“Chinese Houses Flowers” — Purple Chinese houses wildflowers in the San Francisco Bay Area.
I have often wondered about the popular name of these “Chinese houses” flowers — what the connection could possibly be with houses from China. Regardless, they are among the spring wildflowers that grow in the oak forests and grasslands around the San Francisco Bay Area, including a trail through a park south of San Jose where I photographed these specimens.
Some flowers are pretty easy to photograph — they are colorful and have shapes that are easy to photograph. (Close-ups of some flowers are tricky due to the narrow depth of field at short distances.) I’ve never found the Chinese houses easy to photograph. It is difficult to find a plant on which all of the buds are in this colorful stage — usually some are not open or already turning brown. The plant often grows low to the ground among other distracting elements. Bright sun can create dark shadows and wash out details. So I was pleased to find this group in an areas of soft, shaded light and to find all of the flowers open and colorful.
“Light and Dark” — A canyon wall lit by reflected sunlight is seen through a dark section of canyon narrows, Death Valley.
Having photographed in the red rock canyons of Utah, I suspect that I have a bias toward that sort of beautiful, warm-toned landscape. In Death Valley I often look for, and enjoy finding, canyons with similar smooth surfaces… though that Utah red rock isn’t something you’ll see very much here. The narrow canyon in this photograph is perhaps more typical of the Death Valley landscape, with much rougher and more angular rocks.
I have written frequently about how wonderful canyon light is and how much it contrasts with the harsh and brilliant light of the desert landscape outside the canyons. In the deepest and narrowest sections the shadowed light becomes quite blue since the blue of the sky that is the main source of illumination. In this photograph we see the contrast between those blue foreground shadows and the warmer colors of the more distant canyon wall that is more open to the light.
“Red and White Boat, Adriatic Sea” — A red and white boat sails on the quiet Adriatic Sea past Dubrovnik, Croatia.
Looking at this scene, you would probably never guess where I was when I photographed it. It seems like a quiet, isolated place along the ocean shore. Truth be told, I was walking along the top of the wall around the historic city of Dubrovnik, Croatia very close to sunset. While it was fairly quiet there, it most certainly was not isolated!
I’m a fan of long views of the empty or nearly-empty ocean. I’m not quite certain why that is, though the ocean represents a sort of infinite unknown frontier for most of us. There’s something “out there” that we are unlikely to experience, a place of mystery. Here it is enhanced by the soft light and haze of the summer Adriatic as this boat passes by.
“Passing Storm, Split, Croatia” — A summer storm passes over Split, Croatia.
While staying in Trogir, Croatia, a ways up the coast from Split, we went for a long, looping drive into the mountains and to some rural, agricultural country. Our main objective was an olive-growing area where we stopped in the middle of the day. After that we continued on a route that would take us closer to Split on our return to Trogir.
As we topped the ridge to the east of the town we came to the Klis Fortress — as I understand it, historically this remarkable ridge-top structure guarded the pass that provided access to Split. As we explored the place the weather began to deteriorate, and before long we were running for cover as strong rain showers passed over. This view looks out over Split towards the passing storm.
Photographer and visual opportunist. Daily photos since 2005, plus articles, reviews, news, and ideas.
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