Tag Archives: flora

Photographs: Coastal Redwoods, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Northern California

Redwood Grove, Morning Light – Muir Woods

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Redwood Grove, Morning Light - Muir Woods
Redwood Grove, Morning Light - Muir Woods

Redwood Grove, Morning Light – Muir Woods. Muir Woods National Monument, Golden Gate National Recreation Area, California. April 17, 2010. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Morning light slants though the trunks of tall redwood trees near Bohemian Grove, Muir Woods National Monument, California.

I was surprised by somewhat sunny conditions on this mid-April visit to Muir Woods National Monument north of San Francisco, California. When I left my home in the South Bay very early in the morning it was quite cloudy, and the forecast was for even cloudier (and more persistently cloudy) conditions north of the Golden Gate Bridge. But as I drove through the City the clouds cleared to the north and by the time I was across the Golden Gate it was almost clear, with just a bit of nice high cloudiness to diffuse the light a bit.

I arrived at Muir Woods early enough that I got a parking spot in the closest lot. (Those who visit the place often and who are familiar with the crush of tourists later in the day understand what this means… ;-) As I usually do, I wanders slowly up the trail alongside Redwood Creek, taking in as much of the scene (visual, auditory, olfactory, etc.) as I looked for photographs. Eventually I made it to the bridge (Bridge #2) that crosses the creek just above the old Bohemian Grove. This is a spot where I often photograph if the crowds aren’t too bad – there is a lot to see right here! There are some deciduous trees whose leaves can catch the filtered light in interesting ways; the creek flows through, in places with ferns right down to the waterline; and there are lots of very tall redwood trees. I’ve been working on some photographs in landscape orientation that show groups for the trees, focusing primarily on their massive and parallel trunks – in fact, one from the series on this visit consists of a stitch of something like five horizontal frames. This one is more conventional and is a single exposure.

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.

G Dan Mitchell Photography | Twitter | Friendfeed | Facebook | Facebook Fan Page | Email

Technical Data:
Canon EOS 5D Mark II
Canon EF 70-200mm f/4 L USM at 200mm
ISO 200, f/16, .6 second

keywords: redwood, tree, grove, trunk, foreset, bohemian, muir, woods, national, monument, golden gate, recreation, area, trail, sequoia, sempervirens, tall, big, flora, foliage, nature, scenic, travel, san francisco, marin, county, california, usa, north america, morning, light, slant, stock

Photographs: Coastal Redwoods, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Northern California

Late Winter Ferns, Muir Woods

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Late Winter Ferns, Muir Woods
Late Winter Ferns, Muir Woods

Late Winter Ferns, Muir Woods. Muir Woods National Monument, California. April 17, 2010. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Lush growth of late winter ferns in the redwood forest of Muir Woods National Monument, California.

This is a color version of the previously-posted photograph, cropped slightly differently. Among many specimens that mixed new lush green growth with older dead plants from the previous season, this sample was almost entirely green – the leaves were densely packed, overlapping and intertwined.

Sometimes I like a particular image in both monochrome and color versions, and this is one of those cases. The black and white version posted yesterday abstracts the shapes and textures of the leaves, while the color version more strongly suggests the wet and lush undergrowth of this redwood forest.

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.

G Dan Mitchell Photography | Twitter | Friendfeed | Facebook | Facebook Fan Page | Email

Technical Data:
Canon EOS 5D Mark II
Canon EF 70-200mm f/4 L USM at 200mm
ISO 200, f/16, 4 seconds

keywords: lush, growth, fern, leaf, frond, branch, green, overlap, dense, winter, late, redwood, forest, coast, grove, foliage, flora, nature, scenic, travel, muir, woods, national, monument, golden gate, recreation, area, pattern, san francisco, california, usa, north america, marin, county, stock

Photographs: Coastal Redwoods, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Northern California

Late Winter Ferns, Muir Woods (Black and White)

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Late Winter Ferns, Muir Woods (Black and White)
Late Winter Ferns, Muir Woods (Black and White)

Late Winter Ferns, Muir Woods (Black and White). Muir Woods National Monument, California. April 28, 2010. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Black and white photograph of lush leaves of late winter ferns in the redwood forest of Muir Woods National Monument, California.

On this late-winter visit to Muir Woods National Monument – a place I photograph often – I noticed the combination of lush growth for recent heavy rains and somewhat warmer temperatures indicating the approach of spring. Many of the forest floor plants were coming back to life and there was lots of greenery everywhere. (There were also plenty of wildflowers, though it seems that I missed the trillium bloom this season.)

Ferns grow throughout the groves in the bottom of the Redwood Creek canyon and there is a mixture of lush green ferns and the older dead growth underneath. One of my objectives was to shoot the older brown and gray ferns, but I couldn’t resist this pattern of the interlocking and overlapping leaves of these very green ferns – not that you can tell in this black and white rendition of the subject! (There is a color version of this photograph coming soon.)

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.

G Dan Mitchell Photography | Twitter | Friendfeed | Facebook | Facebook Fan Page | Email

Technical Data:
Canon EOS 5D Mark II
Canon EF 70-200mm f/4 L USM at 200mm
ISO 200, f/16, 4 seconds

keywords: lush, growth, fern, leaf, frond, branch, green, overlap, dense, winter, late, redwood, forest, coast, grove, foliage, flora, nature, scenic, travel, muir, woods, national, monument, golden gate, recreation, area, pattern, san francisco, california, usa, north america, marin, county, stock, black and white, monochrome

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

White Globe Lilies and Grasses

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Chinese Lanterns and Grasses
White Globe Lilies and Grasses

White Globe Lilies and Grasses. Almaden Quicksilver Park, California. April 10, 2010. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Macro photograph of White globe lily flower and buds and spring grasses – Almaden Quicksliver Park, California.

This is one more photograph of the white globe lily flower I posted recently, this one in landscape mode rather than portrait mode. This is one of the first of the seasonal bloom of this flower along a favorite trail of mine at the Almaden Quicksilver County Park – the location of historic mercury mines along the edge of Santa Clara Valley. I photograph these flowers every April, and this photograph is from my first visit of the year.

Some of the challenges in making this shot included the need to use an extension tube and get very close – perhaps just a couple inches from the flower. Since this specimen grew on a steep bit of hillside I shot it handheld and used manual focus – I essentially picked a decent focus point and composition and then carefully moved forward and backward until the important parts of the flower were in focus. (The narrow DOF at this close distance made the zone of focus very small.)

By the middle of April there will probably be hundreds of these flowers in this small valley.

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.

G Dan Mitchell Photography | Twitter | Friendfeed | Facebook | Facebook Fan Page | Email

Technical Data:
Canon EOS 5D Mark II
Canon EF 24-105mm f/4 L IS USM at 73mm with extension tube
ISO 400, f/8, 1/100 second

keywords: chinese lantern, flower, bloom, blossom, bud, wildflower, plant, leaf, grass, seed, stem, branch, blur, bokeh, green, white, pink, spring, season, almaden, quicksilver, county, park, santa clara, san jose, california, usa, north america, nature, close up, macro, foliage, flora, stock