Tag Archives: cluster

Baby Blue Eyes Flowers

Image May 20, 2019 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Baby blue eyes flowers, San Luis Obispo County, California.

These small flowers, in the right light, can produce a nearly-fluorescent blue color — a hue that is almost unbelievable in the natural landscape. They were growing all over California’s coastal and inland oak and grassland areas this spring.

I photographed this set of flowers on a drive through a backroads area of San Luis Obispo Country, but I probably could have stopped any of 1000 other locations and found something similar. These specimens were growing in an immense meadow that was filled with all sorts of 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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All media © Copyright G Dan Mitchell and others as indicated. Any use requires advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

Photographs: Death Valley, Photographs: Desert, Photographs: Nature

Creosote, Sea Of Dunes

April 9, 2018 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

A sea of sand dunes extends to distant desert mountains behind a cluster of creosote bushes

This photograph comes from those moments just before sunrise on the dunes, when there is not yet any direct, intense light. Instead the light is soft and diffused, and blue tones are seen in the distance and in shadows. We had arrived in this area earlier, after perhaps a 20 minute walk that began in near-darkness. This is not necessarily time for slow and contemplative photography — conditions evolve quickly, and I often have to make some fairly quick decisions before the light changes or is gone. Moments after making this photograph, for example, that direct light did arrive from the right, and the scene was completely transformed.

Sand dunes are remarkable and surprising places. I think the first impression for most people is of the sand itself — its extent, its shapes, the variations and texture and color, and (of course!) how difficult it is to walk across it. It is hard to imagine a more perfect canvas for the play of light. The dunes are not intrinsically very colorful, but they do a remarkable job of picking up color and light from their surroundings. Beyond the sand itself, the things that appear in the dunes are also fascinating. A close look reveals evidence of the passage of unseen animals, in spring flower blossoms may collect in hollows, and somehow plants manage to survive and sometimes prosper in this forbidding environment. In Death Valley creosote bushes grow throughout many of the dunes. Some of them can appear almost lush at certain times of the year — with new leaves and many small, yellow flowers. Others, like those on this small hill, seem to be barely hanging on to life.

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

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Sierra Nevada

Creek Dogwood, Sierra Nevada

November 23, 2010 G Dan Mitchell 6 Comments

Dense growth of creek dogwood with white flowers and fall color red leaves along Bishop, Sierra Nevada.

This is a plant I’ve been intrigued by in the past – literally the very same plant in the precise same location along Bishop Creek in the eastern Sierra. I think it is called “creek dogwood,” but here again I have to admit to my poor ability to offer proper identifications for many plants. (I’ve mentioned before that I often “know” the plants quite well – where they grow, when they come up in the spring, when they flower, and when the go dormant… but I often fail to register their names!) This plant acquires brilliant red leaves in the fall, and with some green leaves and round white “berries,” it has a striking appearance.

This is the next in the series of photographs of very dense vegetation. While it may be hard to make sense out of the photographs when presented as small web images, there is a lot of very interesting (to me, anyway!) detail in a print of this subject. It is even possible, I think, to make some sort of compositional sense out of all of this complexity as well – or at least I want to think so!

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

Photographs: Central California, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Northern California, Photographs: Sierra Nevada, Photographs: Yosemite

Autumn Oak Trees, Cliff Face – Yosemite Valley

November 28, 2009 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Autumn oak trees and meadow with background cliff face towering above – Yosemite Valley, California.

Having posted all of the better photos from last week’s shoot at Point Lobos, I’m back to the fall photographs from Yosemite Valley once again as I complete the process of going through all of the images I brought back from my October 31 and November 1 visit. This is another in the “tree with hazy cliffs in the background” series that I seem to have spent a lot of time on during this visit. These trees were photographed during the bright midday hours, at a time when I might usually knock off from photography for awhile. However, with the right backlight on the colorful black oaks and a background of hazily distance valley walls, I continued to shoot almost straight through on this day.

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

keywords: yosemite, national, park, valley, sierra, nevada, mountain, range, autumn, fall, season, scenic, travel, nature, landscape, california, black, oak, tree, grove, cluster, meadow, gras, brown, golden, yellow, trunk, branch, forest, haze, atmosphere, green, leaf, leave, tall, stock

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Photographer and visual opportunist. Daily photos since 2005, plus articles, reviews, news, and ideas.