Tag Archives: flower

Photographs: Central California, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Textures

Grass, Point Lobos

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Grass, Point Lobos

Grass, Point Lobos. Point Lobos State Reserve, California. April 26, 2009. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A thick carpet of spring grass at Point Lobos State Reserve, California.

As I hiked through the pine forest in the southern part of the Point Lobos State Reserve on a foggy day during the last weekend of April the spring grasses and wildflowers (and poison oak!) were growing everywhere. I had stopped to photograph a scene of pines with a meadow containing yellow flowers when I spotted one large clump of very green grass that had been blown or otherwise pushed into this interesting pattern.

This photograph is not in the public domain. It may not be used on websites, blogs, or in any other media without explicit advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

keywords: grass, plant, carpet, mat, thick, pattern, green, bud, flower, blade, leaf, foliage, vegetation, plant, nature, forest, floor, pine, grove, point lobos, state, reserve, park, california, usa, travel, scenic, monterey, carmel, peninsula, stock

Photographs: Central California, Photographs: Nature

Chinese Houses Flowers

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Chinese Houses Flowers

Chinese Houses Flowers. Almaden Quicksilver Park, California. April 18, 2009. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A group of Chinese houses spring wildflowers growing alongside the New Almaden trail.

I also made this photograph along a nearby hiking trail at Almaden Quicksilver Park in Santa Clara County, California – in fact it was shot within a couple of minutes and perhaps 100 yards of the Sticky Monkeyflower photograph I posted yesterday. These flowers can be found all over the place in my part of Central California this time of year. To me they can be a bit tricky to photograph – sometimes some of the blossoms may be perfect while others have passed their prime, and they often grow in sunny areas against complex backdrops of foliage. Shooting flowers that include the color white in direct sunlight is really tricky – I hope for a bit of shade or some overcast – and shooting at anything but the largest apertures risks loosing the flower against background, yet shooting at these large apertures it can be tricky to get the whole flower head in focus.

This photograph is not in the public domain. It may not be used on websites, blogs, or in any other media without explicit advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

keywords: flower, wildflower, chinese, lantern, plant, foliage, spring, seaons, green, new, growth, bokeh, green, nature, leaf, santa clara, county, almaden, quicksilver, park, morning, spring, season, san jose, santa clare, county, stock, Collinsia heterophylla

Photographs: Central California, Photographs: Nature

Sticky Monkeyflower

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Sticky Monkeyflower

Sticky Monkeyflower. Almaden Quicksilver Park, California. April 18, 2009. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Spring sticky monkey flower blooms at Almaden Quicksilver Park, Santa Clara County, California.

This is a very common springtime flower in the hills of central California – it is one of the first flowers that I recall learning to recognize when I was a kid. (Something about that name must have caught my attention.) These were photographed along one of my favorite trails at the Almaden Quicksilver Park in the south San Jose area of Santa Clara County.

This photograph is not in the public domain. It may not be used on websites, blogs, or in any other media without explicit advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

keywords: sticky, monkey, flower, Mimulus aurantiacus, Diplacus aurantiacus, bush, island, blossom, wildflower, plant, foliage, leaf, green, orange, bokeh, almaden, quicksilver, santa clara, county, park, mines, california, usa, san jose, spring, nature, stock

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

Andrew’s Clintonia

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Andrew's Clintonia

Andrew’s Clintonia. Muir Woods National Monument, California. April 11, 2009. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Newly emerging spring Andrew’s Clintonia (Clintonia andrewsiana) plant at Muir Woods National Monument, California with immature flowers.

I hope I have correctly identified this plant – with the help of a few people who contacted me after I posted the photo along with a request for plant ID help on my dan’s outside blog. The flowers are the tricky part. All of the photographs of this plant that I could find during my search for identification look different – but the plant apparently doesn’t actually blossom until a few weeks or a month after I made the photograph, so here we’re just seeing the early buds. The leaves look right. It grows in the right place – in the redwood forest and Muir Woods. And I found one online example with mature flowers that has the same single leaf near the top of the flower stalk. So I’s sticking with Andrew’s clintonia until someone comes up with a better idea!

This photograph is not in the public domain. It may not be used on websites, blogs, or in any other media without explicit advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

keywords: Andrew’s Clintonia, Clintonia andrewsiana, andrews, flower, plant, stem, leaf, green, stalk, forest, woods, grove, redwood, floor, bud, bloom, nature, foliage, spring, muir, national, monument, park, golden gate, recreation, area, travel, scenic, stock