Tag Archives: storm

Photographs: Fall, Photographs: Fall Color, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Sierra Nevada, Photographs: Yosemite

Clearing Autumn Storm

December 24, 2016 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Clouds swirl around the cliffs of Yosemite Valley as an autumn storm begins to clear

I always make a point of visiting Yosemite Valley right around the very end of October (extending into the start of November) when fall colors come to the Valley — oak, cottonwood, dogwood, and more. This year things were busier than usual, and I was only able to squeeze in an evening and the following day, but it was still beautiful, as always.

Fall color in the Valley is different from that of the aspens on the east side of the Sierra Nevada. Here it is closer to the color of the Sierra foothills and mid-elevation forests. It is also the time of year when the first winter-like storms begin to make it into California from the Gulf of Alaska. This visit coincided with one of those weather fronts, and much of my photography was done in rain, of rain, in the expectation that it would soon return, or in its aftermath. This photograph includes a few of the big, colorful Valley trees, with a backdrop of the cloud-shrouded cliffs.

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

Clearing Storm, Pacific Coast

November 28, 2016 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

An autumn storm clears along the Northern California cost above Fort Bragg

On this November day, the light along the Pacific coast north of Fort Bragg, California was mostly spectacular and in a constant state of change. In rained, occasionally hard and more than once taking us by surprise, there was fog, the sun appeared, clouds were dark one moment and luminously bright the next.

We paused at this overlook, where the meeting of land and water is less steep. The nearly level coastal bluffs run along the water at the base of low coastal mountains, and the underwater slope is also apparently not very steep, judging from the distance from the shoreline that the waves begin to rise and break. The atmosphere was semi-opaque, filled with a combination of fog and light rain, and the glow of light on clouds was diffused and soft. To the west, sun broke through the clouds and lit the water brilliantly in patterns that curved toward the horizon. The waves broke against the seaward side of the huge sea stack — more of an island, really — that stood in front of us just off from the shoreline.

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

Pacific Ocean, Light Beams

November 27, 2016 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Light beams shine through breaking storm clouds onto the surface of the Pacific Ocean, Northern California

I remain intrigued by ocean horizons, which take on an amazing range of appearances depending on the effects of light and atmosphere. The horizon might be a distinct line, it could be (and was on this day) broken by distant swells and breakers, it fade in fog and mist to the point where it is almost invisible, or it may actually be invisible the obscured by fog or rain.

On this afternoon almost every one of those conditions appeared at one time or another. As rain squalls moved onshore, the view of the water and horizon was periodically blocked, only to be lit by brilliant bands of sunlight moments later as the clouds opened. Late in the afternoon, as the sun lowered toward the horizon, the atmosphere became back-lit and began to glow, especially in spots where the rain was still falling. At times beams of light (“God Light,” to use the common photographic description) came through the clouds, passed though slightly opaque mist and rain, and lit the surface of the water.

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

Monolith, Storm Surf

November 25, 2016 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Winter surf breaks against a monolith on a Northern California Beach

On this day we gradually worked our way up the coast from Mendocino, through the town of Fort Bragg and on to where the coast highway, very narrow at this point, turns inland, leaving the coast behind as it travels up narrow, forested canyons. We had a particular spot in mind for photographs, a place where we have previously photographed pale, lichen-covered tree trunks in deep forest. The ideal light of this comes from overcast conditions and we certainly had that — but the lovely overcast soon turned into serious rain, and we decided to head back to the coast.

This was the sort of post-frontal rain that comes and goes. One moment there might be a bit of blue sky and some sunshine on the surface of the ocean; the next dark clouds would approach and we could see the approaching rain heading our direction. We stopped at this overlook as the rain let up a bit, giving us a more open view back up the dramatic coastline toward the mountains from which we had just retreated.

G Dan Mitchell Photography

Tag Archives: storm

Clearing Autumn Storm

Clearing Storm, Pacific Coast

Pacific Ocean, Light Beams

Monolith, Storm Surf

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