Tag Archives: green

Photographs: Nature

Tumbleweed Among The Wildflowers

Image Leave a comment
Tumbleweed Among The Wildflowers
An old tumbleweed settles in among a field of spring wildflowers in the Temblor Mountains.

Tumbleweed Among The Wildflowers. © Copyright 2020 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

An old tumbleweed settles in among a field of spring wildflowers in the Temblor Mountains.

One evening I ventured into the foothills of the Temblor Mountains, the range that traces the scar of the San Andreas earthquake fault through a portion of California. There are few places — perhaps no others at all — where the scale of this fault is visible. The range runs in an almost perfectly straight line, separated from the plain to the west, where valleys and streams are clearly offset by the north/south slippage along the fault.

I went there to photograph the intense Spring wildflower bloom that was underway that year. Over a period of a few weeks, hills and valleys that are brown and dry during the rest of the year erupted with new green growth and carpets of wildflowers. During this brief interval, unlike the rest of the year, the dry tumbleweed plant seemed like an interloper.

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 and Amazon.

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.

Photographs: Nature

Winter Foliage

Image Leave a comment
Winter Foliage
A close-up view of winter plants in a formal garden.

Winter Foliage. © Copyright 2020 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A close-up view of winter plants in a formal garden.

This photograph comes from a more innocent time… almost two months ago. Remember? That was back when we were just starting to become away of the potential of the corona virus, when we were still often able to convince ourselves that it would not happen here — wherever your “here” may be. A matter of a few weeks later we truly began to understand how serious this would become — but back then it was possible to spend a morning driving to a place with a large public garden, to spend hours with other people enjoying the place, and to go out for coffee or lunch afterwards. I look forward to the eventual return of such pleasures.

Patty is passionate about photographing flowers and plants, and every so often I’m inspired to give it a try, too. I have a macro lens for one of my cameras, and I took it along on this visit. It was early in the California growing season so the number of flowers was a bit limited, so many of my photographs that day focused on leaves and branches and trunks. I got down very close to these plants to try to isolate their forms from the surroundings.

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 and Amazon.

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.

Photographs: Central California, Photographs: Nature

Temblor Range HIlls, Spring Evening

Image Leave a comment
Temblor Range HIlls, Spring Evening
A fence cuts across wildflower-covered Temblor Range hills on a spring evening.

Temblor Range HIlls, Spring Evening. © Copyright 2019 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A fence cuts across wildflower-covered Temblor Range hills on a spring evening.

This spring hillside was in early evening sun when I arrived, and as I set up to photograph the green folds and brightly colored wildflowers, the line between sunset light and shadow worked its way up the hillside. I looked around for a composition and thought that the old fence might tie things together.

At about this time each year, depending upon how wet the winter was, the California hills undergo a sudden and relatively brief transformation. First, winter rains cause last year’s seeds to come to life and send up carpets of new, green growth. Then, as the green phase approaches its conclusion, wildflowers show up. In a few places like this one, in an especially good year, entire mountains erupt in brilliant color.

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 and Amazon.

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.

Photographs: Central California, Photographs: Nature

Sunrise, Fog, Spring HIlls

Image 2 Comments
Sunrise, Fog, Spring HIlls
Soft dawn light and drifting fog above springtime California hills.

Sunrise, Fog, Spring HIlls. © Copyright 2019 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Soft dawn light and drifting fog above springtime California hills.

This morning completely surprised me. I was in the inland hills of California, between the coastal valleys and the Central Valley, primarily to photograph the spring wildflowers. I had arrived late the night before, setting up my tent in a campground up in the hills before doing some late-day photography. I returned to my camp, made dinner, set my alarm for way before dawn, and went to sleep with a plan of driving down into the large valley nearby to photograph vast fields of flowers.

I got up well before dawn and tried to sneak quietly out of camp without disturbing the normal people who sleep in, fix coffee, have a nice breakfast, and only then head out. As I drove down the gravel road toward that valley I could see that it was completely covered by tule fog, much to my surprise given the arid nature of the place. However, off in the distance, in the direction of the rising sun, haze and drifting fog and soft dawn light produced an entirely different landscape than the one I had been looking for.

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 and Amazon.

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.