Tag Archives: state

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

Morning Fog, Rocks, and Surf

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Morning Fog, Rocks, and Surf
The surf rolls in on a quiet, foggy morning along the coast north of Santa Cruz, California near Waddell Creek.

Morning Fog, Rocks, and Surf. © Copyright 2021 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

The surf rolls in on a quiet, foggy morning along the coast north of Santa Cruz, California near Waddell Creek.

As we begin to come to terms with the near-end of the Covid-19 crisis in my part of the world — the San Francisco Bay Area — it begins to seem more possible to simply get up, make decision about a destination, and head out for the day. (I do understand that I’m particularly fortunate to live in a place where vaccination rates are very high.) Probably the most likely subject on my “Hey, I’ll go photograph today!” list is the Pacific Ocean coastline, which I can reach as quickly as a bit more than a half hour.

Objectively speaking, there was nothing all that special or unusual about this May morning. The fog, typical at this time of year, blanketed the coast and slid inland to the tops of coastal hills. As I drove a section of the Pacific Coast Highway north of Santa Cruz the fog began to break up in spots, though few people were there to see it on this weekday morning. After I turned around and started back I passed by this spot and noticed the pile of rocks extending across the beach in front of the shallow bay filled with waves leading to distant sea stacks and bluffs.

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: New York City, Photographs: Urban/Street

Smile More

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Smile More
A Manhattan street scene.

Smile More. © Copyright 2021 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A Manhattan street scene.

May I just say that I miss Manhattan? I really miss Mahattan. After a year of keeping my “social distance” from people, I would love nothing more than to be in the middle of a loud, busy, Manhattan street overcrowded with people, perhaps heading into some very small and crowded restaurant. We’re not there yet, but I’m starting to imagine a time when this will again be possible.

Oddly, this Manhattan photograph looks about as empty as one would expect during a pandemic, even though it was made on a normal New York day a few years ago. Perhaps it was the particular neighborhood or perhaps the time of day, but there was almost no one on the street when I made the photograph, aside from a young father who walked though the scene at one point with his child. “Smile more” says the sign.

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: Nature, Photographs: Ocean & Coast

Forest and Fog

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Forest and Fog
Sunlight begins to thin the morning fog in a Monterey Peninsula forest.

Forest and Fog. © Copyright 2013 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Sunlight begins to thin the morning fog in a Monterey Peninsula forest.

Today we visit the California coast below the Monterey Peninsula, at the Point Lobos State Reserve. (That is the actual name, though many of us casually refer to it as a state “park.”) I have gone to this place for decades, since my parents took us there as kids. Back then the big attractions were the tide pools (the number one attraction!), the various sea mammals, and the surf. Those are still on my list when I go there, though now I’m more likely to go with the goal of making photographs. (The place, like so much of the Big Sur coast, has become almost impossibly popular, so I try to visit at odd, off-peak times.)

I had gone down there on this 2013 early spring day to make photographs. My typical routine is to arrive very early, before those crowds show up, and spend a few hours photographing in relative quiet. This time I headed to a location in the more northerly portion of the small preserve, where there are views back across the coastal forests and toward the low hills to the east. Because it was morning, the sun was coming over those hills just as the fog was starting to then, allowing a bit more light into the gaps between the trees.

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: Northern California

Fisherman’s Shed

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Fisherman's Shed
A shed used by fisherman at the historic China Camp, San Pablo Bay.

Fisherman’s Shed. © Copyright 2013 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A shed used by fisherman at the historic China Camp, San Pablo Bay.

The subject is a small building on a pier at the historic settlement of China Camp, on the San Pablo Bay lobe of San Francisco Bay. Beginning in the 1800s this area was the home to many immigrants from China and the location of a thriving shrimp fishing and drying operation. Today it is an unusually quiet location along the edge of the very busy San Francisco Bay Area.

This is not a new photograph. In fact, an earlier version of it sits somewhere in my archive with a different title. Over the past few months I have been revisiting my extensive raw file archives, mostly to find images that I originally overlooked, but in a few cases to rethink my original reinterpretation of previously shared photographs. One of the changes here came from a conversation with my friend David Hoffman, who suggested a better way to crop the photograph.

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.

Blog | About | 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.