Tag Archives: flower

Photographs: Nature

Sunflower

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Sunflower
A wild sunflower in the California hills.

Sunflower. © Copyright 2023 G Dan Mitchell.

A wild sunflower in the California hills.

These impressively large flowers pop up in the spring at a local park where I’ve hiked for decades. It doesn’t seem much like the traditional sunflower, but that’s what my searching tells me it is. The plants grow close to the ground, and the flowers are large — perhaps four inches across or more. In my experience there is only a short window to photograph them while they look good.

I think everyone should have a few local outdoor places that they travel too, going back to them over years and even decades. It is exciting to visit far off places, and I’ve been to my share of them. But there is something special about a nearby place that you know like an old friend. At this spot I know exactly where and when to look for very specific types of flowers… and I go back every year to revisit them.

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

Blue Dicks Flower

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Blue Dicks Flower
A spring blue dicks wildflower in bloom.

Blue Dicks Flower. © Copyright 2023 G Dan Mitchell.

A spring blue dicks wildflower in bloom.

The blue dicks flowers are ubiquitous around here in the springtime, often growing in or at the edge of grasslands. It is an attractive flower (or group of flowers, more likely) waving at the top of a long, slender stalk. I look forward to their appearance every year, and I always end up making a few new photographs of them — despite the fact that the long stem makes them move in the slightest breeze, making photography a challenge.

The obvious question, of course, is “Where did that name come from?” I wondered for quite a while, too. According to one source, “he least suggestive explanation is that “dick” is a shortened form of the genus name Dichelostemma.” There are some other, potentially racier, explanations, but I think I’ll stick with 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” is available from Heyday Books, Amazon, and directly from G Dan Mitchell.

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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

Flowering Maple

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Flowering Maple
Macro photograph of the center of a colorful flowering maple blossom..

Flowering Maple. © Copyright 2023 G Dan Mitchell.

Macro photograph of the center of a colorful flowering maple blossom..

This photograph definitely required me to put away the usual lens and replace it with a real macro lens — the camera position is “up close and personal” with the internals of this flowering maple blossom. Looking at the whole flower you would see a red bloom, but the internal structure includes some other colors — this yellow-gold and the interesting five-lobed green pattern inside the base of the flower.

I’m always challenged by this subject. I have some of general sense of what I want to see in flower photographs that I make, but it often isn’t quite clear how to find/create that. So, in a manner that might seem a bit like wildlife photography, I usually make several different attempts with each subject, looking for the one that speaks to me.

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

Pink Tulip

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A pink spring tulip with early morning water droplets.

Pink Tulip. © Copyright 2023 G Dan Mitchell.

A pink spring tulip with early morning water droplets.

With this photograph I will (probably? maybe?) close out the photographs from our early March visit to a San Francisco Bay Area garden. We thought we were there for the peak of the tulip bloom, but only a few of the flowers were in bloom yet. This year’s wild California weather seems to have thrown off nature’s schedule a bit. But even one blooming flower can be enough, and this one seems quite nice.

You might be looking at the photograph and thinking, “the flower is lovely, but did you have to spray the water on it?” I can assure you that those drops were actually there with no assistance from me. Between the exceptional recent rainfall and the early morning hour, there was still lot of water on the plants.

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.