Tag Archives: leaves

Leaves in Shadows

Image July 9, 2023 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Lush leaves in the shadows of a San Francisco Peninsula garden.

In early June we visited our favorite San Francisco Peninsula garden. We usually go early in the morning, but this time we went late in the day — there was a special event featuring music, drinks, and food, along with the opportunity to sit under oak trees or on the lawn and watch the evening light arrive. As appealing as all of that was, we still DID bring cameras.

Before the light decreased too much, we managed to do a quick circuit of some of the more interesting parts of the garden, mostly looking for flowers. But we also stopped in a dark little grove where most of the flowers were spent, and here I photographed this lush growth beneath the trees.

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.

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Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Northern California, Photographs: Sierra Nevada, Photographs: Yosemite

A Dark Corner

Image July 3, 2023 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Boulders, fallen leaves, and a tree trunk in shadow along the base of a Yosemite Valley cliff.

I made this photograph in Yosemite Valley during the difficult midday hours — difficult because the light is not as intrinsically beautiful at this time of day. Out in the open it the can be harsh, and inside the forest’s shade too many light beams break through the canopy. But I don’t want to write off so many hours of the day, so I often continue to look for compositions, seeing out shading places, haze, and subjects with some kind of graphic quality.

In the early afternoon I took a lazy hike along the base of one of the great granite cliffs in the Valley. I wanted to visit a spot where I know water would meet the valley after cascading down granite cliffs. I hoped to go right to the base of the cascade… but there was too much water! So I wandered in a different direction and noticed this old, dark tree trunk in the shadow of giant boulder.

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Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Northern California

Ivy-Covered Wall

Image June 26, 2023 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Thick, green ivey covers and old brick wall.

I am a sucker for soft light and green leaves, especially if the light is somewhat varied and the leaves have a bit of texture and good coverage. This bit of ivy, covering a wall at a San Francisco Peninsula garden, fit the bill. It was tucked away on the shady side of building, with trees overhead, but some slightly more intense light coming from behind me through openings in trees.

I’m often tricked by subjects like this one. When I see a bed or wall of overlapping leaves it often seems like I could just point the camera that way and produce some kind of picture. But when I do and I look more carefully, there are almost always little bits of imperfection and unbalance that distract me… and I end up taking much longer with these subjects than I expect to.

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Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Northern California, Photographs: Sierra Nevada, Photographs: Yosemite

Spring Fern

Image June 23, 2023 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

A spring fern grows in the shade among boulders along the base of Yosemite Valley cliffs.

You might think that the toughest challenges on my one-day up-and-back trips to the Sierra — on one of which I made this photograph — would be getting up hours before sunrise and driving for hours, or perhaps it would be the long return drive with a midnight or later arrival. The truth? It is the midday hours. Photographically, this can be tough time of day. There are opportunities, but you have to look for them. And by late morning and early afternoon I’m simply tired from that early wake-up call… and ready for a good, long nap!

On this trip to Yosemite Valley, the pattern held. I arrived very early, photographed through the morning, following light and shadow around the Valley. At noon I grabbed a bite to eat and then… took a very long nap in my car. But the beautiful evening light was hours away on this long, late-spring day, so when I woke up I loaded my pack and set out to see what I could find in the midday light. I headed to an area along the base of the cliffs where I thought I might find some interesting rocks, trees, and soft shade light. And that’s where I photographed this sprouting fern, aglow in reflected light against a backdrop of forest litter and a boulder.

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G Dan Mitchell Photography

Tag Archives: leaves

Leaves in Shadows

A Dark Corner

Ivy-Covered Wall

Spring Fern

Photographer and visual opportunist. Daily photos since 2005, plus articles, reviews, news, and ideas.