Uploads from G Dan Mitchell, tagged gdanmitchell

Egret Feeding in Kelp Bed, Whalers Cove

nobody@flickr.com (G Dan Mitchell) — Mon, 15 Dec 2008 21:19:58 -0800

Egret Feeding in Kelp Bed, Whalers Cove. Point Lobos State Reserve, California. November 30, 2008. © Copyright www.gdanmitchell.com/)

I'm pretty certain that this will be the final photograph in my recent series of photographs of this egret at Whalers Cove, Point Lobos State Reserve, California.

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

Egret with Fish, Whalers Cove

nobody@flickr.com (G Dan Mitchell) — Fri, 12 Dec 2008 22:26:57 -0800

G Dan Mitchell posted a photo:

Egret with Fish, Whalers Cove. Point Lobos State Reserve, California. November 30, 2008. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell - all rights reserved. (larger)

An egret with wings extended catches a fish in the kelp at Whalers' Cove, Point Lobos State Reserve, California.

Another photograph of the egret that cooperated so nicely with my attempts to make photographs during my late November visit to Point Lobos. This photograph was made seconds after the bird had caught a fish in the kelp bed and was about to consume it.

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

G Dan Mitchell Photography | Twitter | Friendfeed | Facebook | Facebook Fan Page | Email

Egret Alights

nobody@flickr.com (G Dan Mitchell) — Thu, 11 Dec 2008 21:49:18 -0800

G Dan Mitchell posted a photo:

Egret Alights, Whaler's Cove. Point Lobos State Reserve, California. November 30, 2008. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell - all rights reserved. (large)

An egret flies close to the kelp covered surface of Whaler's Cove at Point Lobos State Reserve, California.

As I arrived at Whaler's Cove I was hoping to perhaps be able to photograph sea otters up close. Although this was a high surf day along the coast, Whalers Cove is sheltered and I had heard that it is a good place to look for wildlife. After parking my car I did not see any otters, but I immediately saw this egret hunting in the kelp right next to the road. I grabbed the long lens and found a comfortable spot close by and began observing and photographing. The bird was apparently hunting for small fish in the kelp bed. It stood on top of the kelp and would occasionally make a lunge into the water, on one occasion coming up with a fish in its bill.

One of the things I like most about this photograph is the shadow of the bird's curving neck cast on the translucent feathers of its wing.

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

G Dan Mitchell Photography | Twitter | Friendfeed | Facebook | Facebook Fan Page | Email

Burnt Forest - Yosemite Valley

nobody@flickr.com (G Dan Mitchell) — Tue, 25 Nov 2008 20:14:05 -0800

G Dan Mitchell posted a photo:

Burnt Forest, Rain - Yosemite Valley. Yosemite National Park, California. November 1, 2008. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell - all rights reserved. (large)

Burnt trees in a managed fire area of Yosemite Valley.

Now that I understand that fire is a natural and important part of the life cycle of forests, I no longer find burned areas to be ugly - in fact I think that they can be quite compelling scenes. The start quality of charred trees and soil is interesting, and soon the new growth in the burned areas comes in and wildflowers can be abundant. The NPS now has a policy in Yosemite of allowing naturally occurring fires to burn (as long as they don't threaten structures) and of purposefully starting "managed fires" in places like the Valley.

During my raining early -November weekend in The Valley I stopped in this recently burned forest, initially to photograph new growth of ferns on the forest floor against the dark colors of the trees. After I worked that idea I saw these lower branches on forest trees that had been burned and decided to photograph them as well.

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

Zabriskie Point Abstract

nobody@flickr.com (G Dan Mitchell) — Mon, 24 Nov 2008 20:38:44 -0800

G Dan Mitchell posted a photo:

Zabriskie Point Abstract. Death Valley National Park, California. April 2, 2007. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell - all rights reserved. (larger)

Morning light illuminates hills and gullies below Zabriskie Point, Death Valley National Park, California.

Another relatively abstract photograph of the amazing folded hills and gullies seen from Zabriskie Point in Death Valley National Park. Here the sun has risen just enough to catch the upper portion of all of the small hills, but not high enough to light the shaded areas in the gullies between them. The idea here was to crop the scene tightly enough that nothing would be visible besides the shapes and textures of this small portion of the terrain.

