Golden Desert Snapdragon Flowers. © Copyright 2019 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.
Golden Desert Snapdragon blooming in rocky terrain, Death Valley National Park.
Wildflower photography isn’t typically my main focus, especially in the desert. (An exception has been during one or two “super bloom” years, when there were sufficient wildflowers to make them a major part of the landscape.) However, traveling to such places with my wife, Patricia Emerson Mitchell, has made me much more aware of this component of the desert world. From watching her photograph wildflowers, often using a macro lens, I learned that there are flowers in places that I had regarded as being essentially desolate.
There are several things I like about the desert snapdragon. The very name reminds me of when I was a child, and I was intrigued by the snapdragon flowers that my mother grew in her yard. This desert version is nothing like those yard plants — it seems to pop up suddenly in the most unlikely places, pushing thick green leaves through remarkably rocky terrain and soon sending out these lovely little yellow flowers.
G Dan Mitchell is a California photographer and visual opportunist. His book, “California’s Fall Color: A Photographer’s Guide to Autumn in the Sierra” is available from Heyday Books and Amazon.
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