Tag Archives: bloom

Photographs: Nature

Fallen Flower

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Fallen Flower
A fallen flower rests lies on a bed of old leaves and sticks.

Fallen Flower. © Copyright 2022 G Dan Mitchell.

A fallen flower rests lies on a bed of old leaves and sticks.

Special Note: Patty and I are presenting a Silicon Valley Open Studios event on May 21 and 22. Look us up there or contact us for more information. Come and see our prints!

As I have written previously, as I photograph one subject I often am also on the lookout for other things that might make a photograph. As we fixate on our primary subject — quite important! — we risk missing other subjects lurking in the neighborhood. The old advice was “always look behind, too” — that’s a reminder look up, look down, look over, look under, look everywhere. You will probably find something interesting.

We were at a large public garden full of spectacularly beautiful spring flower displays. I mostly photographed colorful flowers, but I also poked around a bit. Some time ago I began looking underneath the plants that provide the main show, especially in gardens like this one where interesting things fall to the ground and lie unnoticed in the soft shadows. This flower had reached a poignant stage — it retained its color and shape but had been discarded in the litter beneath the bushes where it was beginning to decay.

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

Pink Dogwood Blossom

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Pink Dogwood Blossom
A pink spring dogwood blossom.

Pink Dogwood Blossom. © Copyright 2022 G Dan Mitchell.

A pink spring dogwood blossom.

After posting a long string of recent photographs from rugged and arid desert landscapes along with a series of monochrome flower images, here’s something, well, pretty. This pink dogwood flower is not exactly a native plant here, and we photographed the subject at a large garden in the San Francisco Bay Area. (Most of the dogwood photographs in my archive are the nearly-pure white flowers found in the lower elevations of the Sierra Nevada.)

These beautiful flowers were not easy to photograph during our visit. Because the garden is a public place with ticketed access, it was mid- or late-morning by the time we got to these trees. The light was challenging — many flowers were in full sun, and even in the shady areas bright bits of sunlight fell on the scene. So I spent some time looking for flowers in the softer shadow light and then looked for angles that would place them in front of darker and neutral backgrounds.

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: Nature

Tulips

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Tulips
Close-up photography of a tulip blossom, tulip buds, and plants.

Tulips. © Copyright 2022 G Dan Mitchell.

Close-up photograph of a tulip blossom, tulip buds, and plants.

It seems that I have begun a little series of black and white flower photographs, so I’m going to run with it. Here’s another, this time featuring tulips — a background of tulip leaves and stems, a pair of buds at different stages of development, and one central flower that is just about to open.

Of course, the colors of spring flowers are the main story, and I’ve made plenty of color photographs of the subject. In fact, if you look back a bit in my post stream you may find a somewhat different take on this group of flowers done that way. But a monochromatic rendition gives me greater creative flexibility in many ways, and I think it also may let me focus on the forms of the flowers a bit more without the “distraction” of the appealing colors.

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.

Photographs: Nature

White Flower

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White Flower
The center of a white flower.

White Flower. © Copyright 2022 G Dan Mitchell.

The center of a white flower.

This photograph comes from one of our spring visits to a large formal garden in the San Francisco Bay Area. We timed our visit to coincide with the tulip bloom, but there was a lot more to see. While macro photography isn’t my main thing (which is not to say that I don’t enjoy and appreciate it), photographing flowers gives me a good excuse to break out the macro lens and get close.

To be clear, this is not remotely intended to be viewed as a “realistic” depiction of this flower. If anything, it might be about “flower-ness” — the patterns, shapes, and forms of blossoms. You are looking at the center of a larger flower, and one that was actually subtly colorful. My intention was to begin with what the “capture” gave me to work with, and then use that as a departure point for what I wanted this photograph to be.

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.

Scroll down to leave a comment or question. (Click this post’s title first if you are viewing on the home page.)

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