Category Archives: Photographs: Nature

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Northern California

Purple Larkspur

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Purple Larkspur
“Purple Larkspur” — Purple larkspur flowers, blooming in Northern California.

Recently I wrote — again! — about returning to unremarkable “special places” that probably don’t have any meaning to anyone but me. This photograph comes from one that I mentioned, a trail through a small ravine at a nearby country park. Every spring I go there to visit spots where I can photograph a few favorite wildflowers, including a particular little area where these Larkspur flowers bloom.

They are odd flowers, not like so many of the other popular spring wildflowers. Their color is dark, sometimes so dark that is is quite difficult to photograph them. (I try to find them when they are still in the shadows, and the soft light helps reveal details.) Because of the way they grow from a central stem, it can be challenging to make a composition out of them, much less get a plane of focus that lines up ideally with their dense details.

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” (Heyday Books) is available directly from him.

G Dan Mitchell: Blog | Bluesky | Mastodon | Substack Notes | Flickr | Email


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

Photographs: Death Valley, Photographs: Desert, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Southern California

First Light, Panamint Mountains

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First Light, Panamint Mountains, Death Valley
“First Light, Panamint Mountains” — The first sunrise light on Rogers Peak and the Panamint Mountains, Death Valley National Park.

How many times have I watched for this first light as it touches the peaks and ridges of the Panamint Mountains before working its way down to the floor of Death Valley? I have no idea, but I’ve been going there for something like 25 years now, so it must be quite a few times! It never gets old.

The highest point in this photograph is snow-capped Rogers Peak. The highest summit in the park, Telescope Peak, is just out of sight to the left. Surprisingly, there are communications facilities on top of Rogers Peak, and in a higher resolution version of this photograph you can see the towers on the very summit.

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” (Heyday Books) is available directly from him.

G Dan Mitchell: Blog | Bluesky | Mastodon | Substack Notes | Flickr | Email


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

Photographs: Nature

California Buttercup

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California Buttercup
“California Buttercup” — A California buttercup spring wildflower, Almaden Quicksilver Park.

Previously I have mentioned my habit of returning to seemingly unremarkable places that are special to me — perhaps a particular rock in the Yosemite high country, a certain tree in the Central Valley, an overlook along the Big Sur coast, one small Eastern Sierra aspen grove, and so on. If you visited these places (at the right times) you might think, “Well, yes, that is nice — but it isn’t iconic.” And you would be right. They are not iconic — they are just special to me. This flower photograph comes from one of those places.

There is a park in the South San Francisco Bay Area where I have hiked for decades. Over the years I’ve probably walked pretty much every trail within its boundaries. One trail descends into a small, shady gully where wildflowers grow in April. I go back every year, specifically to find, small plots of particular flowers. I made this photograph on my most recent walk to this place.

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” (Heyday Books) is available directly from him.

G Dan Mitchell: Blog | Bluesky | Mastodon | Substack Notes | Flickr | Email


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

Photographs: Death Valley, Photographs: Desert, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Southern California

Morning Dunes

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Morning Dunes, Death Valley
“Morning Dunes” — Death Valley sand dunes in early morning light.

On my late-February visit to Death Valley I only photographed the dunes on one morning. The dunes are a wonderful subject, but there are lots of other things to see and photograph in this park, and photographing those subjects didn’t leave me much time for the dunes. But it would seem wrong not to visit them at least once! I arrived well before sunrise, loaded up a pack, and walked out in the dim pre-dawn light to look for a good spot to use as a my vantage point.

Eventually I climbed to the top of a long dune that provided open views in almost every direction. There are lots of ways to photograph dunes, but on this morning I went with a very long telephoto that allowed me to focus in on distant subjects and still fill the frame. I noticed the overlapping curves on this tall dune as soon as I arrived, and I photographed it several times as the light transitioned from the soft, blue predawn light, through increasingly directional light as sunrise approached, to the intense light just after sunrise.

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” (Heyday Books) is available directly from him.

G Dan Mitchell: Blog | Bluesky | Mastodon | Substack Notes | Flickr | Email


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