Tag Archives: green

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Sierra Nevada

Treeline Meadow

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Treeline Meadow
A green mid-summer subalpine Sierra Nevada meadow surrounded by glaciated granite and sparse trees.

Treeline Meadow. © Copyright 2022 G Dan Mitchell.

A green mid-summer subalpine Sierra Nevada meadow surrounded by glaciated granite and sparse trees.

We recently returned from a week in the Eastern Sierra backcountry, base-camping with good friends and fellow photographers in an area of exceptional beauty and photographic opportunities. I made this photograph one morning in an area of extensive meadows a short distance from our home base. I always think of scenes like this as epitomizing the “range of light” Sierra — high, open country on comfortable, sunny days.

Truth be told, in addition to these conditions, we also encountered some extraordinary weather that was unusual for this time of year. Within the first hours of arriving here a powerful electrical storm arrived and pinned us down in tents for hours as lightning flashed, thunder boomed, rain and hail poured down, and the landscape flooded. I don’t recall a similar summer experience in these mountains in decades of backcountry travel.

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: Architecture, Photographs: San Francisco, Photographs: Urban/Street

Colorful Buildings

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Colorful Buildings
The boundary between two colorfully painted San Francisco buildings.

Colorful Buildings. © Copyright 2022 G Dan Mitchell.

The boundary between two colorfully painted San Francisco buildings.

These two buildings appeared in another recent photograph, also shot straight on and focusing on the fascinating geometry and color scheme of the structure. The location is, broadly speaking, near North Beach and Fisherman’s Wharf, on a less-travelled side street. The architecture is within the typical San Francisco model — multi-story residences packed wall-to-wall, right up against the sidewalks.

The colors, of course, caught my attention. But there are a few other things going on that also fascinate me. For one, there’s a sort of dissonance between the extremely regular and geometric features of the two residences… and the odd lack of alignment between things like the two windows, the lower edge of the windows in the doors, and the garage door on the left.

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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Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Sierra Nevada

Elephants Head Flower

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Elephants Head Flower
Elephants head flower against the backdrop of a flower-filled Sierra meadow.

Elephants Head Flower. © Copyright 2022 G Dan Mitchell.

Elephants head flower against the backdrop of a flower-filled Sierra meadow.

I’ve always had a somewhat challenged relationship with the identification of flowers (and trees and a few other things) in the natural world. While certain facts stick in my mind (locations, elevations, etc.), it has always been hard for me to hold onto accurate information about plant identification. I usually do recognize the plant, tree, or wildflower… down to the level of knowing exactly where it grows, when it flowers, even what it looks like in its dormant seasons… but when it comes to recalling the plant’s name I’m often at a loss. But this one was new to me on all counts.

I’m told by a usually-reliable source (thanks, Patty… via Keith Walklet) that this is an elephants head flower. I did not know that when I photographed it. I was just attracted by its complex shape, its subtle colors, and its vertical extent against the background of a meadow full of other kinds of wildflowers in the Eastern Sierra Nevada.

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: Sierra Nevada, Photographs: Yosemite

Moss-Covered Trees

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Moss-Covered Trees
Moss-covered trees in a Sierra Nevada forest in Yosemite National Park.

Moss-Covered Trees. © Copyright 2022 G Dan Mitchell.

Moss-covered trees in a Sierra Nevada forest in Yosemite National Park.

Some of my photographs are the result of long hikes into inaccessible places, hours or days spent searching out the ideal location, visits to places I’ve never been before, and other similar efforts. This is not one of those. I made this photograph on a drive to the Sierra while passing though a portion of Yosemite where most of us don’t pay a lot of attention to our surroundings, the kind of place where we are usually thinking more about where we are going than about where we are.

I think it was the green moss on the trees that caught my attention, along with the soft and shaded light. I found a pull-out along this section of roadway, grabbed camera and tripod, and wandered off into this bit of forest, where the relatively clear undergrowth opened the view through the trees.

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.