I’m a bit embarrassed that, as a long-time Californian, I had not thought to go to the redwoods to photograph flowers. However, Inge Fernau has and she is currently posting a wonderful series of photographs that make me think I need to get up there. Soon.
Monthly Archives: May 2008
Minor Web Site Update
The sidebar was becoming very long on this site. (Did anyone ever actually scroll down far enough to see the blogroll? ;-) To try to simplify things a bit I have moved a lot of the content from the sidebar to a series of tabs across the top of the screen. I hope it works for everyone.
I still have a longer term goal of doing a more significant site update, but that will have to wait until I have a bit more time to work on it.
Plants and Rock, Goat Rock
Plants and Rock, Goat Rock. Castle Rock State Park, California. April 19, 2008. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.
A small cluster of spring plants comes to life in a crack in Goat Rock at Castle Rock State Park in the Santa Cruz Mountains of Central California.
This is another brief change of pace from the Death Valley photographs. I hike at Castle Rock State Park (the local version – it is a common park name!) quite a bit, especially in the spring at the end of the California rainy season when the new vegetation is starting to emerge. On this day I had gone out to photograph spring foliage, but the light was not quite what I expected – overcast and rather windy rather than the hoped-for sunny spring day.
keywords: new, growth, green, leaves, leaf, stem, plant, brown, nature, rock, lichen, spring, goat rock, castle rock, state, park, california, santa cruz, mountains, usa, color, photo, photography, stock, texture
Rhyolite Bank at First Light
Rhyolite Bank at First Light. Rhyolite, Nevada. April 2, 2008. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.
My brother and I photographed these bank ruins and surrounding artifacts in the abandoned ghost town of Rhyolite, Nevada – starting before dawn and continuing for the next few hours. This photograph was made just as the first light began to illuminate the town site through high clouds. This bank building is one of the least damaged buildings in the town.
I’m fascinated by how these buildings have weathered over the past century, being situation in a very hostile environment. In some ways it is amazing that they have proven durable enough to remain partially standing, but in other ways they remind me of very ancient ruins.
keywords: rhyolite, nevada, ghost, town, building, columns, windows, doors, steps, stairs, cement, concrete, wide angle, sidewalk, desert, first, light, dawn, morning, sunrise, abandoned, ruins, walls, usa, historic, mines, mining, death valley, national park, blm, bureau of land management, scenic, travel, stock, landscape