Tag Archives: sur

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

Headlands and Fog

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Headlands and Fog
Thin fog and brilliant autumn sun along the Big Sur coast.

Headlands and Fog. © Copyright 2021 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Thin fog and brilliant autumn sun along the Big Sur coast.

Today’s photograph takes me even deeper into the high key and minimalist landscape frames of reference. For a long time I have been intrigued by the question of just how little detail could be present in a photograph, and the conditions on this morning gave me an opportunity to extend the experiment to the subject of the Big Sur coast.

The light, weather, and geography here often collaborate to produce some remarkable conditions. The potential for various sorts of fog is a given along the edge of the Pacific Ocean. In many sections of this coast the headland ridges descend toward the water repeatedly over huge distances. And because the coast curves a bit toward the east as you travel south, by late morning the sun may be almost directly ahead of you as you compose photographs that include the ocean. I think of this as “the light that is too intense to look at.” Imagine the sun in front of you, the haze glowing brightly, and the details of the scene becoming almost invisible, leaving only the light, atmosphere, and outlines of forms.

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

Rugged Shoreline, Big Sur Coast

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Rugged Shoreline, Big Sur Coast
Morning fog along the rugged Big Sur shoreline.

Rugged Shoreline, Big Sur Coast. © Copyright 2021 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Morning fog along the rugged Big Sur shoreline.

Because I live in the Greater San Francisco Bay Area I have the luxury of choosing to go to the coast on a moment’s notice, even if I only have a morning, an afternoon, or an evening for the trip. I can watch the weather conditions and choose to go if they look good (clearing fog!) or stay home if they don’t (boring blue sky!). Because I lean toward more dramatic conditions, I tend to choose times around the passage of a weather system — which can bring impressive surf — or else foggy days that look like they will clear.

Fog can be moody and interesting on its own, but a lot of the most fascinating light comes along the intersection between fog and clear sky as the fog begins to lift. The views begin to open up, but portions of the scene may still be muted or partially obscured. In the areas of lighter fog the light is directional but not overly intense and harsh. And along the mountainous edge of the continent along the Big Sur coast the fog often drapes itself across mountain ridges and moves as I watch it. That was the case here, as I photographed across a particularly rugged section of the shoreline toward a ridge and peninsula.

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: Fall, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Ocean & Coast

Sur Point, Cliff, Autumn

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Sur Point, Cliff, Autumn
Looking south into brilliant autumn light over Big Sur cliffs and Sur Point.

Sur Point, Cliff, Autumn. © Copyright 2020 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Looking south into brilliant autumn light over Big Sur cliffs and Sur Point.

This photograph was made from the same location as the one I shared yesterday and, obviously, it includes the same primary subject. That is Sur Point, just north of the town of Big Sur and the location of the historic Sur Point Lighthouse. I was in that area recently, spending a welcome day in the presence of big vistas, big surf, and the autumn coastal light.

The other photograph focused more on the sky above the Pacific Ocean, placing the Point and a bit of surf close to the bottom of the frame in order include more of that gigantic sky. As an alternative interpretation I also aimed the camera lower to produce a composition that included the dark foreground cliffs just below my position. The curve of the dark foreground seemed to lead toward the peninsula holding Point Sur and to contrast with the brilliant light in the misty, backlight atmosphere above the water.

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 | 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.

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

Sur Point, Autumn Sky

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Sur Point, Autumn Sky
Precursor clouds from an incoming weather front in the sky above Sur Point.

Sur Point, Autumn Sky. © Copyright 2020 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Precursor clouds from an incoming weather front in the sky above Sur Point.

The mound at the lower right in this photograph is Sur Point, the site of an old lighthouse facility along the Big Sur coast of California. The historic facility has been there for a long time. From what I understand it was originally so isolated that the families that manned the facility had to grow their own food, and they were resupplied only occasionally and by ship. The point sits on a low peninsula, connected to the mainland only by a low, sandy spit of land.

This photograph embodies several things that attract me to portions of this rugged (though today quite accessible) coastline. It sits at the western edge of a continent populated by a people whose history included (largely but not exclusively) arrival here at the far end of journeys from the east. (Today it just be acknowledged that an increasing number arrived by other paths and that before those of us with shorter histories here arrived others had been here for millennia.) Here, as we look over the eastern edge of the world’s largest ocean, there is a sense of vast, monumental space — something that I like and have not been able to experience as much as I would like during the pandemic.

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 | 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.