Tag Archives: dead

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

Desert Holly, Dry Wash

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Desert Holly, Dry Wash, Death Valley
“Desert Holly, Dry Wash” — A desert holly plant, either dead or dormant, in the middle of a dry wash, Death Valley.

Desert Holly must be one of the must adapted and tenacious plans in Death Valley National Park. It grows in some of the least likely spots — places where there is barely any soil, where the sun bakes the land, and where water is rare. Desert Holly plants can occasionally put out a beautiful cover of pale green leaves, but more often the plant looks dormant or dead, with many dead leaves and very dry branches.

This specimen grew in a desert wash, where water occasionally passes through this very dry area. It has to rely on fairly rare flows of water. Plants grow in much of Death Valley, but few do in this location. While a few further up the wash had green foliage, I saw only dry, desiccated leaves on this one.

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” (Heyday Books) is available directly from him. Blog | Bluesky | Mastodon | Substack Notes | Flickr | Email

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Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Sierra Nevada

Broken Branch and Wildflowers

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Broken Branch and Wildflowers
“Broken Branch and Wildflowers” — A broken branch lies in a Sierra Nevada meadow next to wildflowers.

We were camped on a low hill covered with trees — likely an old lateral moraine of some sort. A subalpine lake below our hill was surrounded by meadows, and the wildflowers were still in bloom even though it was late in the season. On several occasions I just wandered slowly around and through the meadow, and on one of those walks I found this broken branch lying on the green grasses next to a few colorful wildflowers.

We had been base-camped at this Sierra Nevada backcountry location for the better part of a week when I made this photograph. Working in a limited area for an extended period reveals details that we miss on shorter visits. With less time I tend to focus on the most spectacular and dramatic elements in the landscape. But given more time I slow down and start to notice the small things like this.

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: Mono Lake Basin

Rabbitbrush, Ghost Forest

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Rabbitbrush, Ghost Forest
“Rabbitbrush, Ghost Forest” — Rabbibrush blooms near a ghost forest of burned ponderosa pines, Mono Basin.

On a late-September morning I headed out into country near Mono Lake, eventually turning off the two-late highway to follow a random gravel track that traced the edge of an extraordinarily large ponderosa pine forest. This area within sight of Mono Lake was burned in a forest fire years ago, and there are still lots of dead trees around the fringe of the forest. The stark beauty of the skeletal trees intrigued me, and I eventually found a place to stop and explore a bit.

This is an austere landscape. Even where the trees still grow there is a lot of space between them, likely due to the dry environment. In many places there is only sagebrush country, and in this spot the sandy soil supports even less vegetation. But it the middle of this — and against the backdrop of those dead trees — rabbitbrush plants were in full, colorful bloom.

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.

Blog | About | Instagram | Flickr | Facebook | Threads | Post | Email

Links: Articles, Sales and Licensing, my Sierra Nevada Fall Color book, Contact Info.

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Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Structures and Objects

Leaf, Stone, Weathered Paint

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Leaf, Stone, Weathered Paint
“Leaf, Stone, Weathered Paint” — A leaf lies on a stone sidewalk marked with weathered paint, Hakone Gardens.

This photograph was most certainly not the thing I came here to photograph. We went to the Hakone Japanese Gardens this spring, timing our visit for the peak of the cherry blossom season, and arriving in the late afternoon so that we could photograph these and many other blossoms on into the evening. Photographing old and worn out steps and dead leaves was not the main goal!

As we walked some of the hillier paths the route followed a series of old stone steps. It appeared that at one time some of the steps may have been coated with paint — red in some spots and yellow in others. But that paint was apparently not renewed, and today there are just scattered bits of it here and there on the rocks.. The single dead leave seemed to evoke a feeling quite at odds with the spring theme we were there for.

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.

Blog | About | Instagram | Flickr | Facebook | Threads | Post | Email

Links: Articles, Sales and Licensing, my Sierra Nevada Fall Color book, Contact Info.

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