Tag Archives: america

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Ocean & Coast, Photographs: Pacific Northwest

Stream and Islands, Mile 337

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Stream and Islands, Mile 337
A stream crosses the sand to enter the Pacific Ocean among immense shoreline rocks and island and their reflections, Oregon coastline.

Stream and Islands, Mile 337. © Copyright 2021 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A stream crosses the sand to enter the Pacific Ocean among immense shoreline rocks and islands and their reflections, Oregon coastline.

Last month we spent time in far Northern California photographing redwood forests and coastal subjects. Several things inevitably happen on these visits. One is that we always remark how this area feels more like Oregon than California. Another is that we often head up to and across the Oregon border. On the most recent trip we took a drive to the north one evening, but we mostly explored areas just south of the stateliness and when we reached the boundary we turned around. But this photograph comes from a previous trip on which one of these “short drives” took us a good distance up the Oregon coast.

This is a striking spot along that Oregon coastline — and it was even more appealing since there were a couple of people riding horses on this beach when we passed by. (They are not seen in this photograph… in case you were looking for them.) Like so many of these beautiful spots, this one is not marked as any sort of icon, and I did not know its name or even if it has one… so I made a photograph of milepost 337 when I finished photographing to help me remember.

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, Amazon, and directly from G Dan Mitchell.

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Photographs: Nature

Bluedicks Flower

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Bluedicks Flower
Springtime bluedicks flower in the Central California oak-grasslands.

Bluedicks Flower. © Copyright 2021 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Springtime bluedicks flower in the Central California oak-grasslands.

This is a surprisingly common wildflower in my part of California, and in the springtime I frequently run into them all around the Bay Area on hikes, typically in warmer and sunnier areas. The flowers are striking — the cluster sits on the end of a long, slender step, and the colors can stand out against the other foliage. Technically, I suppose that I should tie “flowers” rather than “flower” here, since it is a cluster of smaller individual flowers. The unusual name apparently comes from a shorthand for the Latin name of the plant, though I have recently been told that the plant has been reclassified and that it should now be “blue dips.”

Although I like to travel to do my outdoor photography, I also spend a lot of time in the field not far from where I live in the San Francisco Bay Area, often hiking some of the nearby trails. (In fact, I’ve been doing more of that recently as I try to work myself into condition for an upcoming backcountry trip by hiking hilly routes. It gets harder every year!) Although I had hiked the trails where I photographed this specimen, I had not really paid enough attention to the wildflowers there until recently… when I discovered several large populations of this flower.

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, Amazon, and directly from G Dan Mitchell.

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

Dusk Clouds, Pacific Ocean

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Dusk Clouds, Pacific Ocean
Colorful dusk sky and clouds along the Nothern California coast at Crescent City.

Dusk Clouds, Pacific Ocean. © Copyright 2021 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Colorful dusk sky and clouds along the Nothern California coast at Crescent City.

This was an evening of beautiful light, a surprise or two, and at least one missed opportunity that will be hard to find again. We were along the far northern coast of California, primarily to photograph late-spring redwood forest subjects… but it is hard to ignore the Pacific Ocean when it is right next door! In the evening we headed to a nearby coastal area with rocky islands and seas stacks and an open view of the western horizon. — and there were clouds to catch the last colorful light. I photographed right through sunset, until the light was becoming quite dim.

That last point — “photographed right though sunset” — is important. The light show doesn’t necessarily end with the sun drops below the horizon. In fact, some of the most astonishing light often comes quite a bit later as the colors deepen and begin to change from warm sunset tones to the bluer tones of night. The sun was gone in my location, but somewhere far to the west it was reflecting upwards to illuminate the clouds from below, coloring thin clouds and wispy bits of virga.

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, Amazon, and directly from G Dan Mitchell.

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

Redwood Forest Floor Foliage

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Redwood Forest Floor Foliage
Broadleaf starflower and redwood sorrel in the deep shade of a Northern California redwood forest.

Redwood Forest Floor Foliage. © Copyright 2021 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Broadleaf starflower and redwood sorrel in the deep shade of a Northern California redwood forest.

There is a route in Redwood National Park that surprises me — because there is hardly ever anyone there, even though it dead-ends in a beautiful forest of old growth trees near an intersection of several trails, in a place with many interesting things to see. I visit the spot every time I go there. Perhaps the small number of visitors is due to a lack of named icons, the out of the way location, and not a whole lot of publicity. My first visit was an accident — a moment of “I wonder what is up that way?”

The last time I was there it was midday, not necessarily the ideal time to photograph in the forest. The redwood forest is often quite a dark place, and little sun manages to find an angling path through the trees to reach the ground. But in the middle of the day the sun does make it to the forest floor, and the great contrasts between shadow and light are a challenge. On this visit there were scattered clouds passing above the forest, so I found my compositions and then waited patiently, eyeing the sky for the next cloud that might soften the light.

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, Amazon, and directly from G Dan Mitchell.

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.