Tag Archives: successive

Curving Coastline, Fog

Curving Coastline, Fog
“Curving Coastline,Fog” — Successive ridges drop to the Pacific Ocean in fog along the rugged Big Sur Coast.

The Big Sur Coast seems to strtch on forever, with rugged mountains dropping precipitously into the Pacific Ocean. Ridges are separated by small valleys, and a drive along the Pacific Coast Highway often follows a pattern of turning inland to cross a valley and then turning toward the ocean to cross another ridge. And from high on these ridges the views are usually spectacular, taking in great expanses of that coast and Pacific Ocean panoramas.

A combination of characteristics makes this area quite “photographable” outside of the favored very early and very late hours. The coast trends from northwest to southeast, so as midday approaches the sun can be right above the coast, providing backlight that highlights the receding ridges. (A bit later its light reflects off the water.) And often the morning fog has cleared but left a bit of haze behind, and on the best days it glows luminously.


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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Autumn Dawn, Eastern Sierra

Autumn Dawn, Eastern Sierra
Successive ridges rise from the high desert toward the crest of the Eastern Sierra Nevada in pre-dawn autumn light

Autumn Dawn, Eastern Sierra. © Copyright 2019 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Successive ridges rise from the high desert toward the crest of the Eastern Sierra Nevada in pre-dawn autumn light.

Yes, I know I was supposed to be photographing aspen color. But there are other subjects in and around the Sierra during the autumn! It turned out that I arrived a bit before the peak color, so my inclination to photographer other things, too, was perhaps a bit stronger than it might have been a few days later. I also knew that some aspen subjects that I wanted to photograph would be in better light a bit later, and that left me time for a quick foray to this location before dawn.

I have photographed from this location previously, so I’m pretty familiar with the view, the camera position possibilities, and the potential for lots of interesting early light on the eastern escarpment of the Sierra Nevada. However, as familiar as all of that may be, there are always surprises. I made this photograph a few minutes before the sun cleared the eastern horizon (or, more accurately, the mountains to the east) so the light had taken on the warm, colorful quality of dawn, but without the harsh quality of the first direct sunlight. The photograph spans a wide range of zones — from the sagebrush of the high desert to the summit of one of the highest Sierra peaks in this area.


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 | FacebookEmail

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


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