas along the Big Sur coastline at sunset, California.

This is actually a photograph that I posted previously, but this time presented in a panoramic orientation. The last bit of sunset light is shining through a gap in the otherwise cloudy sky. (I didn’t realize it when I posted the original version, but I managed to get a good case of poison oak by clambering out onto the edge of this bluff to make this photograph…)

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: big, sur, coast, coastline, winter, season, seascape, pacific, ocean, california, usa, sea, water, surf, wave, stock, sunset, dusk, spray, mist, fog, cloud, sky, blue, road, highway, one, sea stack, bluff, poles, beach, rocks, landscape, nature, scenic, travel, hills, mountains, ridge

G Dan Mitchell Photography

Tag Archives: spray

Bird Island from Weston Beach

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Winter Sunset, Pigeon Point Lighthouse

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

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