Tag Archives: landscape

Photographs: Death Valley, Photographs: Desert, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Southern California

Desert Holly, Dry Wash

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Desert Holly, Dry Wash
Desert holly plants grow along the curves of a small desert wash

Desert Holly, Dry Wash. © Copyright 2019 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Desert holly plants grow along the curves of a small desert wash.

Among plants that manage to eke out an existence in dry landscapes, such as that of Death Valley National Park, there seems to be a spectrum of accommodations to dryness. Out near the sharp edge of that bell curve is found the desert holly plant. In some of the locations where I see it, the plant seems to be just about the only thing that is still able to live on the driest and rockiest soils.

The specimens in this photograph are growing along the course of a dry wash, and they probably get a good portion of whatever small amount of water that sustains them during brief periods when water flows following rainstorms. (It had rained heavily during the previous month here… and there was no visible water in this wash.) The plants present a sometimes surprising bit of green in this otherwise arid and bare landscape.

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: Nature, Photographs: Ocean & Coast

Pacific Coast Highway, Spring

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Pacific Coast Highway, Spring
Spring grass and wildflowers on the California Coast along the Pacific Coast Highway below Carmel

Pacific Coast Highway, Spring. © Copyright 2019 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Spring grass and wildflowers on the California Coast along the Pacific Coast Highway below Carmel.

Just another spring day along the Big Sur coast. Really. I had the morning free so I headed down the coast, getting as far as the upper Big Sur coast, where spring was coming on strong. The hillsides were green (they will be brown soon enough!) and there were wildflowers everywhere.

This cove is a familiar one, located in the upper section of this part of the coastline, below Carmel and above the settlement of Big Sur. It is often a lovely spot, with the cove on one side and a point extending into the ocean on the other, and with rugged rocks and sea stacks everywhere. On this morning I looked at this scene across the headland, covered with spring greenery and yellow flowers.

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.

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

Photographs: Central California, Photographs: Nature

High Peaks Trail

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High Peaks Trail
The High Peaks trail passes trees and cliffs, Pinnacles National Park

High Peaks Trail. © Copyright 2019 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

The High Peaks trail passes trees and cliffs, Pinnacles National Park.

This trail and this park have a special place in my California outdoor experience. I’ve live in the state since I was four-years-old and my parents moved here from Minnesota. From the earliest I can remember my family visited a bunch of outdoor locations in the Northern and Central California area, and I always regarded a trip to Pinnacles National Park (then Monument) as a special treat. It seemed like a very long drive to the east side entrance, and once we got there a visit to the caves was always the highlight. But we also took longer hikes, including memorable walks up to and across the “high peaks.” I continued to visit over the intervening years, but I’ll save a few of those experiences for another post.

The Pinnacles get their name from the striking rocky outcroppings found in the park. In the “high peaks” area they literally sit on the summit ridge, but they are found elsewhere in other settings, including the walls of some small, deep canyons. The trail mostly crossed familiar chaparral terrain, but here it passes beneath some impressively large rock faces and under the branches of some trees with new spring growth.

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.

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

Photographs: Central California, Photographs: Ocean & Coast

Sea Stacks And Headlands

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Sea Stacks And Headlands
Sea stacks and rugged headlands along the upper Big Sur coast.

Sea Stacks And Headlands. © Copyright 2019 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Sea stacks and rugged headlands along the upper Big Sur coast.

California’s coastline is quite varied, but nearly always interesting. There are flat and gentle areas in the south, areas exposed to wind and covered with trees in the far north. And then there is the (loosely speaking) Big Sur coast south of Monterey. it is an area of very tall coastal mountains, vast open views of the Pacific, and a shoreline that is often rugged and rocky.

I had a few free hours on this spring day so I headed south from the San Francisco Bay Area with the plan of getting some distance down the Big Sur coast… but not so far that I couldn’t be back by mid-afternoon. I’m a bit familiar with these formations, having stopped to photograph here in the past. This time I was struck by the color of the water, the springtime green of the plants, and the lights softened by very thin coastal fog.

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.

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