Tag Archives: late

Red Tulip

Image April 5, 2025 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

I have to confess to a degree of ignorance about flowers. Many people (including my wife, photographer Patricia Emerson Mitchel) can walk into a garden and name every flower. I recognize flowers by shape, size, color, and season, but I’ve never been able (or willing?) to learn all of their names. So this was just a “very intense red flower” (and a big one, too) until I looked at the buds and realized that it was a tulip. I think…

The color of this flower was amazing. The red was the most intense I think I’ve seen in a flower. As a photographer, that sounds an alert about a technical issue — blowing out the red channel in the digital capture. It also makes me concerned about how accurately the color can be reproduced in a photograph, as some of the very bright and intense colors don’t map perfectly to the digital color space. Having said all of that, this is just about how I recall the flower.

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” (Heyday Books) is available directly from him.

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

Photographs: Nature

Pink Tulip

Image March 31, 2025 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Patty is the real flower and macro photographer in our household, but sometimes I tag along and give it my best shot. There is a large garden on the grounds of an old San Francisco Peninsula estate that is a favorite of hers — she has a membership and visits regularly to photograph whatever is in season. In early March that meant it was tulip season, so I accompanied her for a morning of photographing these (and a few other kinds of) flowers.

We had great conditions for this subject. Direct, harsh sunlight is not your friend when photographing the subtle colors, shapes, and textures of these flowers — and this morning featured overcast, a bit of light rain, occasional muted sunlight, and lots of shady areas. I photographed this tulip in wonderful soft light that tends to fill in shadows and reveal details that would be missing in high contrast light.

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

Photographs: Europe, Photographs: Italy, Photographs: Travel

Fountain, Florence

Image December 10, 2024 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

I made this photograph on one of our more-or-less random walks. This time we crossed over the river and headed in the direction of the Pitti Palace. After visiting that site we continued wandering in the nearby neighborhoods, stopping for a drink in the Piazza Santo Spirito before resuming our walk.

It was getting late in the day, and we were generally working our way back toward the river and then toward our lodgings and dinner. But walking slowly we had time to look around and notice details. This elaborate fountain was on a street corner, and I photographed it as an early evening beam of light illuminated it.

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.

Links: Articles, Sales and Licensing, my Sierra Nevada Fall Color book, Contact Info.

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Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Ocean & Coast, Photographs: Scotland, Photographs: Travel

Oban Sunset

Image July 6, 2024 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Our brief visit to Oban, Scotland this summer felt a bit like a dream. In part that might have been jet lag — this was the first place we visited after landing, with a plan to spend a few days adjusting to the time difference. Perhaps the Oban Distillery and the ever-present Scotch whisky played a part? And the days were so long here at this northerly latitude, where sunset came at close to 10:00pm during the last half of May.

We stayed in a waterfront B&B. Our room had a large bay window looking out over the… bay. If I recall correctly, we had returned to our room from dinner when this beautiful evening sky developed. I grabbed my camera and quickly walked northwest along the shoreline to find a good vantage point to watch the show and make this photograph.