Tag Archives: water

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

Estero de Limantour

July 26, 2017 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

A foggy day at Estero de Limantour, as viewed from Drakes Head, Point Reyes National Seashore

This post is a bit about this photograph and a bit about the experiences that such photographs are embedded in. The location is a somewhat remote location at Point Reyes National Seashore — the hike out and back runs about 13 miles or so. I have wanted to visit this spot for a number of years, but every time I have started the hike it has been too late in the day to complete the round-trip, or else I was distracted by other photographic opportunities along the way and I did not get all the way to the destination. This time I arrived early enough and got on the trail right away, and I did not stop too much along the way.

What did I find at the end of this long walk? The trail ends dramatically with a slight rise to a high point on a promontory overlooking Estero de Limantour far below, and the expanse of Drakes Bay beyond that. Or so I imagine. When I got there it was very foggy and extremely windy, and at times the water in this photograph was obscured by fog. Because the clouds had been breaking up further inland I decided to wait here in anticipation that the clearing would make it all the way to the coast. After waiting for an hour and a half (!) the fog began to lift and I could start to make out the water beyond the sandy island running along the shoreline. I jumped up and made preparations for the glorious breakup of the clouds… and then the wind picked up, the fog closed in, and it began to drizzle! I made this photograph during a slightly clearer moment. Before I loaded up the pack for the hike back I remembered that great light doesn’t always arrive, that you must be out there a lot if you expect to see it when it happens, if you are out there a lot you will experience lots of “failures,” and that even on a day that might not be optimally photographic there is nothing at all wrong with spending and hour and a half on a windswept bluff engulfed by ocean fog.

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

Low Tide, Drakes Estero

July 25, 2017 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Patterns emerge and reflect the sky at low tide on a foggy morning at Drakes Estero

Although I have been visiting the Point Reyes National Seashore, just north of San Francisco, for quite a few years, it has sometimes been a challenging place for me to photograph. Perhaps it is because, with some exceptions, it generally doesn’t feature the same sorts of iconic and spectacular Pacific coast subjects found in places such as the Big Sir coast. instead there are coastal lowlands with most-treeless bluffs, thick and impenetrable forests further inland, and grand vistas across low-lying landscapes. But given enough time and patience and persistence, I think ti begins to be possible to discover a way of seeing almost any landscape, and I’m starting to understand how to see this place.

I knew it that there would be fog on this visit, and my plan/hope was that I could get there at the right time to place myself along the boundary between sun and fog, where interesting things often happen with the light. I decided to take a rather long hike (about 13 miles roundtrip) to a location that I have long wanted to visit, and I arrived at the trailhead just as the fog was beginning to thin there. After dropping through forest I arrived and crossed one arm of Drakes Estero as the tide was at its low point, revealing mud flats along the shoreline. The trail climbed again and I came around another high headland to see a more expansive view toward the fog over the ocean to the west. The low tide revealed remarkable patterns in the estero, and the shallow water reflected the deep blue sky and the thinning fog clouds.

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

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: New York City

Leaves and Rain

July 20, 2017 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Leaves after rain, and the Brooklyn Botanic Gardens

Just for fun, nature photography from… Brooklyn, New York! I made the photograph at the Brooklyn Botanic (not “botanical!”) Garden during our visit earlier this month. We have various family members living in Brooklyn, so it is a place we visit somewhat regularly, yet we had only been to the garden one or two times in the past. As we arrived it began to cloud up, so we ducked inside, first for lunch and then to visit the O’Keeffe exhibition at the nearly museum.

Inside the museum we were cut off from the outside, but when we exited it was clear that a big line of thunderstorms had rolled through. There was water everywhere as we walked back across the park in the humidity and warmth. Along the way we passed this bed of plants and these beautifully formed leaves caught my attention. The remaining clouds made the light soft, and the water droplets from the rain still covered the leaves.

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Sierra Nevada, Photographs: Yosemite

Granite, Forest, and Lake

June 11, 2017 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Granite slabs, mountains, and forest surround Tenaya Lake

This is, no doubt, a very familiar spot to anyone who has spent much time in the Yosemite High Country. It is, of course, Tenaya Lake, the big lake along Tioga Pass Road to the west of Tuolumne Meadows — perhaps the first place where the terrain really seems to fully feel like “High Sierra” in the sense in which I use the term.

Even in the busy season this lake can be surprisingly quiet at certain times. I made this photograph in the morning, early enough that the shadows were still long, but late enough that the sun had lifted high enough above the surrounding peaks to illuminate the granite slabs and the surface of the lake. A bit of atmospheric haze softened the light a bit, and high clouds passed overhead.

G Dan Mitchell Photography

Tag Archives: water

Estero de Limantour

Low Tide, Drakes Estero

Leaves and Rain

Granite, Forest, and Lake

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