Tag Archives: leaves

Tree and Windows

Tree and Windows

Tree and Windows. San Francisco, California. August 18, 2009. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Bare branches of an urban tree with a few green leaves against a gray San Francisco building with white-framed windows.

I had the chance to spend a morning and part of an afternoon wandering around San Francisco on foot on the mid-August day. As I usually do, I took a 6:00 a.m. train to The City, arriving at about 7:00 a.m. This time I started out by walking up Fourth Street past Yerba Buena Gardens and continued on to Market Street. From there I walked though Chinatown (but mostly not on Grant) before the tourist shops opened and while the many grocery stores were dealing with huge shipments of produce dropped off on the sidewalks. I stopped briefly in North Beach for coffee before spending an hour or so shooting there and then taking a very quick walk past the madness at Pier 39 and Fisherman’s Wharf before climbing up to Russian Hill before making it back to my return train. Whew!

I happened to notice a block full of these interesting trees in North Beach, not too far from Washington Park – and I especially liked this one with a tiny bit of green and backed by the black, white, and gray building.

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.

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keywords: san francisco, california, usa, urban, city, street, north beach, travel, scenic, downtown, building, home, tree, trunk, branch, bare, gray, green, leaves, window, white, frame, gray, wall, blinds, silhouette, landscape, light, fork, black, stock

Three Columns and Urban Trees

Three Columns and Urban Trees

Three Columns and Urban Trees. San Francisco, California. July 1, 2009. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Three columns and trees in an urban garden in downtown San Francisco, California.

This photograph was made while I was on one of my “walk and photograph” trips into downtown San Francisco. At this point I was wandering through a very busy, urbanized section of downtown San Francisco with my camera at the ready. As I rounded a corner of a building I spotted this scene with interesting morning light and a single person mostly hidden behind one of the columns below the trees reading a book. I quickly squeezed off two frames before a car entered the scene from a garage exit below the trees and other pedestrians began walking through.


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.

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

Dogwood Blossoms and Leaves

Dogwood Blossoms and Leaves

Dogwood Blossoms and Leaves. Yosemite Valley, California. May 9, 2009. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Spring dogwood tree blossoms and new leaves, Yosemite Valley.

I found this pair of dogwood blossoms and the accompanying diagonal arrangement of new leaves when I left the crowded “Mirror Lake Trail” (which is, in reality, a road…) and instead walked the parallel and much more attractive footpath through the forest. It can be hard to get a full view of the dogwood flowers from above since the great majority of the flowers grow above eye level. Here I found a large boulder parked next to a tree, and while the leaves were a good distance up in the tree, by climbing onto the boulder and setting my tripod up on top I was able to find a good high position to photograph them.

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: california, sierra nevada, travel, Yosemite, valley, national, park, usa, dogwood, tree, leaf, bloom, blossom, bracht, petal, white, leaf, leaves, branch, dark, forest, bokeh, sun, light, nature, scenic, mirror lake, trail, sun, sierra, nevada, mountians, stock

Miners Lettuce and Ferns

Miners Lettuce and Ferns

Miners Lettuce and Ferns. Almaden Quicksilver Park, California. April 12, 2009. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A single miners lettuce plant in bloom among ferns, Almaden Quicksilver Park, California.

As a kid growing up in central California I always heard how one could “make a salad” out of miners lettuce, so this is one of the first wild plants I can remember. (By the way, I have no idea if this plant is actually edible – or deadly poison – so don’t go eating it because you saw my post – ask an expert first!) This single leaf and stem of the plant was growing in a very lush section of a trail at Almaden Quicksilver Park every spring during wildflower season.

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: green, foliage, leaves, leaf, flower, white, miners lettuce, round, fern, branch, twig, stem, almaden, quicksilver, county, park, santa clara, san jose, california, usa, spring, wet, drop, water, reflection, shade, lush, nature, foliage, stock, close up, macro, plant