It is easy to be overwhelmed by the bizarre and amazing nature of the Zabriskie Point view - it is simply a place like no other and the view is otherworldly. But after going back a few times I have started to be able to see past the most obvious elements of the "grand scene" and I find some of the details interesting. (One of my favorite photographs from this area is not of a subject that most photographers would look at; it is a small - for lack of a more picturesque description - mud hill right next to the walkway between the parking lot and the official viewing area.)

Egret with Fish, Whalers Cove

nobody@flickr.com (G Dan Mitchell) — Sat, 13 Dec 2008 23:39:18 -0800

G Dan Mitchell posted a photo:

Egret with Fish, Whalers Cove. Point Lobos State Reserve, California. November 30, 2008. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell - all rights reserved. (large)

An egret raises its wings after catching a fish in the kelp beds at Whalers Cove, Point Lobos State Reserve, California.

Another in the egret series from Whalers Cover at Point Lobos. This bird had just caught the fish you see in its beak and was making a quick move across the kelp in which it had been fishing before swallowing the fish.

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

Moving Water and Mist

nobody@flickr.com (G Dan Mitchell) — Wed, 10 Dec 2008 21:00:52 -0800

G Dan Mitchell posted a photo:

Moving Water and Mist. Point Lobos State Reserve, California. November 30, 2008. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell - all rights reserved. (larger)

Moving water and mist at Point Lobos State Reserve, California with Carmel Highlands in the distance.

This is a long exposure with a long lens. The large rock just in front of the distant hills is "Bird Island" at Point Lobos, and the hills are roughly in the area of Carmel Highlands. The misty water swirling around the foreground rocks is enhanced by a long exposure using a 9-stop neutral density filter.

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

Coastal Hills, Rocks, and Surf

nobody@flickr.com (G Dan Mitchell) — Tue, 09 Dec 2008 21:48:07 -0800

G Dan Mitchell posted a photo:

Coastal Hills, Rocks, and Surf. Point Lobos State Reserve, California. November 30, 2008. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell - all rights reserved. (larger)

Black and white photograph of coastal hills, rocks, and surf - Point Lobos, California.

I think I'm guilty of trying to squeeze every last possible photograph out of my late November shoot at Point Lobos, but what else is one to do? ;-) This one again shows the atmospheric recession of the coastal fog and mist between the shoreline rocks at Point Lobos and the ridges of the shoreline mountains of this northernmost part of Big Sur.

This is another in the series of photographs shot on this morning using the 100-400mm lens - not a typical landscape/seascape lens to say the least. Oddly enough, that was the only lens I shot with during this visit to Point Lobos.

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

Receding Rock Patterns

nobody@flickr.com (G Dan Mitchell) — Mon, 08 Dec 2008 21:45:02 -0800

G Dan Mitchell posted a photo:

Receding Rock Patterns. Point Lobos, California. November 30, 2008. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell - all rights reserved. (larger)

Black and white photograph of layers or receding rock patterns in fog and mist at Point Lobos State Reserve, California.

I liked this small scene with many layers of rocks receding into the fog, then the bay with "Bird Island" on the other side of the water, and very faintly beyond that the forest covered hills of Carmel Highlands.

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

Wave, Surf, and Rocks

nobody@flickr.com (G Dan Mitchell) — Sun, 07 Dec 2008 21:15:50 -0800

G Dan Mitchell posted a photo:

Wave, Surf, and Rocks. Point Lobos State Reserve, California. November 30, 2008. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell - all rights reserved. (larger)

Winter surf crashes against the coastal rocks at Point Lobos with Carmel Highlands beyond.

This photograph was made from a bluff roughly between Weston Beach and Punta de los Lobos Marinos as the huge winter surf crashed on the rocky outcroppings along the Point Lobos coastline. The string of birds passing over the very large wave seems unaffected by the event. Portions of the Point Lobos Reserve and the Carmel Highlands are seen in through the fog and mist.

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

Winter Surf and Rocks, Point Lobos

nobody@flickr.com (G Dan Mitchell) — Sat, 06 Dec 2008 11:54:27 -0800

G Dan Mitchell posted a photo:

Winter Surf and Rocks, Point Lobos. Point Lobos State Reserve, California. November 30, 2008. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell - all rights reserved. (larger)

(I have posted a slightly updated version of this photograph on a page at my blog.)

