I frequently walk past this fern covered section of creek when I hike the main trail to Castle Rock and Goat Rock at Castle Rock State Park in the Santa Cruz Mountains of central California.
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The story: When I arrived at this pond at about 7:30 a.m. the egret flew up from behind some reeds and across the water before I could get my camera out. It settled for a moment on a nearby hillside and then flew off. Darn!
So I put my camera on the tripod and settled in for a long cold wait. Fortunately there were interesting foggy conditions to keep me occupied. Perhaps an hour later the egret came back and approached the pond as if to land. Spotting me, it made a quick circle and headed back the way it had come – but I managed to fire off about a half dozen shots as it looped in front of me.
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Three ships anchored beyond old dock pilings in luminous morning light on San Francisco Bay.
I frequently ride the Caltrain up to San Francisco on summer mornings and photograph along the Embarcadero waterfront (and other locations). I have been shooting this particular scene for several years now, and I never cease to be amazed when I find such a peaceful and serene subject… standing next to old concrete barriers as commuter traffic whizzes by a few feet away.
These ships are frequently moored out in the bay a bit south of San Francisco, presumably while waiting to go into port or perhaps leave the bay? They seem to drift and turn a bit as the tides flow, so their alignment and positions can change in interesting ways. On this morning I was lucky to spot three of them lined up so nicely!
G Dan Mitchell is a California photographer whose subjects include the Pacific coast, redwood forests, central California oak/grasslands, the Sierra Nevada, California deserts, urban landscapes, night photography, and more. Blog | About | Flickr | Twitter | Facebook | Google+ | 500px.com | LinkedIn | Email
This photograph was made during the spring of 2005 when the Merced River was flooding during a very high spring runoff. Here the water is almost spilling over the banks near where it passes by El Capitan.
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