Tag Archives: flower

Photographs: Coastal Redwoods, Photographs: Nature

Redwood Forest Flowers

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Redwood Forest Flowers
“Redwood Forest Flowers” — White flowers growing amongst redwood sorrel in Redwood National Park. (Possibly columbia windflower?)

As I frequently report, I’m fairly weak when it comes to identifying wildflowers. I know a few obvious ones instantly, at least by their common names. (Latin names? Let’s not go there!) But there are many more that simply cannot name. In many cases I “know” the flowers, and I’m familiar with when and where they appear and how they grow. It is the naming that has always challenged me.

All of that is a preface to the experience of photographing these lowers. I know that I’ve seen them before in the redwood forests, deep beneath the shadows of the big trees. In fact, I recognized them from a previous visit when we photographed at this location. But when I wanted to go behind “white flower on forest floor” I had to start searching. I finally came up with “Columbia windflower,” and my family botanist (thanks, Ruth Ann!) confirms that identification. What attracted me was their white blossoms standing above the bed of darker greenery, including some redwood sorrel.

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.

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Photographs: Nature

Bluedicks Flower

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Bluedicks Flower
Springtime bluedicks flower in the Central California oak-grasslands.

Bluedicks Flower. © Copyright 2021 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Springtime bluedicks flower in the Central California oak-grasslands.

This is a surprisingly common wildflower in my part of California, and in the springtime I frequently run into them all around the Bay Area on hikes, typically in warmer and sunnier areas. The flowers are striking — the cluster sits on the end of a long, slender step, and the colors can stand out against the other foliage. Technically, I suppose that I should tie “flowers” rather than “flower” here, since it is a cluster of smaller individual flowers. The unusual name apparently comes from a shorthand for the Latin name of the plant, though I have recently been told that the plant has been reclassified and that it should now be “blue dips.”

Although I like to travel to do my outdoor photography, I also spend a lot of time in the field not far from where I live in the San Francisco Bay Area, often hiking some of the nearby trails. (In fact, I’ve been doing more of that recently as I try to work myself into condition for an upcoming backcountry trip by hiking hilly routes. It gets harder every year!) Although I had hiked the trails where I photographed this specimen, I had not really paid enough attention to the wildflowers there until recently… when I discovered several large populations of this flower.

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: Coastal Redwoods, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Northern California, Photographs: Redwood National & State Parks

Redwood Forest Floor Foliage

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Redwood Forest Floor Foliage
Broadleaf starflower and redwood sorrel in the deep shade of a Northern California redwood forest.

Redwood Forest Floor Foliage. © Copyright 2021 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Broadleaf starflower and redwood sorrel in the deep shade of a Northern California redwood forest.

There is a route in Redwood National Park that surprises me — because there is hardly ever anyone there, even though it dead-ends in a beautiful forest of old growth trees near an intersection of several trails, in a place with many interesting things to see. I visit the spot every time I go there. Perhaps the small number of visitors is due to a lack of named icons, the out of the way location, and not a whole lot of publicity. My first visit was an accident — a moment of “I wonder what is up that way?”

The last time I was there it was midday, not necessarily the ideal time to photograph in the forest. The redwood forest is often quite a dark place, and little sun manages to find an angling path through the trees to reach the ground. But in the middle of the day the sun does make it to the forest floor, and the great contrasts between shadow and light are a challenge. On this visit there were scattered clouds passing above the forest, so I found my compositions and then waited patiently, eyeing the sky for the next cloud that might soften the light.

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: Nature

Fiesta Flower

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Fiesta Flower
A high key rendition of a blue fiesta flower, Pholistoma auritum.

Fiesta Flower. © Copyright 2021 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A high key rendition of a blue fiesta flower, Pholistoma auritum.

This photograph comes from one of my spring wildflower rambles at a nearby park, a place I visit every year to celebrate the start of the season. It isn’t a national park. It is not a famous place. It isn’t even a well-known place in a little-known local park — but it is mine! Here the trail passes through a small, narrow valley where there is space for flowers that prefer the sun and those that thrive in shade.

I decided to interpret this subject a bit more liberally than sometimes, going for a high-key rendition. The question of what it means to interpret a subject via a photograph leads in all sorts of interesting and complicated places that I cannot possibly address in this paragraph. Suffice it to say that while photography carries the burden of the presumption of realism, photographs are anything but “reality,” and the question of whether or how to interpret what the camera captures has many possible answers.

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 | Flickr | Facebook | Email

Links to Articles, Sales and Licensing, my Sierra Nevada Fall Color book, Contact Information.

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