Tag Archives: county

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Northern California

White Globe Lily, Spring Green

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Chinese Lantern, Spring Green
A solitary white globe lily blossom against a background of spring green

White Globe Lily, Spring Green. © Copyright 2019 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A solitary white globe lily blossom against a background of spring green.

As much as I love traveling to more distant and even exotic locations to make photographs, I often photograph right in my (more or less) back yard. If you follow me, you know that I photograph urban and industrial subjects all around the San Francisco Bay Area, but I also photograph some very nearby natural areas. This photograph, and a few others that will follow before long, was made in a place I’ve been visiting for decades, and it is only a very short drive from my home.

I know the spot where I photographed this flower very well. In fact, every spring I go to this little canyon to renew my acquaintance with a group of spring wildflowers found there. At this point, I know exactly what flowers I’ll find around precisely which bend in the trail. One of my favorites here is the white globe lily flower, a lovely and subtly-colored bulbous wildflower that grows at the end of slender graceful shoots. I didn’t see any the first time I visited this season, but on this visit I found a few blossoms and even more bud that should open a week or so later

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

Shooting Star Flower

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Shooting Star Flower
Shooting star wildflowers, photographed in San Francisco Bay Area hills

Shooting Star Flower. © Copyright 2019 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Shooting star wildflowers, photographed in San Francisco Bay Area hills.

Shooting stars are among my favorite wildflowers. I know that I have seen them for years — they grow in the California coastal hills where I have hiked since I was a child — but my first strong memory of them comes from the Sierra Nevada. Decades ago I summited Mount Whitney for the first time, near the end of a two-week backpack trip that had started on the opposite, west side of the range. As we descended we crossed a creek and there was a dense field of these flowers.

In addition to liking this flower, there is another reason for posting this photograph. After doing close-up work with a variety of compromises over the years — “diopters,” extension tubes on regular lenses — I finally picked up an actual macro lens, the Fujifilm XF 80mm f/2.8 R LM OIS WR Macro Lens for my Fujifilm X-Pro2 camera. I took it out for the first time recently, photographing spring wildflowers in a nearby canyon that I’ve visited for years.

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: Mono Lake Basin, Photographs: Nature

Mono Lake, Wildfire Smoke

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Mono Lake, Wildfire Smoke
Mono Lake and tufa towers with drifting wildfire smoke in morning light

Mono Lake, Wildfire Smoke. © Copyright 2019 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Mono Lake and tufa towers with drifting wildfire smoke in morning light.

My foremost impressions of Mono Lake are usually formed around its vast expanse — the place is absolutely huge, and the low mountains to its east accentuate this effect. The great open space above its water usually presents an equally expansive view of sky, whether it is pure blue or broken by various clouds. (My other strong impression of the place is an audio impression — a combination of early morning silence and the sounds of thousands of birds.)

I made this photograph during very unusual conditions. On this late-summer morning a very large wildfire was erupting south of here, and its smoke was drifting northward in the early morning. The morning light was increasingly blocked by the smoke and eventually (after I made this photograph) the smoke became oppressively thick and I had to leave. When I made the photograph the smoke was drifting softly in front of those distant mountains and glowing faintly in the early morning backlight.

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: Nature, Photographs: Wildlife

Wild Horses

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Wild Horses
A herd of feral horses in high desert hill country east of the Sierra Nevada

Wild Horses. © Copyright 2016 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A herd of feral horses in high desert hill country east of the Sierra Nevada.

Those of us whose orientation to the Sierra Nevada and points east comes mainly from visits as outsiders can overlook aspects of the culture and history of the area that we weren’t looking for. As someone who came to these mountains, starting many decades ago, as a camper and backpacker (and, at times skier, climber, and photographer) my orientation held that the range was mainly a place about wilderness. It is that, in many ways, but that’s not all it is. Over time I learned and accepted that there are other threads: prospecting and mining, fishing (I tried, but little luck!), ranching, and more.

This herd of feral horses is probably a remnant of some of those “other” threads. Over decades a number of horses managed to get free, and they also managed to survive rather well in some of the areas east of the Sierra. (I first saw them decades ago way out in Nevada.) I ran into this herd on an exploration into less-visited areas roughly east of Yosemite a few years back. I had rumors, but wasn’t necessarily expecting to see them — but was thrilled when I came over a low saddle and spotted them up ahead. (It might seem surprising to some that I’ve put this photograph in the “wildlife” category, but these horses are no longer domesticated critters.)

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.