G Dan Mitchell Photography

Happy New Year to everyone – and may this be a year of wonderful photography for you! (My 2009 Favorites are posted.)

G Dan Mitchell :: Dec.31.2009 :: Commentary :: No Comments »

Beach Walker, Evening, Waddell Creek Beach

Beach Walker, Evening, Waddell Creek Beach. Waddell Beach, Big Basin State Park, California. December 20, 2009. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A solitary beach walker at sunset approaches a flock of gulls at Waddell Creek Beach with clouds reflected in foreground pond.

This seemed like a good “last day of the year” photograph.

Just as the sun dropped to the horizon a lone beach walker came across this strand between this reflecting pond and the surf beyond and approached a flock of sea gulls. If I look at this photograph just right I can imagine that it is wholly a photograph of sky with a narrow “beach bridge” crossing through the middle.

This is one of a short sequence of photographs I made on this evening. I had spent the entire afternoon more or less looking for the right photographic subjects and had come up with nothing. I had just made what I figured would be my last stop for the day at the “official” beachfront parking lot at Waddell Beach. I got out, looked around, enjoyed the wind and sound of surf, but didn’t see anything that quite inspired me to take out the camera. I got back in the car, turned south on Highway 1… and a few seconds later as I crossed the bridge over the creek I saw the pool reflecting the sky. I quickly turned around and parked the car and made a few exposures in the fading light.

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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G Dan Mitchell :: Dec.31.2009 :: Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Northern California, Photographs: Ocean :: 2 Comments »

San Francisco Skyline, Winter Fog and Haze

San Francisco Skyline, Winter Fog and Haze. San Francisco, California. December 18, 2009. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Fog and haze obscure the winter skyline of downtown San Francisco, California.

Almost obscured by morning haze and fog, the San Francisco skyline is silhouetted against the backdrop of the morning light coming over east bay hills. This photograph was made from a vantage point in the Marin Headlands across the Golden Gate from the City. A number of downtown landmarks are visible including the Transamerica Pyramid, and beyond the downtown area a bit of the San Francisco Oakland Bay Bridge is barely visible.

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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keywords: california, usa, travel, scenic, san francisco, bay, area, golden, gate, national, recreation, area, park, stock, winter, season, fog, haze, cloud, skyline, building, tower, transamerica, skyscraper, urban, waterfront, shore, shoreline, silhouette, hill, valley, atmospheric, recession, landscape, bay, water, bridge, stock

G Dan Mitchell :: Dec.30.2009 :: Photographs: Northern California, Photographs: San Francisco, Photographs: Urban/Street :: No Comments »

Golden Gate Bridge Tower, Transamerica Building, San Francisco Skyline

Golden Gate Bridge Tower, Transamerica Building, San Francisco Skyline. San Francisco, California. December 18, 2009. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

The Transamerica Pyramid above the downtown San Francisco skyline and centered in the north tower of the Golden Gate Bridge on a hazy winter morning.

This is, again, from the iconic location high in the Marin Headlands where the Transamerica Pyramid lines up precisely in the center of the upper portion of the north tower of the Golden Gate Bridge. While this is certainly not an original view of San Francisco skyline, the effect of the thin winter fog is perhaps a bit different from what is usually seen from here. (This fog is related to the tule fog that forms on very cold mornings in the valleys of California. On this morning it was very thick further inland in the Central Valley and delta and some of that moisture was probably responsible for the conditions seen here over San Francisco.)

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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keywords: california, usa, travel, scenic, san francisco, bay, area, golden, gate, national, recreation, area, park, stock, transamerica, pyramid, tower, skyline, downtown, urban, hill, mountain, haze, fog, cloud, atmospheric, recession, silhouette, cable, bridge, north, bay, landscape, marin, county, headlands, shoreline, shore, morning, light

G Dan Mitchell :: Dec.29.2009 :: Photographs: Northern California, Photographs: San Francisco, Photographs: Structures :: 3 Comments »

Fetid Adder's Tongue

Fetid Adder’s Tongue. Muir Woods National Monument, California. December 18, 2009. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Fetid Adder’s Tongue flower at Muir Woods National Monument, California.

I never would have guessed a week or two ago that there would be a post at my blog entitled “Fetid Adder’s Tongue” before the end of the year. Regardless of the photographic quality of the post, I could not pass up the opportunity for a post with this title!

I was walking along the main trail to Cathedral Grove at Muir Woods when I spotted a very excited looking couple bending down and looking very intently at what appeared to be a patch of empty ground with a bit of moss. As I got closer they pointed out this flower – I never would have spotted it otherwise, and I’m fairly observant about such things. It is small – perhaps two or three inches tall – and much harder to see that it seems in my photograph, where the blurred background lets it stand out a bit. From what they told me it is one of the first flowers to emerge after the rainy season begins. After finding this one we looked around a bit and found quite a few more in the nearby area.

I was back at Muir Woods a few days later and looked for this plant again, but the flowers had almost completely shriveled away. Apparently this is not a long-lived flower! I did find several other examples nearby, including a few plants that were just coming up from under the ground.

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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keywords: california, usa, travel, scenic, san francisco, bay, area, golden, gate, national, recreation, area, park, stock, Fetid Adder’s Tongues, Slink Pods, Scoliopus bigelovii, flower, wildflower, plant, nature, muir, woods, monument, marin, county, winter, fall, season, foliage,

G Dan Mitchell :: Dec.28.2009 :: Photographs: Coastal Redwoods, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Northern California :: No Comments »

Sutro Tower and Golden Gate Bridge South Tower, Morning

Sutro Tower and Golden Gate Bridge South Tower, Morning. San Francisco, California. December 18, 2009. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Morning traffic crosses the Golden Gate Bridge approaching the south tower with haze-shrouded San Francisco hills and Sutro Tower beyond.

I’ve played around with photographs of the south end of the Golden Gate Bridge from this iconic location above the north end of the Bridge before, including some night photography, but I’ve never quite been happy with the composition. On this morning I got lucky with the thin fog muting the colors and creating atmospheric recession into the distant hills and the warm morning light on the upper surface of the bridge. In addition I tried a different composition – instead of trying to fit the whole bridge into the frame I centered the photo on the curve of the distant ridge and then selected a focal length that included a bit of water, a bit of the area to the right of the bridge, and a good portion of the span with just enough morning traffic. The distant structure is Sutro Tower, the site of a number of San Francisco radio and television broadcast antennas.

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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keywords: california, usa, travel, scenic, san francisco, bay, area, golden, gate, national, recreation, area, park, stock, sutro, south, tower, cable, suspension, bridge, traffic, cars, morning, haze, fog, distance, hills, trees, water, waves, highway, 101, 1, clouds, atmosphere, recession, silhouette, urban, landscape, commute, span, shore, fort, mason, stock

G Dan Mitchell :: Dec.27.2009 :: Photographs: Northern California, Photographs: San Francisco, Photographs: Structures :: No Comments »

As is the tradition, I have posted my page of Favorite Photographs of 2009 – perhaps erring on the side of posting too many images, but I’m not feeling like a careful editor today.

Enjoy!

G Dan Mitchell :: Dec.26.2009 :: Commentary :: No Comments »