Tag Archives: bloom

Photographs: Central California, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Northern California

White Globe Lily Flower and Grasses

1 Comment
Chinese Lantern Flower and Grasses
White Globe Lily Flower and Grasses

White Globe Lily and Grasses. Almaden Quicksilver County Park, California. April 10, 2010. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A spring white globe lily flower blossoms among the seeds of new grass, Almaden Quicksilver County Park, California.

I’m posting this as a brief interlude in the steady stream of photographs from my late March visit to Death Valley. This photograph was obviously not made in Death Valley. (Yes, there are flowers there. No, not this one!)

Weather frustrated some of my photographic plans on the day that I made this photograph, so late in the day I decided to at least head out briefly and try to photograph some of the spring wildflowers that are blooming right now at one of my favorite local parks. There is a small valley not far from a trailhead at Almaden Quicksilver County Park that I know very well – I photograph there every spring when many, many wildflowers appear. For this little adventure I decided to go very light, taking only a camera body, one extension tube, and a 24-105mm zoom lens and planning to shoot hand held.

The sun was out when I left my home, but within five minutes it started raining! I was starting to think that photography just wasn’t going to be in the cards at all on this day, but I decided to keep driving anyway. The rain increased. The clouds above the hills where I was headed looked quite dark. But as I got closer I saw that this little shower was going to pass over and head to the east, and when I arrived there was broken sun.

I quickly walked to the small valley mentioned above, noticing the wonderfully green foliage in this area that is brown and dry during most of the year. As I started down the trail into the Valley I had a pretty good idea of what flowers to expect and where to look for them, since I know this spot very well. Thinking that it was still a bit early for these white globe lily flowers to be out, I looked for the plants instead, thinking that I’d be able to return later when the flowers were in bloom. But lower in the canyon I was surprised to find some of the flowers were already out and in bloom, including this specimen growing in a grassy area.

This photograph is not in the public domain and may not be used on websites, blogs, or in other media without advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

G Dan Mitchell Photography | Twitter | Friendfeed | Facebook | Facebook Fan Page | Email

Technical Data:
Canon EOS 5D Mark II
Canon EF 24-105mm f/4 L IS USM (with extension tube) at 70mm
ISO 400, f/8, 1/100 second

keywords: chinese, lantern, flower, bud, blossom, bloom, plant, nature, grass, green, growth, new, leaf, san jose, santa clara, county, california, usa, north america, spring, white, almaden, quicksilver, park, stock

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Sierra Nevada

Indian Paintbrush Flowers, Near Sailor Lake

Leave a comment
Indian Paintbrush Flowers, Near Sailor Lake

Indian Paintbrush Flowers, Near Sailor Lake. John Muir Wilderness, Sierra Nevada, California. August 7, 2009. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Alpine Indian Paintbrush flowers in a wet meadow near Sailor Lake in the Sabrina Basin, John Muir Wilderness, Sierra Nevada.

On my evening photo-walk back up into the area above Topsy Turvy Lake in the upper Sabrina Basin I came upon many, many meadow areas filled with dense growth of wildflowers. I photographed these indian paintbrush flowers, growing on the edge of a small pond, as the light began to diminish.

This photograph is not in the public domain. It may not be used on websites, blogs, or in any other media without explicit advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

keywords: castilleja, indian, paintbrush, flora, plant, flower, wildflower, alpine, meadow, sierra, nevada, sabrina, basin, sailor, moonlight, topsy, turvy, lake, trail, camp, backpack, hike, bokeh, three, nature, bud, bloom, blossom, leaf, purple, pink, stock

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Sierra Nevada, Photographs: Yosemite

Spring Azaleas, El Capitan Meadow

Leave a comment
Spring Azaleas, El Capitan Meadow

Spring Azaleas, El Capitan Meadow. Yosemite Valley, California. June 6, 2009. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Spring azalea blossoms beneath the black oaks in El Capitan Meadow, Yosemite Valley.

I found these white azaleas growing beneath the black oaks in El Capitan Meadow during my early June visit to the Valley. I photographed these same flowers last year during the fall when the flowers were long gone and the leaves were turning gaudy shades of red and yellow and eventually brown.

This photograph is not in the public domain. It may not be used on websites, blogs, or in any other media without explicit advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

G Dan Mitchell Photography

keywords: azalea, blossom, bloom, flower, plant, leaf, green, el capitan, cap, meadow, black, oak, tree, grass, yosemite, valley, national, park, spring, season, landscape, nature, travel, scenic, mountain, sierra, nevada, range, california, usa, flora, stock

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Sierra Nevada, Photographs: Yosemite

Late Season Dogwood Blossom, Rain

Leave a comment
Late Season Dogwood Blossom, Rain

Late Season Dogwood Blossom, Rain. Yosemite National Park, California. June 6, 2009. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A late season dogwood blossom along highway 120 after morning rain – Yosemite National Park, California.

As I entered Yosemite via the northern road on the first weekend in June I was certainly not expecting to still see dogwood blossoms – at least not more than a few brown stragglers – so I was very surprised and pleased to discover that one of my favorite groves along highway 120 was still full of bright white flowers. Even better, when I arrived everything was still wet from earlier rain, making the colors more intense and leaving some raindrops on flowers and leaves, and the overcast from the returning rain storm diffused the light nicely. This flower was photographed in a deeply shaded section of the forest.

This photograph is not in the public domain. It may not be used on websites, blogs, or in any other media without explicit advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

keywords: dogwood, tree, leaf, flower, blossom, bloom, bract, forest, grove, rain, shower, spring, late, season, morning, yosemite, national park, california, usa, sierra, nevada, mountains, range, white, green, wet, drop, highway, 120, foliage, nature, scenic, travel, stock