Tag Archives: stack

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Ocean & Coast

Shoreline, Mendocino Bay

Image June 14, 2019 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Morning light on beaches and river delta, Mendocino Bay.

We just returned from a week along the far northern California coast, with a few days in the Mendocino area followed by four more in the Redwood National and State Parks between Eureka/Arcata and Crescent City. Patty and I had several goals on this trip: getting away from the busy and crowded San Francisco Bay Area, visiting foggy redwoods while rhododendrons were in bloom, spending time along the coast, and — of course! — making photographs. We were successful on all counts… except for the fog! I seem to have a special knack for making the fog depart from the redwoods. While this makes the locals very happy, I have yet to encounter the lovely and widely-rumored Redwood National Park fog.

We spent the first two nights in Mendocino, the quaint little village on a peninsula jutting into the Pacific. On the first morning I was up and out the door relatively early, walking out along the northern headlands overlooking Mendocino Bay. Sunrise photography here can be a bit tricky, as the hills to the east obstruct the first light. But wait until the sun clears the forested ridges and add a bit of morning ocean mist and the scene becomes quite lovely. This photograph looks along the shoreline of the bay, past sea stacks and headland cliffs, toward the Big River delta and a Pacific Coast highway bridge.

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

Sea Stacks, Cliffs, Sunset

June 14, 2018 G Dan Mitchell 2 Comments

Coastal cliffs, sea stacks, and beach reflecting the light of a Northern California Pacific Ocean sunset

This photograph illustrates — as do so many others! — the many situations in which a photograph is the result of some combination of planning, experience, patience, “seeing,” and just plain good luck. In the morning I had photographed a few hours north of here at Prairie Creek Redwood State Park. As I worked that area, in the back of my mind I was calculating the driving time (plus eating and photographing time) that would put me at a particular spot along the coastline above Fort Bragg a bit before sunset. It is a spot that I have photographed before and one that both challenges and appeals to me. I knew the features of the spot, but there was no way to know what the conditions might be — in fact, I thought there was a pretty good chance that it might be fogged in.

As I approached this area, passing through inland mountains, it was apparent that fog was going to be an issue. Even inland the coastal fog was obscuring the upper slopes. Arriving at the coast I found “blah,” gray light. But there I was, knowing that this would be my last stop of the day, so I thought I might make something work in black and white. Then I noticed something interesting — the fog bank ended in the distance to the northwest right along the coastline, and right along the horizon there was a thin band of glowing, reflecting water. It occurred to me that this thin band would likely expand toward my position as the sun dropped toward the horizon, and that there could be a short period of special light. Before long the glow on the water came closer and the nearby waves began to pick up some sunset color. Then, as the bottom of the sun started to emerge below the edge of the cloud shield, the mist began to glow and the sun’s light came directly at me between the shadows of sea stacks, something can happen only for a few days during a brief interval or two each year… and only on days when the coastal weather conditions permit it.

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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: Northern California, Photographs: Ocean & Coast

Near-Shore Islands, Clearing Storm

November 22, 2016 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

An autumn storm clears above the Pacific Ocean and a group of near-shore islands

We were up on the Northern California coast for a few days this past weekend, to celebrate Patty’s big birthday. This meant that the main goals involved drinking wine and enjoying some excellent dinners, and even allowed for more than a bit of sleeping-in, something that landscape photographers typically don’t do.

On this birthday morning we got up late and headed down to the town of Mendocino, perhaps considering a leisurely breakfast, but with no other specific plans in mind. But looking across the bay to the south we saw gigantic surf, clouds, fog, spray, and intense light — and photography distracted us. We traveled out to the edge of the headlands where there is a group of what must have once been coastal bluffs but which are now off-shore islands. The surf roared as the moving clouds cast alternating light and shadow across the seascape and dramatic clouds, some still dropping rain, passed by to the west.

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

Surf, Bluff, Sea Stacks

May 15, 2016 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Surf, a steep bluff, and sea stacks lead toward a foggy horizon, Big Sur Coast

I sometimes forget how long this coast has been a part of my consciousness, but a visit or two quickly remind me. I have lived in the San Francisco Bay area since I was four-years-old. Weekend and summer visits to the Monterey Bay beaches and the tide pools of Point Lobos were regular events, and the effect of those visits remains all these years later — and all it takes is a quick visit to remind me of what it means to live this close to the Pacific Ocean.

On this first day of May I made a morning visit to the upper Big Sur coast, getting to some of the best parts before the inevitable weekend crowds arrived. It was a beautiful day, at first looking like it might turn out to be “yet another blue sky day,” but soon becoming more interesting, at least from the photographic point of view, as thin fog began to form just about the meeting of the ocean and land. When I made this photograph looking south down the coastline, it was still early enough that the bluffs and coastal mountains cast shadows along the surf line.

G Dan Mitchell Photography

Tag Archives: stack

Shoreline, Mendocino Bay

Sea Stacks, Cliffs, Sunset

Near-Shore Islands, Clearing Storm

Surf, Bluff, Sea Stacks

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