Category Archives: Photographs: Nature

Photographs: Nature

Ivy Leaves

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Ivy Leaves
Leaves of ivy plants growing on a brick wall.

Ivy Leaves. © Copyright 2020 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Leaves of ivy plants growing on a brick wall.

The other photographer in our household, Patricia Emerson Mitchell, often focuses on small things, especially close-up and macro photographs of foliage and flowers. Most of the time we work separately, though sometimes we have an excuse to photograph together. At times her subjects and mine are found in the same places, and other times each of us may explore the other’s native territory. That is how this photograph came about.

Patty frequently visits a beautiful formal garden at a location on the San Francisco Peninsula. She goes often enough that she has a membership, and she knows the cycles so well that she can predict what will be in bloom. She went this past week for daffodils and camellias (and a few other things), and I went along. too. I believe that photographing a bit outside my comfort zone makes me a better photographer, so I was game to photograph flowers… with a macro lens. I was distracted by a brick wall where ivy grows. I have photographed it before, but the soft, shaded light seemed especially nice this time, and I love to work with the subtle tonalities of this subject in monochrome.

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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Photographs: Birds, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Wildlife

Great Egret

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Great Egret
A great egret stands in a shallow wetlands pond.

Great Egret. © Copyright 2020 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A great egret stands in a shallow wetlands pond.

Great egrets are many things. They are beautiful in flight, slow and purposeful, with a flare of wings while landing that is always graceful. They are also remarkably common, and here on the west coast you can find them almost everywhere — along freeways, at the ocean, in fields, beside creeks. They are skillful and effective hunters, quietly and intently approaching prey until, with a sudden extension of the long neck, they grab their prey.

Photographing them can be an odd experience. Sometimes a standing bird (in water like this one, or on land) may allow a close enough approach to almost fill the frame using a long lens. At other times they have strict personal boundaries and will suddenly take flight if you get too close. Often they don’t fly far away, but photographing this is awkward since one is almost photographing the bird from behind as it departs. This specimen stood still in the shallow water, and I had so much time to photograph that it was still there when I finished.

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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Links to Articles, Sales and Licensing, my Sierra Nevada Fall Color book, Contact Information.

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All media © Copyright G Dan Mitchell and others as indicated. Any use requires advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

Photographs: Nature

Narcissus Flower

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Narcissus Flower
An early season narcissus flower.

Narcissus Flower. © Copyright 2020 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

An early season narcissus flower.

While flowers, especially the sort growing in formal gardens, are not my typical subject, I enjoy photographing them from time to time for several reasons. First and foremost, they are fascinating and beautiful subjects, and by looking at them closely enough to make photographs I see them in ways that I would otherwise miss. They are also a challenge, encouraging me to think in a different visual manner than what is perhaps my native mode. In a related way, I think this expands and improves my visual flexibility and ability to see photographically.

I photographed this flower on a visit to a nearby garden with Patricia Emerson Mitchell. This kind of photography IS her native mode, so I’m more or less following along on these forays. It was still mid to late winter at this San Francisco Peninsula location, but the garden was already filled with color from daffodils.

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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Links to Articles, Sales and Licensing, my Sierra Nevada Fall Color book, Contact Information.

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All media © Copyright G Dan Mitchell and others as indicated. Any use requires advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

Photographs: Central California, Photographs: Nature

Trees, New Grass, Tule Fog

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Trees, New Grass, Tule Fog
Light filters through Central Valley tule fog along a tree-lined gravel road.

Trees, New Grass, Tule Fog. © Copyright 2020 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Light filters through Central Valley tule fog along a tree-lined gravel road.

A foggy morning like this one has distinct phases. I like them all, but this point of transition is often a favorite. Frequently the morning begins, for me at least, well before dawn as I drive down some slender two-lane road between fields, unable to see more than a hundred feed ahead. The photography often begins as the first light starts to diffuse into the fog. (It happens faster than you might expect since the tule fog layer is usually quite shallow.) After sunrise the fog will eventually clear, though it may take hours before it breaks tip enough to let light create shadows.

I made this photograph at that point — when the fog may be thick in one spot but thin in another nearby, and directional light and soft shadows begin to appear. This road could be almost anywhere in the Great Central Valley of California, though it is a particular one that I know quite well. Here I may spot geese or cranes (and perhaps cattle!) to the left and blackbirds or an occasional own in the trees to the right.

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.

Blog | About | Flickr | Facebook | Email

Links to Articles, Sales and Licensing, my Sierra Nevada Fall Color book, Contact Information.

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All media © Copyright G Dan Mitchell and others as indicated. Any use requires advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.