Tag Archives: leaf

Photographs: Central California, Photographs: Nature

Winter Cattails and Grasses

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Winter Cattails and Grasses

Winter Cattails and Grasses. Calero Hills, California. February 1, 2009. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Winter cattails and grasses at Calero Hills, California.

At the start of today’s “photo hike” at Calero Park I walked to Castillero Pond. I had the 100-400 lens on my camera, anticipating that there might be some birds to photograph at the pond. When I arrived there weren’t really any interesting bird subjects, but I went ahead and used the long lens to shoot these plants alongside the pond, since the long focal length does a fine job of isolating a subject and throwing the background out of focus.

This photograph is not in the public domain. It may not be used on websites, blogs, or in any other media without explicit advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

keywords: cat, tail, cattail, grass, blade, stem, leaf, bokeh, blur, seed, fuzz, sun, light, morning, brown, golden, castillero, pond, calero, hills, county, park, santa clara, nature, foliage, landscape, winter, stock, california, usa, dry, drop, droplet

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Sierra Nevada, Photographs: Yosemite

Autumn Oak Tree, Upper Yosemite Fall, Rain

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Autumn Oak Tree, Upper Yosemite Fall, Rain

Autumn Oak Tree, Upper Yosemite Fall, Rain. Yosemite Valley, California. November 1, 2008. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A colorful autumn oak tree stands in a meadow on a rainy day with Upper Yosemite Fall beyond – Yosemite Valley, California.

A photograph from my rainy weekend in Yosemite Valley back on November 1-2, 2008. It rained the entire time I was there, but this was wonderful because these conditions intensified the fall colors and created wonderful atmosphere and effects of mist, fog, and clouds. Here a nearby oak tree with autumn colors is seen with Upper Yosemite Fall faintly visible through the mist, and flowing strongly after coming back to life from the rain.

This photograph is not in the public domain. It may not be used on websites, blogs, or in any other media without explicit advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

keywords: yosemite, valley, national park, fall, upper, cliff, wall, oak, tree, autumn, fall, season, color, gold, brown, yellow, green, forest, meadow, waterfall, grass, rain, cloud, mist, leaf, leaves, trunk, branch, nature, scenic, travel, landscape, weather, stock, california, usa

Photographs: Central California, Photographs: Structures and Objects, Photographs: Urban/Street

Tree, Brick Wall with Window and Pipe

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Tree, Brick Wall with Window and Pipe

Tree, Brick Wall with Window and Pipe. San Jose, California. January 4, 2009. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A very old brick wall with a pipe and boarded up window and an adjacent tree catching late afternoon winter light – San Jose, California.

This shadowed wall, terribly weathered, covered with moss, and growing plants where the downspout has leaked is on an old cannery building that is rapidly being “redeveloped” west of downtown San Jose, California. Given that nearby buildings of the same vintage have largely been boarded up and many knocked down to make room for condominiums, I am very surprised that this one still stands and may even still be in use – though not by a cannery. The texture and form of the shadowed wall caught my attention, along with the bit of direct light (and light reflected from the unseen left wall of the building) striking the tree.

This photograph is not in the public domain. It may not be used on websites, blogs, or in any other media without explicit advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

keywords: afternoon, building, california, city, county, downtown, evening, san jose, santa clara, urban, brick, wall, old, dilapidated, worn, weathered, moss, plant, pipe, downspout, window, boarded up, texture, pattern, structure, historic, tree, light, branch, leaf, sky, blue, california, usa, cannery, abandoned, industrial, urban, street, stock

Photographs: Central California, Photographs: Structures and Objects, Photographs: Urban/Street

Winter Shadows on Tiles

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Winter Shadows on Tiles

Winter Shadows on Tiles. San Jose, California. January 20, 2009. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

The shadow of a winter tree falls on a tile wall in San Jose, California.

I was originally thinking of photographing redwoods yesterday, but instead I decided to save some gas and again photograph within walking distance of my home. (I may try the redwoods today – it seems like time to do some landscape photography again.) As I walked , the winter shadows of trees that appear nearly everywhere in the low angle mid winter light caught my attention and became the subject of perhaps half of the photographs I made. This is a very simple photo – simply the shadows of a nearby tree falling obliquely across some stone wall tiles.

On a slightly technical note, I took along a new lens, the Canon EF 85mm f/1.8 prime. I’ll have more to write about this lens in the blog before long, but for now I’ll say it is performing a bit beyond my expectations.

This photograph is not in the public domain. It may not be used on websites, blogs, or in any other media without explicit advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

keywords: winter, season, shadow, tille, wall, grout, leaf, branch, tree, squares, pattern, geometric, swirl, rock, stone, yellow, red, abstract, nature, urban, street, willow glen, san jose, california, usa, stock