Black and white photograph of winter surf crashing on rugged coastal rocks in backlit fog and spray at Point Lobos, California.

I never get tired of watching and photographing these rugged rock formations as they are overrun by huge winter surf at Point Lobos - and, for that matter, just about anywhere else along the central and northern California coast. If you look closely you can just make out the forest covered hills of the Carmel Highlands area in the upper left corner.

This is another of the "long lens landscapes" I shot last weekend using the 100-400mm lens, in this case at about 180mm. I shot almost straight into the sun, which was brightly backlighting the fog and spray.

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

Folds and Gullies, Zabriskie Point

nobody@flickr.com (G Dan Mitchell) — Thu, 04 Dec 2008 20:31:26 -0800

G Dan Mitchell posted a photo:

Folds and Gullies, Zabriskie Point. Death Valley National Park, California. April 4, 2008. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell - all rights reserved. (larger)

Pastel colors of folds and gullies at Zabriskie Point in early morning light, Death Valley National Park, California.

Another in my 2008 series of photographs of the tortuously folded formations below Zabriskie Point in Death Valley National Park. The colors in this photograph are more muted than in some of the others, partially due to the early light but also due to (if I recall correctly) a bit of high overcast. And, to be frank, photographers often boot the contrast and saturation quite a bit in their photographs of this area - so I thought I'd try a natural approach here that shows the pastel shades.

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

Three Birds and Rocks

nobody@flickr.com (G Dan Mitchell) — Wed, 03 Dec 2008 17:11:53 -0800

G Dan Mitchell posted a photo:

Three Birds and Rocks. Point Lobos, California. November 30, 2008. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell - all rights reserved. (larger)

Black and white photograph of three birds on rugged rocks with winter surf beyond - Point Lobos, California.

Another photograph from my brief excursion to Point Lobos last weekend, on a morning of very high winter surf and backlit fog. Three small birds perch on rugged coastal rocks with the churning coastal waters beyond.

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

Gull on Rock

nobody@flickr.com (G Dan Mitchell) — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 22:16:04 -0800

G Dan Mitchell posted a photo:

Gull on Rock. Point Lobos, California. November 30, 2008. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell - all rights reserved. (larger

A gull rests on the point of a shoreline rock at Point Lobos, California.

I thought I was finished shooting for the day and I was hiking back to my car to head home when I walked past this gull. It obligingly stood on this picturesque pillar of conglomerate rock for at least 15 minutes, as if posing for me - so I could hardly pass up the opportunity to stop and photograph.

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

Punta de los Lobos Marinos

nobody@flickr.com (G Dan Mitchell) — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 21:47:38 -0800

G Dan Mitchell posted a photo:

Punta de los Lobos Marinos. Point Lobos, California. November 30, 2008. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell - all rights reserved. (larger)

Black and white photograph of winter surf at Punta de los Lobos Marinos, Point Lobos, California.

This photograph was made this past weekend, on a morning when giant surf was rolling into the central California coast, and at times overtopping the offshore rocks of the Punta de los Lobos Marinos at Point Lobos, south of Carmel, California. The is a very long daytime exposure, made possible by using a 9-stop ND filter on a very long lens.

Regarding that, some interesting - and unusual for landscape, I think - technical details. Used a Canon 5D with the 100-400mm lens at 365mm and f/22. (I didn't worry much about the diffraction blur since blur is sort of the point. ;-) Exposure time was 20 seconds.

For a variety of reasons, I think that this is one of the best places in California to watch the impressive winter surf close up. This peninsula of rocks extends a good distance into the coastal waters and takes the full force of the incoming swell.

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

Fog and Surf, Point Lobos

nobody@flickr.com (G Dan Mitchell) — Sun, 30 Nov 2008 20:57:43 -0800

G Dan Mitchell posted a photo:

Fog and Surf, Point Lobos. Point Lobos State Reserve, California. November 30, 2008. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell - all rights reserved. (larger)

Black and white photograph of winter surf, fog, and coastal hills at Point Lobos, California.

When I heard that there would be huge surf along the coast today I headed straight for the Monterey Peninsula and Point Lobos. I was not disappointed! The first - for me at least - winter surf of the year brought huge offshore swells that crashed against and over the rocky shoreline at Point Lobos. A light coastal fog, augmented by spray from the surf, completed the picture.

