Tag Archives: flower

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Northern California

Buds in Soft Light

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Buds in Soft Light
The tiny branch and incipient flowers of a California plant.

Buds in Soft Light. © Copyright 2023 G Dan Mitchell.

The tiny branch and incipient flowers of a California plant.

Readers and viewers have probably figured out by now that I’m anything but an expert on plant identification. I often recognize a plant from experience, know where and how it grows… and have little or no idea what it is called. There are some exceptions, and I’m not entirely unable to name familiar plants. But I do — as some recently noticed — still sometimes get it entirely wrong. All of this is an introduction to saying that I have no idea at all what this very small plant actually is.

Yet, I was intrigued by it. With a macro lens I could get close enough to reveal some details that would otherwise be easy to miss, including the subtle magenta shading of the buds. I made the photograph very late in the day as I was returning from a hike in Bay Area hills.

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

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Northern California

Soap Plant Flower

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Soap Plant Flower
Soap plant flower and stem with insects.

Soap Plant Flower. © Copyright 2023 G Dan Mitchell.

Soap plant flower and stem with insects.

This plant isn’t one that I recognize, even though I’ve hiked past its location for decades, apparently without noticing it at all. I also will admit that I’m less that 100% certain of its identification, though “soap plant” seems to fit in terms of appearance, location, and type of habitat. It has a very delicate little flower, and this one is covered with insects which I presume must be feeding on it.

The trail where I spotted the plant is one of my favorites when I just want to get out for a quick hike or when I’m working to build fitness for bigger walking trips. It is typically a peaceful place, starting in open grasslands, and along the way passing through groves of oak trees and California bay laurel.

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 | Twitter | 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.

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Northern California

Beneath the Blooming Dogwood

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Beneath the Blooming Dogwood
Looking upwards toward dense spring dogwood flowers.

Beneath the Blooming Dogwood. © Copyright 2023 G Dan Mitchell.

Looking up toward dense spring dogwood flowers.

Continuing with the spring dogwood theme, for this photograph and its sibling that I shared earlier, I came at the tree from a somewhat different perspective. Typically we photograph this subject so that we can view the flowers without a lot of interference. But here I placed myself where I could aim upwards and shoot through foliage.

Photographing this way fills the frame with light, and instead of the more typical top light,here the light glows down and through the leaves and flowers. On top of that the more distant canopy and flowers become soft and luminous as their focus fades.

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 | Twitter | Flickr | Facebook | Email

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

Scroll down to leave a comment or question. (Click this post’s title first if you are viewing on the home page.)

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

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Northern California

Columbine Flower #2

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Columbine Flower #2
A columbine flower, photographed in soft light at a San Francisco Bay Area garden.

Columbine Flower #2. © Copyright 2023 G Dan Mitchell.

A columbine flower, photographed in soft light at a San Francisco Bay Area garden.

As I wrote recently, my initial acquaintance with Columbine flowers came high in the Sierra, where a white specimen grows in rocky, alpine terrain. To me, those flowers defined the concept of “Columbine,” and it did not really cross my mind for a long time that there might be others.

I may be slow, but eventually I figure things out. Visits to more civilized gardens eventually taught me that there are other varieties of this beautiful flower. We found several on a recent visit to a garden here in the San Francisco Bay Area one evening. I decided to let much of this flower be soft and out of focus, only putting some of the yellow center in sharper relief.

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 | Twitter | Flickr | Facebook | Email

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

Scroll down to leave a comment or question. (Click this post’s title first if you are viewing on the home page.)

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