Tag Archives: green

Photographs: Nature

Sunflower

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Sunflower
A wild sunflower bloom in the hills of the San Francisco Bay Area.

Sunflower. © Copyright 2020 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A wild sunflower bloom in the hills of the San Francisco Bay Area.

Most of the wildflowers that I find and photograph in the San Francisco Bay Area are relatively small. They may spring up in large, meadow-filling numbers, but the individual blossoms are rarely much more than an Ince across, and many are quite a bit smaller. This flower is an obvious exception, being several inches across — and, as such, it stands out from its surroundings when I find one.

I’m pretty sure this is the flower of the plant I know as mule ears — named, it seems, after the big floppy leaves of the plant. It is also a sunflower, at least according to a few references I found. When I encounter this spring flower around here it is often found alone, and it often is not exactly a pretty plant. Despite the striking size and color of the flower, the blooms are often worn and deformed — so I was pleased to find this relatively perfect specimen on a hike earlier this spring.

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.

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Photographs: Urban/Street

Exit Only

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Exit Only
An “exit only” sign attached to a wall that has not been painted recently.

Exit Only. © Copyright 2020 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

An “exit only” sign attached to a wall that has not been painted recently.

Postcard from Pandemic #2. I made this photograph on one of my SIP neighborhood walks a few weeks ago. If nothing else, the current travel restrictions are encouraging me to discover nearby things that I had not paid attention to before.

This wall is in the back of an urban business district. I’ve been around this area for decades, and I have watched it change a lot — from a quiet residential business district, to a place of fading and dying businesses, to a newly popular, somewhat upscale area with lots of restaurants and other signs of Silicon Valley wealth. For someone who has been here for a while and who recalls what was in this location in the past, this wall is a bit of a historical record.

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.

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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

Fairy Lanterns, Spring

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Fairy Lanterns, Spring
A cluster of spring fairy lantern wildflowers.

Fairy Lanterns, Spring. © Copyright 2019 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A cluster of spring fairy lantern wildflowers.

These are among my favorite spring wildflowers here in my part of the world — the San Francisco Bay Area. The photograph is from last spring, as this year my opportunities to go out and photograph wildflowers have been much more limited. I did photograph flowers like these at the very beginning of their cycle, when they were still mostly buds and before the social lock-down commenced. Even when the rules were relaxed to allow hikes, the location of these flowers is one in which social distancing could be difficult to maintain.

I photographed this little group of flowers at a local spot where I first “discovered” this kind of flower over a decade ago. Oddly perhaps, given that I’ve hiked in these hills for decades, I was unaware of the fairy lantern flowers and surprised to see them. These grow a long a narrow and somewhat steep trail that heads through a narrow ravined, a place that is often in shade but with a bit of sunlight each day.

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.

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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

Milkmaids Blossoms

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Milkmaids Blossoms
Milkmaids wildflower spring blossoms, California.

Milkmaids Blossoms. © Copyright 2019 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Milkmaids wildflower spring blossoms, California.

While I never have been very good at keeping track of the names of various California wildflowers, I look forward to them each spring. And despite my inability to remember what to call them, I generally know where and when I will find them, and I usually recognize the plants even when the flowers are not present.

There are a few local places I go to find them. These spots are not what anyone else would regard as being special during most of the year — a segment of a trail most folks follow for exercise, a lonely hilltop in a county park, a narrow place in a little canyon I know. These flowers are from one of this places, a little canyon in a county park where I’ve hiked for years.

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.