I used a 9-stop neutral density filter and a polarizing filter on a long focal length lens so that I could get a very long exposure that would allow the waves and surf to diffuse to produce the misty effect you see here.

Obviously, our eyes don't get to make 10 second exposures during the daylight! I think of a photograph like this one as being "subjectively accurate" rather than objectively accurate. In other words, while this exact image can't exist in our real world experience, I think it evokes something about our response to such a scene that is true.

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

Autumn Tree, Morning Light

nobody@flickr.com (G Dan Mitchell) — Sun, 30 Nov 2008 16:30:23 -0800

G Dan Mitchell posted a photo:

Autumn Tree, Morning Light. Calero Hills, California. November 22, 2008. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell - all rights reserved. (larger)

A singe leafless tree on a grassy hillside in morning light - Calero Hills, California.

A week ago I spent the morning at one of my favorite nearby locations, the oak and grassland hills of Calero Park south of San Jose, California. This is a place I visit frequently. On this trip I did something a bit different. Although I tend to shoot more with wide angle to normal focal length lenses, on this morning I went out with the 100-400mm zoom attached to my camera. Initially this was because I hoped to photograph an egret that often hangs out at a pond I would pass early on the hike, but as I continued I decided to find out what I could "see" with this different lens.

This is a subtle photograph - and I'm afraid that the details in the branches of the tree that make it work at a larger size are not really visible here. The photo was shot at 400mm - yes a 400mm landscape photo! The long lens produced a very narrow depth of field so - in the print at least - both foreground and background are thrown a bit out of focus, accentuating the sharp shapes of the small side-lit branches on the tree.

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 | Twitter | Friendfeed | Facebook | Facebook Fan Page | Email

Oak Branches and Rain, Yosemite Valley

nobody@flickr.com (G Dan Mitchell) — Fri, 28 Nov 2008 11:26:44 -0800

G Dan Mitchell posted a photo:

Oak Branches and Rain, Yosemite Valley. Yosemite National Park, California. November 2, 2008. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell - all rights reserved. (larger)

Colorful fall foliage on branches of a Yosemite Valley oak tree with walls of the valley seen faintly though rain.

This tree is an often photographed landmark in the meadow just to the north of Curry Village and along the roadway to the campgrounds in upper Yosemite Valley. I stopped here initially to photograph the tree with Yosemite Falls very faintly visible through the rain and mist beyond. Finishing that, I decided to try a few detail photograph of the tree itself. Here the upper edge of the Valley walls are just barely visible through the light rain.

I think this will be the last - at least for awhile - in the long series of photographs from my early November rainy weekend in Yosemite Valley earlier this year.

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

Autumn Oak Grove, El Capitan Meadow

nobody@flickr.com (G Dan Mitchell) — Thu, 27 Nov 2008 11:00:58 -0800

G Dan Mitchell posted a photo:

Autumn Oak Grove, El Capitan Meadow. Yosemite Valley, California. November 2. 2008. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell - all rights reserved. (larger)

Autumn colors come to the oak groves in El Capitan Meadow with Cathedral Rocks in the distance - Yosemite Valley, California.

I think I hit this meadow at pretty much the peak of the fall color this year when I visited during the first week of November. The light rain that was falling also helped saturate the colors. El Capitan Meadow is near the base of El Capitan and is full of beautiful, large oak trees and meadow grasses and plants. Beyond the edge of the meadow the lower face of Cathedral Rocks (on the south side of the Valley, opposite El Capitan) is visible.

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

Folds and Gullies in Morning Light, Zabriskie Point

nobody@flickr.com (G Dan Mitchell) — Sun, 23 Nov 2008 21:12:47 -0800

G Dan Mitchell posted a photo:

Folds and Gullies in Morning Light, Zabriskie Point. Death Valley National Park, California. April 2, 2007. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell - all rights reserved. (larger)

Early morning light illuminates complex folds and gullies at Zabriskie Point, Death Valley National Park, California.

I was reminded of these photographs recently when I read a discussion thread on photographing the amazing formations at Zabriskie Point in Death Valley National Park, and I went back to look through some of my images from a previous trip that I had not reviewed recently.

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