Tag Archives: america

Photographs: Nature

Yellow Tulip Bud #2

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Yellow Tulip Bud #2
“Yellow Tulip Bud #2” — A yellow tulip bud on the verge of blossoming.

This may seem like an odd admission, but the way I make these flower photographs has more in common with how I do street photography than, say, landscape photography. Because the subject appears to be still, you could think that I probably carefully pick a flower, set up a tripod, analyze the light, focus, and then make the photograph. The reality is that I shoot all of these with a small handheld camera, and I rarely spend more than a minute on a flower and often less.

I think part of this is because I have a general sense of what I’m looking for beforehand. As seen here, I’m on the lookout for a flower (or flowers) with an interesting shape, a relatively flawless form, good light, and a background with some potential. I spend a lot of time looking for the right combination, and when I find it I spend less time actually making the 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” (Heyday Books) is available directly from him. Blog | Bluesky | Mastodon | Substack Notes | Flickr | Email

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

Reflected First Light, Panamint Mountains

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Reflected First Light, Panamint Mountains
“Reflected First Light, Panamint Mountains” — Shallow salt flat water reflects the first light on the Panamint Mountains.

During my late-February visit to Death Valley National Park, I spent two early mornings photographing the Panamint Mountains in the first light, with the salt flats and shallow water in the foreground. The water is not the ephemeral “Lake Manly” phenomenon that we saw in 2024. This is a slow, shallow flow of water that seems to continue all year, regardless of conditions. It is just enough water to produce these reflections.

These days I photograph almost exclusively with a full frame digital system. (Sometimes I use a smaller APS-C system, often for my street and travel photography.) I usually use a pretty straightforward set of lenses that work well for my landscape photography, but occasionally I bring out an adapted medium format zoom lens and mount it using the Mirex tilt/shift adapter — yes, movements with a zoom lens! That was pretty useful for this photograph given the low light and the extreme distance between the foreground and the distant mountains.

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. Blog | Bluesky | Mastodon | Substack Notes | Flickr | Email

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(All media © Copyright G Dan Mitchell and others.)

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

Desert Holly, Dry Wash

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Desert Holly, Dry Wash, Death Valley
“Desert Holly, Dry Wash” — A desert holly plant, either dead or dormant, in the middle of a dry wash, Death Valley.

Desert Holly must be one of the must adapted and tenacious plans in Death Valley National Park. It grows in some of the least likely spots — places where there is barely any soil, where the sun bakes the land, and where water is rare. Desert Holly plants can occasionally put out a beautiful cover of pale green leaves, but more often the plant looks dormant or dead, with many dead leaves and very dry branches.

This specimen grew in a desert wash, where water occasionally passes through this very dry area. It has to rely on fairly rare flows of water. Plants grow in much of Death Valley, but few do in this location. While a few further up the wash had green foliage, I saw only dry, desiccated leaves on this one.

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. Blog | Bluesky | Mastodon | Substack Notes | Flickr | Email

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(All media © Copyright G Dan Mitchell and others.)

Photographs: Nature

Tulip Bud and Leaves

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Tulip Bud and Leaves
“Tulip Bud and Leaves” — A spring tulip bud, just before blossoming.

This photograph is the result of something I rarely do — post the same photograph in monochrome and color versions. I shared a color version recently, but while I was working on the image in post I took a little detours and experiment with a black and white interpretation. I like both of them, though they do create different effects.

Black and white almost always has a more abstract quality to me. We know that the world is not monochromatic, so we begin to accept a wider range of interpretations as soon as we move to black and white. There’s less of the “it isn’t real!” concern with monochrome. (Not everyone realizes it, but monochrome images have historically often been the subject of extensive post-processing.) Here I think that the monochromatic version lets us focus more on the shapes and tones themselves, with less need to relate the image to something real.

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. Blog | Bluesky | Mastodon | Substack Notes | Flickr | Email

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(All media © Copyright G Dan Mitchell and others.)