Tag Archives: foliage

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Northern California

Sea of Dogwood Blossoms

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Sea of Dogwood Blossoms
A dense expanse of spring dogwood blossoms.

Sea of Dogwood Blossoms. © Copyright 2023 G Dan Mitchell.

A dense expanse of spring dogwood blossoms.

This amazingly thick mass of dogwood blooms comes from a tree I mentioned in an earlier post. We had gone to a location where we sometimes photograph dogwoods (and many other things), but we knew that the trees we usually look for would have almost completely dropped their blossoms by now. However, to our surprise and pleasure, there was a tree that we did not know about, and it had more dogwood blossoms than any tree I’ve seen before.

The light was extremely soft due to the late hour. I would usually photograph smaller groups of flowers or even individual blossoms, typically in a more straight-on fashion. But these branches were at eye level and higher, so I decided to photograph across them and show their extent.

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, Photographs: Northern California

Acanthus

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Acanthus
Acanthus plants in a San Francisco Peninsula garden.

Acanthus. © Copyright 2023 G Dan Mitchell.

Acanthus plants in a San Francisco Peninsula garden.

This clump of acanthus stalks was growing in a lush, green area of this garden. We were there in the early evening, and the soft light fills that shadows and reveals details that might be hidden in harsher conditions. In many places the stalks were growing close to other plants, but here they grew along and provided some distance to separate them from the rest of the garden.

The stems are striking — almost vertical (though these do lean a bit) and thick, covered with thick, patterned leaves that include green, purple, and almost black colors. Up close you can also see that there are stickers on some of the leaves.

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

Jack Frost Plant

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Jack Frost Plant
Jack Frost (brunnera) plants growing under a forest canopy.

Jack Frost Plant. © Copyright 2023 G Dan Mitchell.

Jack Frost (brunnera) plants growing under a forest canopy.

In one section of the garden we occasionally visit to make photographs, there is a small grove of (mostly) dogwood trees which are in an area shaded by larger trees. These dogwoods were done blooming when we visited, but they provided wonderful, deep shade to smaller plants growing beneath.

All sorts of interesting stuff grows in this shade, but on this visit I was mostly attracted to leaves. (Most of the flowers were already spent.) This clump of Jack Frost seemed downright lush, with not a damaged leaf in sight.

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

Dogwood Flowers and Leaves

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Dogwood Flowers and Leaves
Spring dogwood tree blossoms nestled in a bed of green leaves.

Dogwood Flowers and Leaves. © Copyright 2023 G Dan Mitchell.

Spring dogwood tree blossoms nestled in a bed of green leaves.

Let me begin by telling a story on myself, a story about looking for the perfect arrangement of dogwood leaves. When I first photographed them quite a while ago, I carried in my mind some incipient images of what I thought the photographs might look like. One of those images was derived from an Ansel Adams photograph of a spray of the flowers laid out in a lovely composition.

I would wander around Yosemite Valley and nearby locations looking for something that had the same quality. I wasn’t exactly trying to duplicate his photograph — just to see the blossoms in that way. But every arrangement was imperfect. The flowers didn’t line up correctly, there were gaps, something was distracting in the background. How did he find such a perfect arrangement? Well, I eventually learned, he did not “discover” it, he took flowers and arranged them by hand!

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.