Tag Archives: wave

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Northern California, Photographs: Sierra Nevada, Photographs: Yosemite

Cascade, Reflected Sunlight

February 12, 2011 G Dan Mitchell 4 Comments

Sunlight reflects on granite ledges next to cascades on Tenaya Creek.

In this iteration of the “blurry-fast-moving-water-in-Sierra-creek” photograph, I was looking to cram a variety of elements into the frame – as you can see, the entire photograph is not filled with water. There is a transition from white water with flashes of sunlit light at the tops of the waves, through the water with smaller areas of foam, to water reflecting the golden late afternoon light from a cliff face on the other side of the creek, to some bits of streamside granite slabs along the lower right edge of the frame. To me, these areas of shallow water and wet rock reflecting more distant light almost have a molten quality.

One of the trickiest things about this photograph for me was dealing with the strong contrast between very blue tones in the shaded parts of the water and the very warm tones of the reflections. As every photographer knows, the light in shade can be very blue, especially when the subject is supposed to be white and is lit almost entirely by the blue sky, as is the case in parts of the turbulent water. Adjustments are necessary in order to make it look realistic and conform with the colors that our eyes tell are are there. (Our vision system is remarkable… but it is not objectively accurate!) But adjustments to the blue water, if applied to the warm tones of the reflecting granite, can end up looking bizarre and overdone in the opposite direction!

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Text, photographs, and other media are © Copyright G Dan Mitchell (or others when indicated) and are not in the public domain and may not be used on websites, blogs, or in other media without advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Northern California, Photographs: Sierra Nevada, Photographs: Yosemite

Whitewater, Tenaya Creek

February 10, 2011 G Dan Mitchell 2 Comments

Turbulent whitewater flows through an area of steep granite along Tenaya Creek, Yosemite National Park.

You can, of course, find a place to shoot subjects like this one all over the Sierra and no doubt in many other places as well. This photograph was made during a period of relatively high water early in the season and in a spot where the water flowed over some rocks in shade. Sunlight on the other side of the stream reflected into the water and revealed highlights, especially the flying spray that I allowed to blur with a somewhat slow shutter speed.

The moving water in Sierra streams and rivers seems to be an almost irresistible subject for many photographers, and I confess that I count myself among them. In some ways it is almost too easy to make these photographs, and one basic requirement is a willingness to make quite a few exposures. The instantaneous motion of the water and the reflections of light simply cannot be controlled or predicted, so one almost has to make many, many exposures. Of course, there is a bit more to it than pointing the camera at water and then repeatedly pressing the shutter release. It is important to find some sort of compositional interest first – it could be where water flows around or over a rock, a place where the light catches the water, or possibly just the twisting forms of turbulent water. Light is extra important in these photographs I think – most often the colors come from a combination of the blue-green shades of water full of foam and from reflected light from things that are out of the frame. (In this photograph, the light mostly comes from sunlight reflected off of granite on the far side of the stream.) Shutter speed is an important consideration, as a short exposure will stop or nearly stop the water and freeze the motion, a somewhat longer exposure can hold some detail but still allow blur along the direction of the flow, and very long exposures can create a misty and diffuse effect.

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

Big Sur Coast Near Bixby Creek, Winter

January 17, 2011 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Light winter rain falls on the rugged Big Sur coastline near Bixby Creek.

This is one more – and perhaps the final – photograph from New Years Day 2011 along the Big Sur coast line. While this is perhaps not your chamber of commerce picture perfect day, it is my kind of Big Sur day. As I made the photograph the wind was absolutely howling – so strong that I couldn’t really use my tripod, so I instead hand held the camera and braced it and myself against a very large boulder. To make things even more “fun,” it was trying very hard to rain!

The location is precisely at the spot where many of the iconic photographs of Bixby Bridge are made, at the north end of the bridge. However, on this day I thought that the subdued tones of the winter ocean and cliffs were more interesting, so I framed my photographs to avoid including the bridge.

This photograph is not in the public domain and may not be used on websites, blogs, or in other media without advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

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Text, photographs, and other media are © Copyright G Dan Mitchell (or others when indicated) and are not in the public domain and may not be used on websites, blogs, or in other media without advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

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

Twilight Surf

January 12, 2011 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Many times the most interesting late-day light comes after the sun set, and I have learned to stick around as long as I can in these situations. The colors can become more intense as the details become softer, especially when the low light allows me to use longer exposure times with moving subjects in the very low light. By the time I made this photograph my exposure time was up to four seconds. (Shortly after this it was too dark to continue shooting – I could hardly see my camera any more!)

This image falls into my “minimalist seascape” category, without any particular central subject – though there are some points in the scene that do, I think, draw a bit more attention. There is a certain element of chance in these photographs since, obviously, I cannot control the waves. However, by watching their patterns and thinking about how their sharply defined shapes might form more diffused shapes over the longer exposures, I can make some reasonable guesses about when to trip the shutter release. Besides the sky, there are three things in the water portion of this scene that “worked” for me: the single darker wave just below the horizon, the row of three parallel waves in the middle of the frame, and the blurred and reflective area closest to the shore.

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” (Heyday Books) is available directly from him.

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