Tag Archives: green

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Northern California, Photographs: Redwood National & State Parks

Redwood Forest Trail

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Redwood Forest Trail
A trail winds through redwood forest, past ferns and rhodendrons, Del Norte State Park.

Redwood Forest Trail. © Copyright 2021 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A trail winds through redwood forest, past ferns and rhodendrons, Del Norte State Park.

As I write this post, it has been a 100+ degree day with wildfire smoke drifting across the Bay Area and mostly forcing us inside — and I know it is much worse in many other parts of California and the West. Barely more than two months ago we walked this coastal trail through redwoods on a cool June morning as fog drifted overhead and rhododendrons bloomed. How long ago that seems now! But looking forward an equal amount of time we can hope that this nasty, dry, hot summer will be behind us and, with luck, autumn rains will return.

Photographing redwood forests can be a tricky thing. Deep in the forest the light can be so low that exposures as long as a second or more a necessary. Meanwhile, even on the most still days there is always a slight bit of air motion, and the long palm fronds and hanging plans are virtually never still. And when the sun rises higher in the sky and sends a few beams of light to the forest floor, the difference between the sunlit spots and the shadows can be huge. In this photograph, in order to produce something that reflects what we see when we look around such a scene, I had to carefully control the brightness of the bits of sky at the top of the photograph and the stray beams of light along the trail… and then ensure that the dark areas were bright enough to make details 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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Photographs: Central California, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Ocean & Coast, Photographs: Travel

Coastal Bluffs and Trail

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Coastal Bluffs and Trail
A trail crosses springtime coastal bluffs to approach the rugged Big Sur coast south of Carmel, California.

Coastal Bluffs and Trail. © Copyright 2021 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A trail crosses springtime coastal bluffs to approach the rugged Big Sur coast south of Carmel, California.

This is a fairly “straight ahead” photograph of a popular section of the Big Sur coastline. There are several reasons for is popularity, not the least of which is the impressive number of sea stacks and the rocky junction of sea and land. It is also in the upper section of this area, not that far from locations like Carmel and Monterey. In addition, it provides fairly close access to the coast, including the trail crossing the bluff in the lower section of the photograph.

Most of the time I would hesitate to photograph a scene like this one, instead preferring something a bit more unusual — perhaps some dramatic light or maybe some fog. But it occurred to me that in many ways this scene on this spring day embodies the ideal of “normal” along this coast with the green hills, blue sky, and darker blue water. Oh, and about that trail… should you ever decide to try it or one like it, may I remind you that a lot of poison oak grows here?

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

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Northern California

Forest, White Trunks

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Forest, White Trunks
White trunks in a dense forest of deciduous trees, Redwood National Park.

Forest, White Trunks. © Copyright 2021 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

White trunks in a dense forest of deciduous trees, Redwood National Park.

It turns out that I have yet one more photograph from our early June visit to the far northern reaches of coastal California and the Redwood National and State parks. I am embarrassed to admit how long it was before I finally went up there to photograph, but since my first visit a few years ago I have been back every spring, usually trying to time my trips to coincide with the blooming of the rhododendrons. We were less than successful in that regard this year, but there is much else to see there, too. And because this was back in the early “maybe the pandemic is about over” period, it felt great to travel a bit more freely once again.

When it comes to trees, the redwood forests are obviously the mail attraction up there. But they are not the only attractions, and in many places all sorts of trees and plant life grow abundantly in this relatively wet climate. I stop at this particular forest of densely-spaced trees with light colored trunks on every visit — I like the challenge of looking for compositions that somehow bring some kind of order to the wild density of this vegetation.

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

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.

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.