Tag Archives: blue

Photographs: Nature

Nightmare Plant

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Nightmare Plant
A colorful succulent plant covered with tooth-like thorns.

Nightmare Plant. © Copyright 2021 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A colorful succulent plant covered with tooth-like thorns.

OK, maybe I took some liberty with the name of this plant. I actually do not know what it is. (I’ll gladly accept identification help.) I think I photographed it during a visit to a particular botanical garden, though the details probably are not important. What is important is that… I really don’t want to run into a gigantic version of this plant in the middle of a very dark night!

Photographing plants is not my main thing, but at times I do find them very interesting — whether just because they happen to be beautiful or because they possess a strangeness that we usually overlook. In many cases they present remarkable graphical subjects, full of textures, colors, angles and more. They also are almost everywhere — so if you are thinking, “I can’t get away to make photographs…” maybe you can just look around and find something close by.

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: Northern California

Blue Dicks Flowers

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Blue Dicks Flowers
The oddly-named blue dicks flowers, which one source claims derives from a shortening of the genus name Dichelostemma.

Blue Dicks Flowers. © Copyright 2021 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

The oddly-named blue dicks flowers, which one source claims derives from a shortening of the genus name Dichelostemma.

This poor plant and its striking flower are “blessed” with a name that never ceases to provoke a chuckle or two. I’ve often wondered how the plant got that common name, and when I did a little quick searching while working on this photograph I could find only one answer — and, frankly, I don’t find it all that compelling. As per the description above, the claim is that it derives from the “Dich” in Dichelostemma, the genus name of the plant. I can sort of see that, except… my minimal background in German makes me want to pronounce that differently. On top of that, the flower isn’t really blue!

Having said all of that, it is a beautiful and graceful flower that is common in my neck of the woods and, according to sources I consulted, throughout the “southwestern United States.” The individual flowers grow in a group at the end of a long, slender stem. The location where I most often photograph them features a lot of shady backgrounds and nearby lush greenery.

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: Northern California, Photographs: Structures and Objects, Photographs: Urban/Street

Two Poles, Three Doors

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Two Poles, Three Doors
Two unility poles in front of an abandoned industrial. building with three doors.

Two Poles, Three Doors. © Copyright 2021 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Two utility poles in front of an abandoned industrial. building with three doors.

This is another take on a subject that I posted about recently while sharing a portrait-orientation image of much the same scene. Keeping in mind that photographs posted here are often part of my “working out” process with images, trying out different ways of seeing them, here’s a bit of my thinking. In the previous version I chose the alternate orientation in order to include more of that sky (a reference to my landscape photography?) and the full height of the utility poles. This time I left only a sliver of the sky, and you have to imagine how tall the poles are. (That’s an important visual concept about which I could write an article, by the way.) So here, I think, we see the geometries of the structure, the poles, and the slanting shadows more prominently.

In that earlier post I wrote something that wasn’t completely accurate regarding the building. I pointed out accurately that it is in a former produce canning area and that it is no longer part of that industry, but I also stated that it is “abandoned.” Technically, it _was_ abandoned, but it appears that the building is now being used as some sort of warehouse or storage area. Of course, you would not see that from the outside where I was, as there are no commercial markings at all — which is a very unusual thing in this country.

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: Architecture, Photographs: Urban/Street

Blue and Billboard

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Blue and Billboard
A billboard portrait loomes over urban reisdences.

Blue and Billboard. © Copyright 2021 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A billboard portrait loomes over urban reisdences.

Photographs like this one are sometimes a bit difficult to “sell” (in the sense of “persuasion”) to folks who mostly think of me as a “landscape photographer.” There’s a whole lot I could write about this, and I’ll share a little bit of that below, but one reason that I’ve photographed some subjects like this recently is that they are available to me! I carry a camera while out walking, and every so often something catches my eye and I pause to photograph.

In a sense you could think of these photographs as an extension of my landscape photography into the “urban landscape” that I live in. While the subjects seem completely different, there are connections that you might imagine if you think about it a bit. There is also a practical aspect to this kind of photography — it is available to me simply by walking out my front door, unlike the more familiar landscapes that require more travel and logistical preparation. In addition, there are benefits to keeping my seeing skills tuned up by trying to find things to photograph no matter where I am. Beyond that, there are a few things to ponder about regarding the juxtaposition of elements found here.

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.