Tag Archives: blossom

Photographs: Nature

Blue Dicks Flower

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Blue Dicks Flower
A spring blue dicks wildflower in bloom.

Blue Dicks Flower. © Copyright 2023 G Dan Mitchell.

A spring blue dicks wildflower in bloom.

The blue dicks flowers are ubiquitous around here in the springtime, often growing in or at the edge of grasslands. It is an attractive flower (or group of flowers, more likely) waving at the top of a long, slender stalk. I look forward to their appearance every year, and I always end up making a few new photographs of them — despite the fact that the long stem makes them move in the slightest breeze, making photography a challenge.

The obvious question, of course, is “Where did that name come from?” I wondered for quite a while, too. According to one source, “he least suggestive explanation is that “dick” is a shortened form of the genus name Dichelostemma.” There are some other, potentially racier, explanations, but I think I’ll stick with 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” is available from Heyday Books, Amazon, and directly from G Dan Mitchell.

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Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Southern California

Spring Fiddleneck Flowers

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Spring Fiddleneck Flowers
Spring fiddleneck flowers, California grasslands.

Spring Fiddleneck Flowers. © Copyright 2023 G Dan Mitchell.

Spring fiddleneck flowers, California grasslands.

The photograph comes from Carrizo Plain National Monument, but it could be anywhere across a wide range of California locations this time of year. Beginning in late winter and extending into early spring, California enters what I call the “impossibly green season.” While much of the state can be brown and dry most of the year, colors near the ned of the wet season are amazing — in the best years and in the right places the wildflower displays are astonishing.

I was actually more in landscape photographer mode on this afternoon, focusing on long views across flower-carpeted valleys toward distant mountains, as sunlight and passing showers moved over the area. But this photograph goes in a different direction, focusing up close on these flowers and intentionally blurring the background.

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: Agriculture, Photographs: Central California, Photographs: Nature

Orchard, Morning Fog

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Orchard, Morning Fog
Morning fog begins to form about a Central Valley orchard.

Orchard, Morning Fog. © Copyright 2023 G Dan Mitchell.

Morning fog begins to form about a Central Valley orchard.

While I think this may be just about the last photograph to emerge from this season’s trips to photograph migratory birds, there’s always a chance that I’ll return to the file archive and find another. During this early March trip to California’s Central Valley the birds were more widely dispersed than usual, and I found myself looking for other subjects late in the morning. That took me to nearby agricultural country and the Valley’s immense orchards.

I saw this orchard in the distance as I drove down a (sort of) main road, so I found a turn-off onto a beaten-up old side road that took me that direction. A fog bank was developing as I approached, and it dramatically darkened the sky beyond the trees full of white blossoms.

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 | Twitter | 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

Flowering Maple

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Flowering Maple
Macro photograph of the center of a colorful flowering maple blossom..

Flowering Maple. © Copyright 2023 G Dan Mitchell.

Macro photograph of the center of a colorful flowering maple blossom..

This photograph definitely required me to put away the usual lens and replace it with a real macro lens — the camera position is “up close and personal” with the internals of this flowering maple blossom. Looking at the whole flower you would see a red bloom, but the internal structure includes some other colors — this yellow-gold and the interesting five-lobed green pattern inside the base of the flower.

I’m always challenged by this subject. I have some of general sense of what I want to see in flower photographs that I make, but it often isn’t quite clear how to find/create that. So, in a manner that might seem a bit like wildlife photography, I usually make several different attempts with each subject, looking for the one that speaks to me.

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 | Twitter | 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.