Tag Archives: leaves

Photographs: Coastal Redwoods, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Northern California

Purple Trillium Flower

March 20, 2014 G Dan Mitchell 2 Comments

Purple trillium flower beneath the canopy of the redwood forest, Muir Woods National Monument

The annual blossoming of the trillium flowers at Muir Woods is always a reminder that spring is just around the corner. These flowers bloom in the first half of March, in wild abundance in non-drought years. The number of flowers seemed smaller this year, most likely due to the historic sequence of three very dry years in California, with the current season being perhaps one of the driest on record. Fortunately, after several months of virtually no rain at all, the tap was turned back on briefly in the past month and there is now at least some moisture in this redwood forest environment.

After photographing here for some years, I have a pretty good idea of when and where to look for these flowers. Although it took me a bit of time to get there, as I was distracted along the way by other subjects, I eventually headed straight to a familiar trail that traverses a hillside above a creek. Here there are many trillium plants, and in the morning theory are still in the soft light that is most conducive to photographing them. Since there are usually quite a few of the flowers, I tend to almost think less about the individual flowers and more about their placement against the background of other forest elements and about what sort of light they have. Here I found a flower that was in a position such that I could shoot down onto it, placing leaves behind the blossom, and which provided a darker background without a lot of distracting detail.

Text, photographs, and other media are © Copyright G Dan Mitchell (or others when indicated) and are not in the public domain and may not be used on websites, blogs, or in other media without advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

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

Rocks, Sand, Wood

February 18, 2014 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Colorful detritus of rocks, sand, and wood along the desert floor of Death Valley National Park

Death Valley National Park is landscape on the gigantic scale and a landscape of extremes. Elevations range from below sea level to over 11,000′ At the right time of year you can stand in 90 degree or hotter temperatures in the lowest place and look up to see snow on the highest peaks. It is well-known that the heat and aridity are extreme. The scale of the place is stupendous. When I first traveled in the park it reminded me, perhaps in a surprising way, of monumental landscapes that I had seen in The Yukon and Alaska, where the land seems to go on farther than one can see. Because there is so little vegetation, the geology of this desert landscape is laid bare, and rugged strata are easy to see.

But there are also surprises right underfoot. At the right time during the right years (and this photo was not made at such a time) small plants and wildflowers emerge and insects and other small critters can be seen. Some of these intimate landscape scenes seem more mundane, but they also tell stories worth hearing. This small patch of earth is at the base of some small, eroded hills along the east side of Death Valley where I have stopped from time to time. It is not an obviously special place – there is no parking lot or sign. The first time I went there to photograph in the evening I looked down and noticed the dense collection of multi-colored rocks, dead plants, and sand, and now when I go back there I seem to always end up looking for the same thing. The curving bit of dried wood was once a plant eking to a life at the edge of the main valley. These rocks are likely evidence of the surprising role that water plays in the formation of this landscape, having been washed down from those various strata and formation high in the Amargosa Range, leaving traces of blue, pink, purple, tan, and green minerals. And below and mixed in with all of this is the omnipresent sand, deposited and moved to and fro by Valley winds.

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

Aspen Grove, Autumn Snow

January 8, 2014 G Dan Mitchell 1 Comment

Autumn snow blankets a grove of nearly bare aspen trees

We began this year’s main eastern Sierra “aspen chasing” trip on a day when an early season snow storm closed all of the passes that are not designated at being “all-season,” so Tioga, Sonora, and Ebbetts were all closed. Our best alternative was to cross on highway 88 over Carson Pass. Not that this is a bad thing! Carson features large stands of aspens on the west side of the pass and then the descent through aspen-filled Hope Valley on the east side. From there we headed down through Markleeville and up over Monitor Pass, which also has large aspen stands near its summit. After descending, we headed south on highway 395 toward Bishop, with light rain or snow falling all day – in my view, perfect conditions for autumn photography!

Along the way we made plenty of stops and a few side excursions to explore various side canyons, many of which I know fairly well from past visits. This photograph was made on one of those side roads, and this particular stand of aspen trees is one that I know very well. I’ve stopped here every year for some time now, in conditions ranging from almost fully green trees (too early!) to bare trees (too late!), and in sun and clouds and wind and snow. This time we found that the little grove was close to the highest elevation of the remaining colorful trees, so we stopped and I spent a little time photographing inside the grove… in lightly falling snow and a very cold wind.

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

Yosemite Autumn Foliage 2013

December 4, 2013 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

I have had a few final photographs of this season’s autumn color in Yosemite Valley sitting on my computer for several weeks now, waiting their place in the queue of photographs for the blog. That queue had become quite long, what with the overlap of remaining photographs from last summer, lots of other autumn color photographs, and now the onset of winter subjects such as migratory birds and so forth. Since these photos have been bumped to the back of the line too many times already, I have decided to simply share them as a group today.

Autumn Meadow and Cottonwood Trees. Yosemite Valley, California. October 30, 2013. © Copyright 2013 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved. – Afternoon light on cottonwood trees with fall foliage in a Yosemite Valley meadow, backed by the lower face of Cathedral Rocks.

Autumn Maple Leaves, Forest. Yosemite Valley, California. October 31, 2013. © Copyright 2013 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved. – A final burst of autumn big leaf maple color in a Yosemite Valley forest

Riverbank Cottonwood Trees, Autumn. Yosemite Valley, California. October 31, 2013. © Copyright 2013 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved. – Trees with golden autumn leaves grow among evergreens along the bank of the Merced River

G Dan Mitchell Photography

Tag Archives: leaves

Purple Trillium Flower

Rocks, Sand, Wood

Aspen Grove, Autumn Snow

Yosemite Autumn Foliage 2013

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