Photographs: Nature

Tidy Tips Flower

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Tidy Tips Flower
A spring tidy tips flower

Tidy Tips Flower. © Copyright 2019 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A spring tidy tips flower.

This photographs takes me back just a few months to this past April, when a wetter-than-normal winter produced a spectacular wildflower bloom all over California. The state’s late-winter and spring transition is always special, but in these wet years it can astound. Places that are dry and brown most of the year are magically transformed — with fields of lush grasses and wildflowers everywhere.

In early April we made a weeklong trip to some of these typically dry areas to photograph the brief display. We spent a couple of days in the hills located roughly between the coast and the Central Valley. As we headed east, into increasingly drier climates, we stopped at one remarkable valley carpeted with wildflowers, the place where I made this photograph.

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: Italy, Photographs: Night, Photographs: Travel, Photographs: Urban/Street

Summer Evening, Florence

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Summer Evening, Florence
People out on a summer evening in the narrow streets of Florence, Italy

Summer Evening, Florence © Copyright 2019 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

People out on a summer evening in the narrow streets of Florence, Italy.

For some reason I seem to be in a “black and white” frame of mind this week. Part of this is attributable, no doubt, to ongoing work preparing prints for an exhibit opening next week at Stellar Gallery in Oakhurst, California (“Arms Wide Open: Black and White Photography”). I also recently wandered back into an archive of photographs from a visit to Italy a few years ago, and again took up a thread that included night photographs made in Florence.

So here you have a black and white night photograph from that Florence, made while walking about on a warm summer evening in that town. After spending a week in the Chianti region we ended up in Florence for a few days before flying home, and we spent the time walking the narrow streets of this town, from early morning until late at night. Here a small eatery extends into the narrow street and pedestrians wander along the narrow, curved walkway.

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.

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

Photographs: Central California, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Ocean & Coast

Sea Stacks, Pacific Coast

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Sea stacks along the upper Big Sur coastline

Sea Stacks, Pacific Coast. © Copyright 2019 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Sea stacks along the upper Big Sur coastline.

California’s Pacific coastline is a sort of “home base” for me. Despite being born in landlocked Minnesota, I’ve lived within less than an hour of the coast since I was four-years-old. My childhood memories include trips to Santa Cruz, Monterey, and points north and south. One of our favorites was visiting the Point Lobos tide pools.

Many visitors to the coast come hoping to see beautiful blue sky days with warm sun. Those are not my favorite conditions — I prefer a good winter storm or the right kind of fog. But this photograph was made on one of those days back in April of this year. Following a wet winter, this was one of those glorious early-spring days when even I welcome the sunshine along this coast!

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.

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

Photographs: Coastal Redwoods, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Northern California, Photographs: Redwood National & State Parks

Starflower and Redwood Sorrel

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Starflower and Redwood Sorrel
Redwood sorrel and starflower plants growing beneath coast redwood trees.

Starflower and Redwood Sorrel. © Copyright 2019 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Redwood sorrel and starflower plants growing beneath coast redwood trees.

Let’s continue a bit longer with the redwood forest floor focus. We visited several of the components of the Redwood National And State Parks this past June on a weeklong foray coastal Northern California. (And beyond — we briefly made it some distance up the Oregon coast.) On this morning we passed a side road with an intriguing name and spontaneously decided to take it. Leaving behind a somewhat crowded area, the narrow road soon took us upwards and deeper into the forest where there were almost no other people. Finally we stopped, got out, and started walking into the forest. It was the best that these redwood forests have to offer: the giant trees, flowing water, cool air, thick greenery, and soft light.

Photographing in these places can pose some surprising challenges. I generally photograph there early or late in the day, mostly to avoid stray beams of light that can seem intently bright against the backdrop of much darker forest. In fact, the forest can be so dark that surprisingly long exposures are often required. For various reasons, this photograph required a four-second exposure! You may already be guessing that this poses yet another problem, namely that in all but the most incredibly still conditions plants move subtly if the air moves at all.

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.

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

Photographer and visual opportunist. Daily photos since 2005, plus articles, reviews, news, and ideas.