Tag Archives: county

Photographs: Central California, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Southern California

Wildflowers, Hills, And Fence

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Wildflowers, Hills, And Fence
A fence runs across wildflower-covered hills in the Temblor Range

Wildflowers, Hills, And Fence. © Copyright 2019 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A fence runs across wildflower-covered hills in the Temblor Range.

With this photograph I am getting very close to the end of this year’s spring landscapes — but you never can tell. Overall this was a very good spring, at least for those of us in California who look forward to the late winter green and the wildflower displays that follow. Our wet season is almost entirely in the winter — California has been described as a summer desert — and we pay a lot of attention to how each winter plays out. This is especially true in the wake of a recent five-year drought. This season started slowly, and early on we were concerned that we might have another dry year. But the faucet came on full force early in 2019, and it has continued raining until very recently.

This photograph is an example of what can happen when the weather gods cooperate and the rains come. This area of California hills looks dry and brown most of the year. But in exceptionally good wet years abundant displays of wildflowers appear and may literally carpet the hills and pastures. I made this photograph in the evening, as the last light (indirect though it may have been) was producing a softer effect in these hills along the edge of the San Andreas fault.

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: Central California, Photographs: Nature

Sunrise, Fog And Mist, Spring HIlls

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Sunrise, Fog And Mist, Spring HIlls
Dawn fog and mist over green springtime California hills

Sunrise, Fog And Mist, Spring Hills. © Copyright 2019 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Dawn fog and mist over green springtime California hills.

I return to this theme frequently, but the annual spring transformation of California’s grasslands is a remarkable thing. It is also something that many visitors to the state miss. Many people come during the supposedly prime vacation season, probably between about Memorial Day in late May and Labor Day in early September. If they travel around the state much they are often impressed by how dry the place looks. They are correct — much of California is essentially arid during the warmer months, and the grasslands turn brown or, more poetically, “golden.”

However, in this regard our seasons are reversed by comparison to the snowier parts of the country, where winter is the colorless season. Our winter is the time of the Great Greening, or what I refer to as the Impossibly Green season. Shortly after winter (or late-autumn) rains arrive grasses emerge and grow straight through the winter. The intensity of the color of the green hills can become quite remarkable by late March and April. I made this photograph in a place that would strike most visitors as being a desert during most of the year. But on this morning all was green, with patches of wildflowers, and fog and mist floating above the beautiful hills at dawn.

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: Central California, Photographs: Nature

Spring Meadow, Passing Storm

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Spring Meadow, Passing Storm
Sunlight on a flower-filled spring meadow with storm clouds in the distance

Spring Meadow, Passing Storm. © Copyright 2019 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Sunlight on a flower-filled spring meadow with storm clouds in the distance.

This spring I was fortunate to be able to chase the spring wildflower bloom over a period of more than two months. (And I’m not done yet!) I visited this location twice, once near the end of March and again a few weeks later in early April when this wet-year bloom was more or less reaching its peak in this area. In some ways the springtime transformation in California areas like this one is doubly impressive, as these places are generally brown (or as we say, “golden”) during the majority of the year.

On the day of this visit there were scattered springtime rain squalls moving across the landscape. One moment it was sunny, and the next moment the sky was darkened by clouds and rain fell. Distant landscapes combined the patterns of shadows and the light. I had just made my camp in the hills and was descending back to the valley to chase the wildflowers when I stopped briefly to photograph this sunlit meadow backed by the dark skies of one of the passing showers.

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.

Photographs: Central California, Photographs: Nature

High Peaks Trail

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High Peaks Trail
The High Peaks trail passes trees and cliffs, Pinnacles National Park

High Peaks Trail. © Copyright 2019 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

The High Peaks trail passes trees and cliffs, Pinnacles National Park.

This trail and this park have a special place in my California outdoor experience. I’ve live in the state since I was four-years-old and my parents moved here from Minnesota. From the earliest I can remember my family visited a bunch of outdoor locations in the Northern and Central California area, and I always regarded a trip to Pinnacles National Park (then Monument) as a special treat. It seemed like a very long drive to the east side entrance, and once we got there a visit to the caves was always the highlight. But we also took longer hikes, including memorable walks up to and across the “high peaks.” I continued to visit over the intervening years, but I’ll save a few of those experiences for another post.

The Pinnacles get their name from the striking rocky outcroppings found in the park. In the “high peaks” area they literally sit on the summit ridge, but they are found elsewhere in other settings, including the walls of some small, deep canyons. The trail mostly crossed familiar chaparral terrain, but here it passes beneath some impressively large rock faces and under the branches of some trees with new spring growth.

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.