Tag Archives: foliage

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: The Southwest, Photographs: Utah

Kolob Canyon, Morning

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“Kolob Canyon, Morning” — Morning light slants over the top of sandstone cliffs above early autumn foliage in Kolob Canyon, Zion National Park

I finally made it into the Kolob Canyon area of Zion National Park this October. From what I can tell, this area is much less frequently visited than the more popular and accessible Zion Canyon area. It seems to me that the park service sort of wants it this way, which makes sense to me. There is almost no formal development of this portion of the park aside from a very modest visitor center near the entrance. Along the dead-end road into this portion of the park, you find little besides a few turn-outs and parking lots at some trailheads. In addition, the entrance to this section of the park requires a significant drive from the most popular lodging areas in places like Springdale.

We arrived on a very cold early autumn morning when many trees and bushes were just beginning the fall color changes. In most places things were still very green, but here and there it was possible to find some nice displays of color. Near the location of this photograph the road made a sort of horseshoe bend across the lower portion of the canyon, and I spotted a lot of things that seemed to be photo-worthy to me: the early morning sun light beams slanting through morning haze across the upper section of the canyon, the dry waterfall at its furthest-back point, the always-beautiful red rock cliffs, and the colorful foliage beginning to appear in the canyon.

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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. Blog | Bluesky | Mastodon | Substack Notes | Flickr | Email

All media © Copyright G Dan Mitchell and others.

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: The Southwest, Photographs: Utah

Utah Fall Color, Meadows

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Utah Fall Color, Meadows - Colorful autumn foliage of aspen and other trees near a meadow in the Dixie National Forest near Cedar City, Utah
Colorful autumn foliage of aspen and other trees near a meadow in the Dixie National Forest near Cedar City, Utah

Utah Fall Color, Meadows. Dixie National Forest, Utah. October 5, 2012. © Copyright 2012 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Colorful autumn foliage of aspen and other trees near a meadow in the Dixie National Forest near Cedar City, Utah.

The opportunity to photograph this wild fall color resulted from the second “random ride” of the afternoon – with “random ride” being a family description of a drive that ends up going where no one would have predicted. After a brief afternoon visit to Cedar City, Utah to take care of some minor business involving coffee, we headed back up into the mountains to the east of town. Driving along, I spotted another road that branched off in a potentially promising direction, and without so much as a glance at the map I turned right and headed up a canyon.

Since I spotted some interesting color right away, and because the road looked like it would climb to elevations where I knew the color was good, I continued on it. The hunch paid off. As we ascended, wide open vistas appeared across a panorama ranging from south to north, and new and interesting colorful foliage continued to appear. We finally ended up at location where the road crossed one of the most colorful autumn foliage displays I have seen. After photographing a nearby grove of trees right above us, I turned my camera the other direction and found this composition that includes a wild assortment of colorful autumn trees (mostly but not entirely aspens) leading down to the edge of a small meadow.

G Dan Mitchell is a California photographer whose subjects include the Pacific coast, redwood forests, central California oak/grasslands, the Sierra Nevada, California deserts, urban landscapes, night photography, and more.
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Text, photographs, and other media are © Copyright G Dan Mitchell (or others when indicated) and are not in the public domain and may not be used on websites, blogs, or in other media without advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Pacific Northwest

Iris Blossom, Japanese Garden

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Iris Blossom, Japanese Garden - A new iris blossom emerges against a background of summer greenery.
A new iris blossom emerges against a background of summer greenery.

Iris Blossom, Japanese Garden. Portland, Oregon. July 3, 2012. © Copyright 2012 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A new iris blossom emerges against a background of summer greenery.

I was in Portland, Oregon during the past week on a family visit. I’ve been to and through Portland before, but this was the first time I have been able to stay there for a substantial amount of time. Although this was not primarily a photographic trip – I didn’t even carry a tripod! – I did keep a camera with me, and I had some opportunities to do some informal photography while getting to know the place. I also had a chance to find out just how much of a garden city Portland is. During five days in the city I think we visited at least that many gardens, ranging from formal rose gardens (for which the city is famous), small and informal gardens, several Japanese and Chinese gardens, gardens around homes and historic buildings, and more.

I made this photograph of what I’m pretty certain is an iris (I’m actually very bad at plant identification…) while walking around one such garden. Shooting in shade on an overcast afternoon, the light was close to the limit of what I would want to try to shoot handheld, but I crouched down low and I think I managed to make it work. I like the slightly curving shape of the stem, with its partially unwrapped sections, and the flower itself illuminated by soft light from the sky.

G Dan Mitchell is a California photographer whose subjects include the Pacific coast, redwood forests, central California oak/grasslands, the Sierra Nevada, California deserts, urban landscapes, night photography, and more.
Blog | About | Flickr | Twitter | Facebook | Google+ | 500px.com | LinkedIn | Email

Text, photographs, and other media are © Copyright G Dan Mitchell (or others when indicated) and are not in the public domain and may not be used on websites, blogs, or in other media without advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

Photographs: Architecture, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Northern California, Photographs: San Francisco, Photographs: Structures and Objects, Photographs: Urban/Street

Urban Spring

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Urban Spring - New spring growth against a backdrop of downtown San Francisco buildings.
New spring growth against a backdrop of downtown San Francisco buildings.

Urban Spring. San Francisco, California. April 20,2012. © Copyright 2012 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

New spring growth against a backdrop of downtown San Francisco buildings.

I was covering familiar ground through essentially the financial district area of downtown San Francisco while on an April walk through the city to shoot street and urban landscape subjects. This building is familiar to almost anyone in San Francisco, and perhaps to many who have seen photographs of the striking exterior that are often seen online. The difference this time was that the downtown trees, that are a rare nod to the natural world in this almost wholly constructed environment, were just beginning to leaf out with new spring greenery and providing a sort of ironic counterpoint to the hard, reflective, and angular surfaces of the architecture.

G Dan Mitchell is a California photographer whose subjects include the Pacific coast, redwood forests, central California oak/grasslands, the Sierra Nevada, California deserts, urban landscapes, night photography, and more.
Blog | About | Flickr | Twitter | Facebook | Google+ | 500px.com | LinkedIn | Email

Text, photographs, and other media are © Copyright G Dan Mitchell (or others when indicated) and are not in the public domain and may not be used on websites, blogs, or in other media without advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.