Tag Archives: weston

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

Rocks and Surf, Weston Beach

January 17, 2013 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

A long exposure photograph of shoreline rocks and surf at Weston Beach, Point Lobos State Reserve

I had been a while since I had photographed along the California coast south of Monterey, but I finally made it back down there on this mid-January morning, ending up at the Point Lobos State Reserve. This is a location I shoot frequently since it is barely more than an hour from my home, and I’ve gone there since I was a kid. Today was perhaps not the ideal day to photograph there – it was (literally) freezing cold in the morning and then the skies were almost completely clear. Clear skies are not my favorite for photography. I much prefer some fog or clouds. In this photograph I dealt with that by pointing the camera down and placing the horizon very close to the top of the frame.

Arriving at the reserve, I first headed down to the familiar location of Weston Beach. (I still cannot quite figure out which this place is called a “beach” – rocky slabs slope down to the water and the closest thing to sand is a bit of rocky gravel. But I digress…) When I arrived, the early morning sun was almost back-lighting the islands and sea stacks to the south of here, so I walked back up the road a bit to find higher ground to shoot in that direction. While shooting from there I saw that it could be interesting to shoot below this trail and much closer to the water, using a very wide-angle lens and perhaps a 9-stop neutral density filter to extend the exposure. Rather than hoping the fence to get to the likely spot 20 feet away, I was a “good soldier” and I walked back a hundred yards or so, took the “official” trail down to the “beach,” and then worked my way back to the rocky spot that I had spotted from above. I lined up some shoreline rocks and a crack that allowed a bit of surf to come in closer, positioned the horizon very close to the upper edge of the frame, added that 9-stop neutral density filter, and made several long exposures that would allow the surf to become flat and almost misty. Usually I might not want the very harsh light on the rocks, but here I like the way it contrasts with the smooth and filmy quality of the water.

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

Seaweed and Sandstone, Weston Beach

July 28, 2012 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

A twisted piece of seaweed tossed onto sandstone rocks at Weston Beach, Point Lobos State Reserve.

Bits of sea life-like this illustrate one of the great reasons to walk slowly and carefully along the shoreline with eyes wide open. I photographed this section of dried seaweed just as I found it, lying on this stratified bit of sandstone on Weston Beach at Point Lobos. It is hard to imagine how a plant that, I presume, might have been fairly straight underwater, ended up in such a wonderfully twisted shape and to sit on this bit of rock with its own shallow curve.

I was a bit surprised to find this and some similar nearby examples on this beach. I’m used to coming here in the high-wave months of winter, when storm surf can cast all sorts of interesting things far up on the beaches and beyond the usual high-water line. But at this time of year the surf is often a lot calmer, as it was on this day, and I don’t expect to see nearly as much “stuff” washed up.

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

Seaweed and Pebbles, Weston Beach

July 24, 2012 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Shoreline debris, including pebbles and seaweed, at Weston Beach, Point Lobos State Reserve.

During virtually every visit to the Point Lobos State Reserve I end up shooting at Weston Beach (named after photographer Edward Weston) at least once. Perhaps the Weston name is part of what attracts me… though the easy parking might have something to do with it, too. ;-) But seriously, this beach is a special place that I have visited for decades, starting when my family went to Point Lobos so that I can my siblings could wander about and inspect the tide pools.

Weston Beach has always seemed to me to barely qualify as what I think of when I hear the word “beach.” That word, to me, suggests a strand of fine sand that runs along the edge of the ocean. But this beach is more of a cove, and the its shore is emphatically not that kind of “sand.” Instead, it is mostly rocky with broken ledges full of channels that run down and into the water. It is separated from the open ocean by another wall of rocks that almost closes it off from the rougher water, though wave spill in through the gap. Instead of fine sand, there is gravel, consisting mostly of smooth rocks that are almost golf ball sized. During much of the year, but especially in winter when Pacific storms bring the highest surf, all sorts of interesting stuff washes up on this beach – shells, drift wood, seaweed – and I love to walk here slowly, looking for seemingly random juxtapositions and forms that might make a photograph.

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

Shoreline Plants and Sandstone, Weston Cove

October 30, 2010 G Dan Mitchell 2 Comments

Plants grow in cracks in the sandstone along the shore of Weston Cove, Point Lobos State Reserve, California.

On this visit to Point Lobos, a place I photograph frequently, I wasn’t quite sure what conditions I would encounter. A Pacific weather front was approaching and I thought that I might encounter dismal, overcast conditions – but I was surprised to find it mostly sunny when I arrived. Even better, high, thin clouds were approaching the coast line and soon muted the direct sunlight, which made photographing these shoreline rock formations a more reasonable possibility during the late morning.

I’m pretty familiar with Point Lobos in general at this point, having visited the place from the time I was a child. I’m especially familiar with Weston Beach (or “cove,” as I like to think of it), with its circular shape, protective rock barrier, angled sandstone edges, and large pebbly “sand.” But as familiar as I am with this location, I almost alway find something new if I look around carefully enough, and these plants growing in the angular cracks in the sandstone were new to me.

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.

G Dan Mitchell Photography

Tag Archives: weston

Rocks and Surf, Weston Beach

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Seaweed and Sandstone, Weston Beach

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Shoreline Plants and Sandstone, Weston Cove

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

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