Tag Archives: grass

Chairs and Terrace, Olympic Sculpture Park

Chairs and Terrace, Olympic Sculpture Park

Chairs and Terrace, Olympic Sculpture Park. Seattle, Washington. June 21, 2009. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Red-orange chairs on a terraced lawn above Richard Serra’s Wake with downtown Seattle buildings beyond, Olympic Sculpture Park.

This is another quick photograph from my half-hour visit to the Olympic Sculpture Park in Seattle last weekend. I’m fascinated by the large sculpture at the lower end of the terrace (“Wake” by Richard Serra) and I have photographed it before. This time I thought that the juxtaposition of the red-orange chairs (positioned more or less at random by other visitors, I presume), the very green grass, the slightly overhead view of the sculpture, and the cylindrical building beyond was interesting. There is a lot more detail in this photograph than is apparent in the small jpg – obviously the grass detail is not really visible here, and there are some people standing along the green area at the upper left side of the frame. I also thought about positioning the chairs slightly off center to the right, the sculpture slightly off center to the left, and the massive building dead center over all the other elements.

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: olympic, sculpture, park, seattle, art, museum, sam, red, orange, green, chairs, lawn, terrace, concrete, cement, sand, trees, plants, garden, wall, grove, wake, richard serra, metal, rust, sky, cloud, blue, cylinder, round, building, downtown, urban, washington, usa, travel, apartment, grass, stock

Aspen Grove, Lee Vining Canyon, Spring

Aspen Grove, Lee Vining Canyon, Spring

Aspen Grove, Lee Vining Canyon, Spring. Near Lee Vining, California. June 7, 2009. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

An aspen grove and grassy meadow in Lee Vining Canyon come to life in late spring.

I often visit this little aspen grove in Lee Vining Canyon when I head to the “east side” to photograph Sierra Nevada fall colors in early October. On this trip in early June I camped at nearby Aspen campground and rose very early to photograph dawn light at the South Tufa area of Mono Lake, after which I headed back into Lee Vining to grab a coffee at Latte Da before heading back up Lee Vining Canyon to break my camp. Just before the campground as I passed this spot I noticed the there was a diffused glowing light coming from across the canyon and that no direct sun was yet hitting the grove – and just before the sun rose over the canyon walls and lit up the scene I managed to make a few photographs of this spring version of the scene.

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: aspen, tree, grove, forest, leaf, green, trunk, white, brown, grass, sage, spring, season, lee vining, canyon, eastern, sierra, nevada, mountains, range, morning, landscape, nature, foliage, scenic, travel, national, stock

Middle Cathedral and El Capitan Meadow, Spring

Lower Cathedral Rocks and El Capitan Meadow, Spring

Lower Cathedral Rocks and El Capitan Meadow, Spring. Yosemite Valley, California. May 10, 2009. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Early spring view of the trees and new grass of El Capitan with the lower face of Middle Cathedral and the Yosemite Valley rim beyond.

El Capitan Meadow is one of my favorite places to photograph in Yosemite – at just about any time of year, at any time of day, and in any conditions. This photograph was made on a beautiful early spring morning as the new spring growth was just beginning to show – the grasses are just coming up in the meadow and the trees are beginning to leaf out. Beyond the meadow is the smooth face of Middle Cathedral facing the morning light, and beyond that is a shaded portion of the south Valley rim.

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: national park, travel, yosemite, valley, national park, california, usa, season, spring, new, growth, grass, tree, meadow, el, cap, capitan, silhouette, ,middle, cathedral, rocks, cliff, mountain, face, rock, sun, rim, forest, peak, landscape, scenic, stock

Spring Grass, Point Lobos

Spring Grass, Point Lobos

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

Spring grass in the pine forest at Point Lobos State Reserve, California.

Unfortunately, I’m not expert enough at plant identification to come up with a more precise title than “Spring Grass, Point Lobos.” (Yes, that is an open invitation to friendly botanists to offer up a more precise identification! :-) While I was photographing Rattlesnake Grass – photo posted recently – in this spot in the pine forest at Point Lobos I also noticed the impressive seed heads of this nearby grass. This is another of my plant photographs made with the unlikely 70-200mm zoom lens – again, the long focal length lets me work from a slightly greater distance and use the narrow DOF of the longer lens to create a nice out of focus background.

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, seed, head, stalk, blade, green, forest, grove, pine, shade, spring, cluster, bokeh, blur, soft, pine, point lobos, state, reserve, park, california, usa, nature, scenic, travel, carmel, monterey, peninsula, foliage, stock