Tag Archives: california

Photographs: Nature

Triteleia

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Triteleia
Triteleia flowers in bloom, Pinnacles National Park

Triteleia. © Copyright 2019 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Triteleia flowers in bloom, Pinnacles National Park.

Recently I made a trip to Pinnacles National Park, located just east of California’s Salinas Valley. I have a very long history with this place, going back decades to my childhood visits when it was still a national monument. Back then the biggest attraction was “the caves…” which now don’t really interest me at all. In middle school I once rode a bicycle all the way down there in a small group, and we stayed in a campground on the east side of the park that is no longer a campground. (When it became a national park the camping was moved to another area that used to be outside the park boundaries.) In college I occasionally rock climbed there — an experience that included a bit of carelessness on my part that could have ended my life forty years ago.

This visit was a brief day trip, with some combination of hiking and photography as my goals. I arrived in the early morning, but not at the usual photographer’s pre-dawn hour, loaded up my pack with camera gear, and headed up the trail. My initial goal was some shaded canyons on the way to the small reservoir not far from the end of the road coming in from the east side, and my longer goal was to get up to the summit ridge of the “high peaks.” Along the way I hoped to be able to view and photograph the spring wildflower bloom that the park is known for, and I wasn’t disappointed. Although this season is heading toward its conclusion, and the green is rapidly heading toward brown, there were tons of flowers including these sprays of triteleia, or “pretty face,” flowers.

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 and Amazon.

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Photographs: Death Valley, Photographs: Desert, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Southern California

Dusk Sand Storm

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Dusk Sand Storm
Clouds from a desert sand storm climb into the Amargosa Mountains at dusk

Dusk Sand Storm. © Copyright 2019 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Clouds from a desert sand storm climb into the Amargosa Mountains at dusk.

Here is yet one more photograph from that wild early April evening in Death Valley National Park, when a sand storm was brewing in the upper Valley, starting near Stovepipe Wells and then moving northeast across the mountains of the Amargosa Range. Because I had advance warning of the conditions I was watching for this to develop, and I had a rough plan in place to make photographs of the event. That said, you never know exactly how these things will play out. For example, I had not anticipated the amount of “stuff” that would be blown up into the Amargosa Range, nor could I have predicted the potential for a last bit of twilight color.

During the first part of the event we headed up toward the Amargosa Range, taking the Beatty Cutoff toward the road to Daylight Pass. Up there the most impressive factors were the wind (it was howling!) and the general level of dust in the atmosphere. Eventually we worked out way back down into the valley and finally to near the source of the dust and sand near Stovepipe Wells. Often it such conditions I’ll try to stop just outside the worst of it and use a long lens to photograph into the conditions. That was the idea here, though there was a lot of wind and flying sand where I stopped, and I had to hide in the (slight) protection of the leeward side of my vehicle. Overall the scene was initially quite colorless, but at twilight a pink color came to the sky above and beyond the mountains.

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 and Amazon.

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Photographs: Nature

California Golden Poppy, Spring Grass

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California Golden Poppy, Spring Grass
A California golden poppy flower amidst a field of spring grass

California Golden Poppy, Spring Grass. © Copyright 2019 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A California golden poppy flower amidst a field of spring grass.

Everyone knows that the California Golden Poppy is this state’s “official flower.” I suppose there are two primary reasons. First, the flower’s name connects to California’s gold rush history. Second, these flowers are found all over the state, often in extraordinary abundance, especially during the spring following wet winters — which is just what we are experiencing this year. Visitors looking for these flowers often produce near-mob-scenes at some of the best-known locations. The good news is that you can find the flowers everywhere! I found this one in a place not far from my home where I often hike. But I could have found a fine poppy subject on a short neighborhood walk within five minutes of my home!

Perhaps to the surprise of many who try to photograph them, these flowers pose several distinct challenges — and that’s not counting the challenge of getting yourself down low enough on the ground to get up close. The color is so intense that it is easy to over-expose even when your camera tells you that you haven’t, and the result is blown-out loss of detail. (Hint: Underexpose a bit when photographing the poppies.) A second challenge is that the flowers close and night and only open in the morning when hit by sun — making it tricky to photograph them in the more manageable soft light. You could look for one in the shade… or you could make or carry your own shade, which is what I do. Third, the shape of the flower is a challenge, mainly in the depth-of-field realm. In many cases you want to throw the background out of focus in order to bring attention to the flower. However, because the flower doesn’t have a “flat” side, this tends to make parts of the flower out of focus, too. My solution here was to allow that to happen with the further petals, but to make the nearer, sharp petals the visual focus.

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 and Amazon.

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Links to Articles, Sales and Licensing, my Sierra Nevada Fall Color book, Contact Information.

All media © Copyright G Dan Mitchell and others as indicated. Any use requires advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

Photographs: Nature

Desert Mallow Flowers

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Desert Mallow Flowers
Orange desert mallow in bloom, Death Valley National Park

Desert Mallow Flowers. © Copyright 2019 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Orange desert mallow in bloom, Death Valley National Park.

Recently I posted another photograph of (literally) this very same branch of this very same plant. That’s a bit unusual when it comes to wildflowers, especially of the sort that often appear in large numbers in the same place. I’m probably more likely in these cases to either share just one or else to share photographs of different flowers. But here, were were in a pretty arid location, a bit before the peak for this flower, and there was only one good and easily accessible plant.

Also a bit unusual in this case, I photographed the flower in direct sunlight, albeit a bit filtered by clouds. It is tricky to make close-up photographs of a color like this in full sun since the intensity of the color can easily become over-saturated, and because the dynamic range difference between bright and dark areas can be so great that it creates a sort of stark effect. I had begun photographing this group of flowers while the sun was obscured by a passing cloud, and my recollection is that I made this image just as the sun was beginning to emerge — producing more directional light but not yet fully bright.

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 and Amazon.

Blog | About | Flickr | Facebook | Email

Links to Articles, Sales and Licensing, my Sierra Nevada Fall Color book, Contact Information.

All media © Copyright G Dan Mitchell and others as indicated. Any use requires advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.