Category Archives: Photographs: Nature

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Sierra Nevada, Photographs: Yosemite

Burnt Forest – Yosemite Valley

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Burnt Forest - Yosemite Valley

Burnt Forest – Yosemite Valley. Yosemite National Park, California. November 1, 2008. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

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.

keywords: fire, burn, forest, managed, controlled, trunk, tree, branches, char, brown, blackened, yosemite, valley, national park, nature, california, usa, fall, autumn, season, sierra, nevada, stock

Photographs: Central California, Photographs: Nature

Oak Leaves and Blue Sky

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Oak Leaves and Blue Sky

Oak Leaves and Blue Sky. Calero Hills, California. November 22, 2008. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Oak branches and green leaves against a perfect blue sky, Calero Hills, California.

I was out playing with the long lens (100-400mm) yesterday when I made this photograph of overhead oak branches. Handheld at 400mm. (For those who are concerned about the sharpness of the Canon EF 100-400 L zoom… this shot could provide some reassurance. :-)

keywords: oak, tree, branch, leaf, leaves, acorn, twig, bud, blue, sky, azure, nature, foliage, plant, calero, hills, santa clara county, park, san jose, california, usa, stock, green

Photographs: Central California, Photographs: Nature

Foxtails, Autumn

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Foxtails, Autumn

Foxtails, Autumn. Calero Hills, California. November 22, 2008. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Autumn foxtails photographed near a small pond in the Calero Hills in the southern San Francisco Bay Area, California.

This morning I got up very early and headed off to one of my favorite local photography haunts, the Calero County Park south of San Jose, where I like to photograph in the oak grasslands at almost all times of the year. I arrived just as the first sunlight was arriving. There is a small pond perhaps five minutes up the trail from the parking lot, and a white egret often can be found hanging out there in the morning, so I put my 100-400mm lens on the camera and headed up the trail. I approached the lake from below, trying to move slowly and be quiet in case the egret was around. The plan was to use the long lens to shoot this bird before it spooked an took off.

As I arrived at the shoreline of the pond there was no egret. In fact there wasn’t much wildlife at all this morning. However, there was a nice row of foxtails along the fence by the shore of the pond. So, violating just about every “rule” for photographing such a subject I made a few shots. I worked handheld. With a 100-400mm zoom at 400mm. Yes, this bokeh came from a big zoom lens. :-) The background is very blurred pond-side plants and some reflections on the surface of the water.

keywords: foxtail, stem, seed, bokeh, blur, nature, plant, fall, autumn, calero, hills, santa clara county, park, san jose, california, usa, foliage, stock

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Sierra Nevada, Photographs: Yosemite

Dogwood Tree, Autumn – Yosemite Valley

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Dogwood Tree, Autumn - Yosemite Valley

Dogwood Tree, Autumn – Yosemite Valley. Yosemite National Park, California. November 2, 2008. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A Yosemite Valley dogwood tree takes on pastel autumn colors.

I’m almost embarrassed to admit that I shot this dogwood from Northside Drive in the Valley – that’s right, just pulled the car off the road, set up the tripod, and made a photograph. I had been looking for autumn dogwood trees that were set against a darker forest background and while I had found thick groves of dogwoods elsewhere, this was the best one I saw that stood apart.

keywords: dogwood, tree, leaves, leaf, autumn, fall, season, forest, pastel, color, green, pink, yellow, yosemite, valley, national park, california, usa, landscape, nature, foliage, travel, scenic, stock, sierra, nevada, mountains