Tag Archives: calero

Photographs: Macro, Photographs: Nature

Cattail

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Cattail
A spring cattail growing along a trail in the San Francisco Bay hills.

Cattail. © Copyright 2023 G Dan Mitchell.

A spring cattail growing along a trail in the San Francisco Bay hills.

I made this at a place where I usually hike in the morning, a nearby park with trails where I can quickly get away and put in some miles. I don’t go primarily for photographic reasons, though I always carry a camera. This time my schedule made it possible to take an evening hike. I started after the dinner hour, set a turn-around time so that I’d get back to the car before the gate was closed, and I was off.

I went a couple of miles before my alarm reminded me that it was time to turn around. I retraced my steps, but now the soft evening light was starting to look interesting. Eventually I came to a large patch of dense cattails growing along the trail, something I had completely missed on the first half of the hike. I took a look at my watch, figured I could spare a few minutes, and set to work making close-up photographs of the lime-green cattails. (Note: I realize that I don’t know the actual definition of “cattail” plants…)

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: Macro, Photographs: Nature

Seed Pods

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Seed Pods
Seed pods in the San Francisco Bay Area hills.

Seed Pods. © Copyright 2023 G Dan Mitchell.

Seed pods in the San Francisco Bay Area hills.

This is a very subtle photograph, with a small range of tones and nothing that is quite pure white or even close to black. The early evening light was quite soft. I almost decided not to try to photograph this subject — the colors were so subtle, the light was low, and I was working handheld. But there I was, there the seed pods were, so I decided to give it a try.

The pods belong to some very tall wild grasses that grow along a trail that I frequently hike. Perhaps only weeks ago this would have been a very green subject, but here in California we move pretty quickly from the green of April to the brown, tan, and gold of the drier seasons of the year.

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, Photographs: Northern California

Spring Cattails

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Spring Cattails
Spring cattails growing along a trail in the San Francisco Bay Area hills.

Spring Cattails. © Copyright 2023 G Dan Mitchell.

Spring cattails growing along a trail in the San Francisco Bay Area hills.

Although I love to visit and photograph special, exotic, and distant places, there’s a lot to be said for the local spots I’ve come to know over decades of repeated visits. Because they are familiar it is easy to overlook how special they actually are — and how special my relationship with them is. This unassuming little photograph is from such a place.

There is a county park a half hour drive from my home, perhaps a dozen miles away. The park is large and mostly undeveloped, encompassing hardwood forest and grassland hills crisscrossed by old gravel roadways and narrow trails. Long ago I started going there at least in part for the mundane purposes of training for the real trips, my High Sierra backpacking adventures. But gradually the place grew on me as I hiked there in all seasons and all conditions and began to discover little off-the-grid places that few visit. I went there for an evening hike last week, and I passed by a surprising patch of cattails near the end of my walk as the light started to fade.

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, Photographs: Northern California

Valley, Spring

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Valley, Spring
A California valley during the “impossibly green” season.

Valley, Spring. © Copyright 2023 G Dan Mitchell.

A California valley during the “impossibly green” season.

To be perfectly honest, this is a bit of a “record shot” — a photograph made at least as much to record something as to have an aesthetic effect. The location is a park not far from where I live, a place where I have hiked and photographed for several decades. It is part of my “outdoors backyard,” a place where I almost feel a sense of ownership now. I’ve even made other photographs from almost this precise location, though in rather different (and more dramatic) conditions.

The photograph is also a record of a California phenomenon, what some have called the ‘impossibly green season” — that amazing annual eruption of grasses and other plants in a typically dry landscape. At a time when much of the country is deep in winter, many places in California turn more green than you can imagine.

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.