California - Marin Landscapes

The San Andreas fault heads north from San Francisco, 12 miles to the south and continues on in front of the Bolinas Ridge in the distance. It moved 16 feet in 1906. As if moves, it distorts the land around it, piling up ridges on either side. Erosion has enhanced the ridges in to the rounded sharpes that you see here. A dramatic misty sunset enhanced the look of these formations even more. You can see low fog over the Pacific Ocean in the distance on the left side. Above the moist redwood forest, the currently green grassland dries out in the 7-month summer dry season.

Once per month during a full moonrise at sunset, rangers on Mt. Tamalpais, just north of San Francisco have a moonlight walk. This is the only chance to see this place at night because the park closes at sunset. It was hot, dry and windy above the cold fog. You can literally walk from the cold fog to the hot winds and back again in just a few minutes!

The wind bent the trees and grasses as the fog rolled quickly over the lower hills at Mt Tamalpais on a late spring evening. Most of the time when there is low ocean fog, the skies are clear, so seeing higher clouds in the sky is a rare event. I used a 1/2-second exposure to show a little motion in the fog and the foreground grasses. I like including motion whenever possible even if it is extra work. I had to shelter the camera and tripod with my body in order to avoid camera shake.

A strong breeze and long exposure time softened the flowing grasses and trees on Mt. Tamalpais. It also pushed the fog rapidly through the Golden Gate and into the bay this evening. I used a 1-second exposure to show lots of more motion. Here, I also had to shelter the camera and tripod with my body in order to avoid camera shake.

The sky during the summer is usually clear, so when I saw few high clouds drifting by in the weather satellite photo, I took the opportunity to go up to Mt. Tamalpais above the fog. So did a couple of other photographers on the hill to the right. They seemed so small compared to the grand scene before them, but they also became a perfect focal point for this scene. Even though they were far away, I could still hear them discussing where to stand and point the camera! I could also hear the waves crashing more than 2,000 feet below in the fog. You can see the two photographers in the 1280x1024 wallpaper file, and in the full sized tiff file, you can tell what they are wearing!

The top of Mt Tamalpais during the May-October dry season is a great place to watch the fog flow and the sun set. Hiking can become hazardous, as the dry grass is very slippery. But the views are well worth the risk! This is why California is called 'The Golden State.' Not because of the Golden Gate, or the discovery of Gold in 1949. I chose an extra short exposure to show detail in the grasses, as there was not enough wind to show lots of motion. I chose this exact location to show where the redwoods meet the grassy curve on the left and show a peek of distant hills on the right horizon.

Looking north from the Marin headlands towards Mt. Tamalpais. The fog was low, allowing the valleys to fill with fog. High clouds to the right blocked the rising sun, softening the normally harsh light. I made sure to include some interesting foreground, so the viewer feels like he or she is standing right beside the camera.

Hearing the waves break 2000 feet below the fog on the steep western slopes of Mt. Tamalpais, made me feel like I was right on the edge between the continent and the Pacific ocean. The bone-dry grass is extremely slippery during the summer months and it took quite a while to get to this spot. It would be easy to slip and slide down the mountian side about 500 feet. Despite how much color is in the sky in this photograph, I actually had to de-saturate this image in Photoshop in order to retain detail in the sky. The reds were just too intense!