Tag Archives: cattail

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: Central California, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Northern California

Cattail and Grasses, Morning Light

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Cattail and Grasses, Morning Light

Cattail and Grasses, Morning Light. Castillero Pond, Calero Hills, California. August 14, 2009. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A cattail stands among dry summer grasses at Castillero Pond, Calero Hills, California.

The next in the series – and, yes, there will likely be more! – of photographs of cattails and grasses from a recent morning shoot at Castillero Pond, not far from where I live in the San Francisco Bay Area.

In these photographs I was playing with a whole series of ideas: the color and form of the late-season summer cattails in the warm morning side-lighting, the effect of blurring out the background of grasses and pond water, and the interesting color palette of yellow/gold, green, and blue. To a certain extent, I was also “going with the flow” since I had arrived at this pond with no strong preconceptions about what I would shoot- I had vague ideas concerning oak trees and open grassland and possibly photographing birds as I passed the pond – and then ended up being distracted by well over an hour by the subject of this series.

This photograph is not in the public domain. It may not be used on websites, blogs, or in any other media without explicit advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

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keywords: calero, hills, santa clara, county, park, morning, summer, grass, flora, pond, castillero, plant, nature, california, usa, cat, tail, cattail, plant, blade, stem, branch, seed, bokeh, blur, blue, green, golden, central, northern, light, stock

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About plant identification…

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In case it isn’t already obvious, I’m a complete non-expert at this task. It seems that I have completely (or, “totally,” as my botanist sister writes… ;-) misidentified the plant in today’s photo.

When it comes to plant identification, I’ll readily admit that I’m far, far, oh so far, from being an expert. In one sense I know a lot – I can often recognize a plant or flower from many previous encounters. I often know exactly when and where it will grow and when it blooms, and I know where to find certain odd and unusual plants.

But when it comes to naming them, I’m often at a loss. Best case, I remember the common names of some that I’ve gotten to know over the years. More typically, I know the plant as “the one with the long stem, pointy leaves, and yellow flowers.” Worst case, I make a wild guess. As I did with the “cattail” photos.

If anyone can give me an accurate identification of this plant, I’ll be very grateful. Scientific names are fine, but common names are also great.

Photographs: Central California, Photographs: Nature

Winter Cattails and Grasses

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Winter Cattails and Grasses

Winter Cattails and Grasses. Calero Hills, California. February 1, 2009. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Winter cattails and grasses at Calero Hills, California.

At the start of today’s “photo hike” at Calero Park I walked to Castillero Pond. I had the 100-400 lens on my camera, anticipating that there might be some birds to photograph at the pond. When I arrived there weren’t really any interesting bird subjects, but I went ahead and used the long lens to shoot these plants alongside the pond, since the long focal length does a fine job of isolating a subject and throwing the background out of focus.

This photograph is not in the public domain. It may not be used on websites, blogs, or in any other media without explicit advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

keywords: cat, tail, cattail, grass, blade, stem, leaf, bokeh, blur, seed, fuzz, sun, light, morning, brown, golden, castillero, pond, calero, hills, county, park, santa clara, nature, foliage, landscape, winter, stock, california, usa, dry, drop, droplet