Tag Archives: garden

Photographs: Nature

Succulent Leaves, Detail

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Succulent Leaves, Detail
Close up view of the patterns of succulent plant leaf edges.

Succulent Leaves, Detail. © Copyright 2021 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Close up view of the patterns of succulent plant leaf edges.

Any time I end up in some sort of garden I seem to end up making at least a few photographs of the plants, often focusing on the shapes, lines, curves, textures and colors. In other words, most often I don’t make photographs that really show the plants in a botanically useful way, instead preferring to see them as essentially abstractions. One advantage of this approach, at least from my point of view, is that I don’t feel particularly limited to presenting an objectively accurate rendition of the subject, and I can instead choose to “see” the subject almost any way I want.

If I recall correctly, I made this photograph during a visit to Northern California a couple of years ago — the last time we visited the state and national redwood parks up there prior to this year. We stopped along the way up there and spent a night or two not far from Fort Bragg, where there is a lovely botanical garden. We took time out from the landscape photography to spend a few hours wandering there — mostly bent over close to the ground to photograph small things!

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

Right Angle Leaves

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Right Angle Leaves
A plant with a pattern of successive leaves growing at right angles to one another.

Right Angle Leaves. © Copyright 2021 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A plant with a pattern of successive leaves growing at right angles to one another.

Two years ago we made a trip up the California coast, with our ultimate goal being the redwood parks in the far northern corner of the state. Our primary goal was photography — redwood trees, the coast, rhododendron blooms — but we also regarded this trip as a bit of a vacation. With that in mind we split the northward drive into two parts, and spent a couple of days largely hanging out in the town of Mendocino. We did a bit of photography, but we also did a bit of restaurant dining and other touristy things.

The town of Fort Bragg is just up the coast from here, and it turns out that there is an extensive botanical garden there — it rivals and surpasses those of many larger urban centers. So we spent part of a day wandering the grounds and photographing flowers and plants, including this specimen. In the soft shadow light the yellow to green colors and the fascinating geometries of the plant are easily visible.

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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Annual Favorites, Photographs: Nature

Patterns in Green

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Patterns in Green
The stalk of a plant at a formal garden.

Patterns in Green. © Copyright 2021 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

The stalk of a plant at a formal garden.

First of all, about the sort of vague title for this photograph… I do tend to use titles for some photographs, particularly landscapes and wildlife, that don’t give away too much information about the subject. I have my reasons. For one thing, I think that the photograph should be free to speak to the viewer visually, mostly on its own merits and without telling the viewer what to think. For another, in some cases it is better to not focus people’s attention too much of the specific location, particularly if that might distract them from the visual value of the photograph and double-particularly if the location is one that might be at risk of damage if too many people went looking for it.

However, none of those noble — or so I tell myself — considerations are at work here. The truth is… I have no idea what kind of plant this is. I don’t even recall specifically the act of making the photograph, though I do know that it was during a visit to a garden that we went to order to photograph flowers and plants. (At about this point, someone will know what kind of plant it is and write to let me know. I’m counting on you! :-)

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 | 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: Structures and Objects, Photographs: Urban/Street

Closed Fountain

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Closed Fountain
A brick wall behind a fountain closed by the pandemic.

Closed Fountain. © Copyright 2021 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A brick wall behind a fountain closed by the pandemic.

If it seems like there have been a lot of black and white photographs here recently, well, yes. I’m not certain why that is, but I do know that I began as a black and white photographer, and somehow seeing in monochrome remains at my visual core.

This photograph comes from a visit to a location we visited in order fo photograph a very different sort of subject — a beautiful (mostly) formal garden full of blossoming flowers. We went there after both of us had arrived at that wonderful point two weeks after being fully vaccinated, and it was liberating to wander (masked) through the gardens. However, somehow, among those beautiful and colorful flowers, this is what I came home with! I’m tempted to offer explanations and propose a few metaphors to consider as you view the image, but since I wasn’t really consciously thinking of them when I made the photograph, I’ll just leave the photograph here and let you decide.

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 | 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.

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