Tag Archives: bloom

Dogwood Flowers and Branches – Yosemite Valley

DogwoodFlowersBranches20080427Dogwood Flowers and Branches. Yosemite National Park, California. April 27, 2008. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

I photographed these two dogwood flowers and dogwood branches in a dark and shady area of the Yosemite Valley forest last April just as the spring bloom was starting. (With the apparent intent of simplifying photographers’ lives, the tree had fallen over so that the beautiful blooms were mostly right at about waist level… :-)

keywords: California, National Park, Sierra Nevada, Spring, Yosemite, dogwood, flower, blossom, bloom, branch, forest, deep, dark, tree, nature, valley, usa, scenic, travel, stock, petal, white, two

Spring Flowers at Mirror Lake

Spring Flowers at Mirror Lake
Spring Flowers at Mirror Lake. Yosemite National Park, California. April 27, 2008. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Tiny spring flowers photographed along the shoreline of Mirror Lake in Yosemite Valley.

keywords: California, National Park, Sierra Nevada, Spring, Yosemite, usa, valley, mirror lake, nature, flower, plant, blossom, bloom, leaf, hike, macro, pink, maroon, green, stock

Dogwood Blossom – Yosemite Valley

Dogwood Blossom - Yosemite Valley
Dogwood Blossom – Yosemite Valley. Yosemite National Park, California. April 27, 2008 © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

On my first “One Day Yosemite Valley Blitz” of the season I drove up the Valley for a day of photography on April 27. The dogwood trees were just starting to bloom and although most were still far from their peak I did find a few wonderful blossoms including this one on a fallen tree near the east end of the Valley.

The blossoming of the dogwoods is one of the major attractions of the spring season for many Yosemite aficionados, almost rivaling the spring waterfalls. They may start in late April and continue on into May, though the timing can vary quite a bit depending on the precise location and elevation of the trees.

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Purple Wildflowers

Purple Wildflowers
Purple Wildflowers. Grant Ranch County Park, California. April 20, 2008. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Spring purple wildflowers photographed in the grasslands of Grant Ranch County Park east of San Jose, California.

I’m told that these are Vicia villosa or winter vetch. All I know for certain is that the hillside was covered with these beautiful small flowers, and that I had to get down very low on the ground to photograph them. :-)

For those interested in photo equipment issues, this photo is evidence, I think, that you can get decent out of focus background bokeh from the Canon 24-105mm f/4 L.

keywords: purple, wildflowers, wild, flowers, grant ranch, santa clara, county, park, joseph, green, leaf, grass, stem, bloom, blossom, spring, nature, stock, california, usa, photo, photography, Vicia villosa, winter vetch