Tag Archives: state

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

Monterey Cypress Snag

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Monterey Cypress Snag
The skeleton of a Monterey cypress snag above a cove and peninsula on a foggy Point Lobos morning.

Monterey Cypress Snag. © Copyright 2022 G Dan Mitchell.

The skeleton of a Monterey cypress snag above a cove and peninsula on a foggy Point Lobos morning.

This weathered Monterey cypress snag is evidence of the rugged lives of these trees. At Point Lobos many are found along the rocky, rugged, and exposed north shore, where they grow on rocky headlands and at the edge of cliffs. The growth of thriving trees can seem almost lush, but if you look around you’ll inevitably find a lot of struggling trees and dead snags like this one.

Making this photograph was an almost comical affair. A challenge of photographing here is that there is rarely a clear, unobstructed view of interesting subjects. In some cases you could get such a view by (illegally) venturing off the trail, but in addition to being bad manners that is often very risky. To find compositions I often have to be creative, perhaps thinking about how to work the obstructions into the composition, or by shooting around and between them with long lenses. To make this photograph I had to set up in the middle of a narrow section of the trail, use a very wide angle lens, and put the camera in the one precise position that worked… and I had to move the whole setup several times to let people pass as I worked.

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, Amazon, and directly from G Dan Mitchell.

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

Rocky Peninsula, Fog

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Rocky Peninsula, Fog
A rocky peninsula, the home of a cormorant rookery, exends into the fog and surf, Point Lobos State Reserve.

Rocky Peninsula, Fog. © Copyright 2022 G Dan Mitchell.

A rocky peninsula, the home of a cormorant rookery, exends into the fog and surf, Point Lobos State Reserve.

This rocky peninsula is a kind of “land’s end” feature at Point Lobos. It extends out into the ocean where the west and north shores meet, and it is often a place to observe big surf. Even on this relatively quiet day the waves were washing over the lower slopes of the feature. If you look closely you can spot scores of cormorants on the center and right sides — this is a cormorant rookery, and most of the birds are juveniles waiting for the next feeding from their parents.

Conditions on this morning were my favorite at this location — drifting fog thick enough to obscure distant subjects but shallow enough to sometimes produce some translucent and slightly directional light. I paused at this spot and remained for some time as the fog increased and decreased. Ironically, after all of that waiting, the first photograph I made turned out to have the most interesting light!

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, Amazon, and directly from G Dan Mitchell.

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Links to Articles, Sales and Licensing, my Sierra Nevada Fall Color book, Contact Information.

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All media © Copyright G Dan Mitchell and others as indicated. Any use requires advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

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

Cliffside Trees, Fog

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Cliffside Trees, Fog, Point Lobos
“Cliffside Trees, Fog” — Monterey cypress trees line the rocky edges of the north shore of Point Lobos on a foggy morning.

This is another in this week’s series of photographs from a recent foggy morning at Point Lobos State Reserve, a favorite location where I have photographed for decades. I live a bit more than an hour away, so I can watch the weather and head over there almost at the spur of the moment when conditions look good. And the conditions on this morning were excellent, with the fog being both persistent and often translucent.

Tall cliffs tower above rugged peninsulas, rocky promontories, and coves along the north shore. This is one of the best locations to see Monterey cypress trees that have been challenged and bent by the rocky terrain and the wind. Many of the trees in this photograph grow at the edge of the land and subsist on little more than the thin soil collected in cracks in the rock.

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” (Heyday Books) is available directly from him.

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All media © Copyright G Dan Mitchell and others as indicated. Any use requires advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

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

The Old Cypress

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The Old Cypress
A gnarled old Monterey cypress, Point Lobos State Reserve.

The Old Cypress. © Copyright 2022 G Dan Mitchell.

A gnarled old Monterey cypress, Point Lobos State Reserve.

After sufficient decades wandering about in favorite parts of the natural world, I have become personal friends with a few rocks, trees, creeks, and other features in various places. I’m not sure that there’s much logic to which ones caught my attention, and you might pass by quite a few of them without noticing. They could be spots where I first saw something in a particular way, a tree that sheltered me as I waited out a rain shower, a place where I spread out my sleeping bag, a scene where I have paused for years, or almost anything.

This Monterey cypress tree is on that list. It is visible from a short, dead-end spur trail at Point Lobos, and these days you have to duck under low trees and watch out for poison oak as you approach. The tree is on the other side of a little valley at the end of a small cove, and it clings to rocks near the top of a cliff. It teases me by being a bit difficult to photograph. In the best location there isn’t really enough space to set up a tripod, at least not if you want to avoid the poison oak. And just beyond the tree lies a trail, and inevitably a large party passes by at just the moment when I want to make an exposure.

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, Amazon, and directly from G Dan Mitchell.

Blog | About | Twitter | Flickr | Facebook | Email

Links to Articles, Sales and Licensing, my Sierra Nevada Fall Color book, Contact Information.

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All media © Copyright G Dan Mitchell and others as indicated. Any use requires advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.