Tag Archives: stacks

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

Cove and Wave

September 13, 2013 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

A wave washes into a small cove and onto a pebble beach along California’s coastline south of Monterey

I went down to the Monterey, Carmel, and upper Big Sur coast on what seemed like the first warm-season day of the year. I have probably mentioned before that I prefer the off-season for photography – that time of year when there are storms, giant waves, clouds, rain, cold, and all sorts of interesting conditions. As odd as it may sound, I tend to almost stay away from the coast when the weather becomes too nice! (Of course, there is always fog. And in the summer along the Pacific coast, I do mean “always.”) At the first place I stopped to photograph I was feeling a bit of the letdown from the beautiful morning… but as I got out of my car and stood there in shirt-sleeve weather, warm and no wind, and looked out over the slightly misty coastline I started to feel a bit better about warm weather. :-)

A bit later I headed back toward Point Lobos, where I found a bit more surf than I might have expected, and the high tide had brought the water in close to the shoreline. Here I set up right at the edge of a low bluff above this pebble-filled beach, put a wide-angle lens on the camera, and made some photographs of the near-perfect curve of the waves entering the cove and washing up onto the beach, with sea stacks further down the coast line.

Text, photographs, and other media are © Copyright G Dan Mitchell (or others when indicated) and are not in the public domain and may not be used on websites, blogs, or in other media without advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

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

Muir Beach Overlook, Sutro Tower, Dusk

September 7, 2012 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

San Francisco’s Sutro Tower is visible in the distance beyond the Muir Beach Overlook in dusk light, in the Marin Headlands.

A few moments before making this photograph, I had decided that I was done for the evening, as the light was fading very fast and the brilliant and intense sunset and post-sunset colors were draining from the scene. But a turn or two up the road I came upon this overlook, with its view traversing the steep headlands toward the south to where the low hills of San Francisco just outside the Golden Gate were visible, Sutro Tower stood high above these hills, and subtle shades of blue and rose light were still visible.

So we pulled over, and I quickly got set up – again! – and made a few exposures in this dying light. This light is just about as subtle and difficult to photograph as it gets. In fact, I almost didn’t bother! On the scene, it was quite dark – darker than this rendition would suggest. And in that darker dusk, the haze that here partially conceals the San Francisco hills made them almost invisible.

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

Mendocino Coast, Evening

September 4, 2012 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Evening light on coastal bluffs below the village of Mendocino, California.

The little village of Mendocino, now largely a somewhat rural vacation spot, has a lot going for it: connections to a number of historical traditions, lots of quaint old buildings with that weathered look of coastal communities, tons of places to stay, great food, and California’ Pacific Ocean coastline. Though the chamber of commerce might disagree, it seems to be just far enough from major population centers to escape the over-running crowds and rampant souvenir-ism of places like Carmel that once had this same sort of charm. The village sits on a wide peninsula that just out into the Pacific and gradually angles down toward the water, ending in relatively low coastal bluffs and shoreline rocks.

It is often foggy in the part of California, but on our late-August visit we had just enough fog to add a bit of atmosphere – but mostly it hovered off-shore and at times disappeared completely. On our final evening there, we had a bit of time before dinner – and who wants to eat when there is golden hour light! – so we walked out along the bluffs on the south side of town and made a few photographs as the day ended.

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

Foggy Evening Near Rocky Point

August 28, 2012 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Evening fog obscures the view of the Big Sur coastline near Rocky Point.

This photograph was made on my birthday, believe it or not! We had headed down to the Monterey area for dinner, and had a few extra hours in the late afternoon, so we decided to take a quick jaunt down the coast towards the Rocky Point and (almost) Bixby Bridge area. Of course, a little thing like a birthday celebration isn’t going to make me leave my camera gear at home, so this was a fine excuse to do a little photography along the coast highway.

The light was variable and challenging, largely because it was late in the day and the fog bank was moving right up against the coast. While in a few places it pulled back enough to allow a bit of diffused light to land on the coastal bluffs, beaches, and even the water, in most places the fog line was just a bit inland. As we drove south we were mostly in fog, but occasionally as we passed a bit further from the shoreline to follow the contours of a creek drainage or a bay we found a bit of sun. We finally stopped at this high overlook that provides a view back toward Rocky Point, the peninsula at the upper part of the frame, and I made a few exposures.

G Dan Mitchell Photography

Tag Archives: stacks

Cove and Wave

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Muir Beach Overlook, Sutro Tower, Dusk

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Mendocino Coast, Evening

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Foggy Evening Near Rocky Point

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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.